16-year-old KIAN has been announced as the big winner of triple j‘s ‘Unearthed High’ competition for 2018, after beating out a bunch of other finalists.
Attending Castlemaine Secondary College, triple j Breakfast hosts Ben & Liam surprised the singer at his school earlier this morning to tell him the good news, dressed as firefighters — as you do.
Of course, Australian audiences have been familiar with KIAN since he appeared on Baker Boy‘s ‘Cloud 9’, which came in at #76 on triple j‘s Hottest 100 last year. But it’s his latest offering ‘Waiting’ which gave him the big win.
Triple J Unearthed‘s Music Director, Dave Ruby Howe, has released a statement as to why KIAN beat out fellow Victorians Nancie Schipper and yergurl, as well as Sydney’s The Kid Laroi and Adelaide band Burnout.
“It’s a near impossible task to separate the five finalists in 2018’s Unearthed High, all of whom would make worthy recipients of the crown,” he said.
“In the end though, KIAN stood out the strongest this year, emerging as one of the most promising voices in the country – high school agedand otherwise. It feels like just the beginning of this young artist’s story.”
KIAN will now be flown to triple j‘s studios to record new music, and he’ll find out which Aussie artist will be mentoring him later this afternoon.
Watch the video for ‘Waiting’, below.
