ARIAs 2018: An up-to-the-minute rundown of the Australian music industry's night of nights

The 2018 ARIA Awards are happening at The Star Event Centre in Sydney tonight, and it's raining cats and dogs.

Seriously, according to weather experts Sydney is expected to get two months' worth of rain today! Fun times.

But a little extra water won't rain on the ARIA Awards' parade...

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Here's everything you need to know about the big event as it happens.

9:30pm: They opened the show and now they've taken home the final honour of the night. Keith Urban and special international guest Sir Bob Geldof presented 5SOS with the Apple Music Song of the Year Award, a fitting way for the four boys from western Sydney to end their 2018 ARIAs experience. That's it from this blogger. Time for a post-ARIAs nap.

8:43pm: Let's take a moment to acknowledge Ruel, a kid who won an ARIA tonight and has not even finished high school.

Troye Sivan presented the Breakthrough Artist award to Ruel (full name Ruel van Dijk), a Sydney singer who is just 16 -- making him the youngest ever ARIA winner to date.

"This caps off a very surreal year for me, so much has happened in such a short amount of time," Ruel said during his acceptance speech. "If anyone has a fake ID for the after parties, hit me up."

He also confirmed in the media room that he was drinking water. Good kid.

8:39pm: Dean Lewis is performing at the ARIAs right and he used to be a sound guy at Nine. Does this mean... I could one day be performing at the ARIAs? (JK, Dean Lewis is obviously very talented.)

"I was the big boom pole guy," he said in the media room after his win.

8:33pm: There seems to be a bit of a theme happening at the ARIAs -- an act wins and then performs shortly after (or the other way around). It happened early on in the night with 5SOS and then Amy Shark. Dr G Yunupingu posthumously won Best Independent Release and Best Male Artist, so Jessica Mauboy, Briggs and Courtney Barnett came together to perform a beautiful tribute.

8:13pm: Not necessarily a live update from the ARIAs event, but something still worth noting. Sophie Monk gave an interview on the red carpet in which she revealed her father, Andrew Monk, has already met her new boyfriend, Joshua Gross.

"He is a really nice chap, a nice person, very kind and we get on very well," Andrew said. "I am very grateful for that."

7:20pm: Kasey Chambers has officially been inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in a stunning way. Kate Miller-Heidke, Amy Sheppard and Missy Higgins all took turns singing lyrics from her iconic hit 'Not Pretty Enough,' and then the lady herself gave a rousing performance of 'Ain't No Little Girl.' She was visibly emotional when the room got on their feet for her. Paul Kelly then read out a beautiful poem in her honour.

7:05pm: A lot has happened in the past 30 minutes, but here's a fun fact about being in the media room: The ceremony is airing live on a TV, and presenters and winners are being brought into the room to address media at the same time.

So when stars come to the room, the TV is muted, which means I can see what's happening but I can't hear.

Things that have happened in the last half-hour that I've seen: Smallzy presented with Mya (yes, Mya of 'Ghetto Superstar' and 'Case of the Ex' fame); Keith said something cute about Nicole because the camera kept cutting to her; Sophie Monk and Troye Sivan presented (separately), and Courtney Barnett performed.

We've also been given food in the media room! Which is a delight. Thank u, next (meal).

6:32pm: Richard Marx is in the house! As in Richard 'Right Here Waiting' Marx. So that's obviously a bit exciting. He presented the award for Adult Contemporary Album to Vance Joy.

6:24pm: Kasey Chambers, who will be inducted in the ARIA Hall of Fame later tonight, won the Best Country Album award, and she brought her father onstage, which is a bit cute.

English singer George Ezra has taken to the stage to sing his hit 'Shotgun' and I've just realised that I had no idea what he looked like until now.

6:10pm: Amy Shark takes to the stage -- well she's actually elevated above it -- to perform her 2018 hit single 'I Said Hi'. Love how high-low her performance is -- she's dressed in a sparkly jumper, jeans and sneakers, but because it's the ARIAs it's got all the necessary bells and whistles to make the song pop.

6:01pm: The first awards for the night have been handed out. 5 Seconds of Summer took out Best Australian Live Act, and Amy Shark -- the night's most nominated artist, with nine honours -- scooped up Best Pop Release for the second year in a row. "I don't mean to sound like a d--k but this is my second Best Pop Release, so thank you," she said.

5:46pm: Homegrown boys 5 Seconds of Summer (5SOS) open the show with their hit 'Youngblood' and they've had a real glo-up.

Keith Urban takes to the stage straight after and acknowledges Nicole Kidman straight away: "Hey baby -- right in the front row!"

He's also actually really funny, and this ~live blogger~ is annoyed at herself for not recording his opening monologue. He did say something like, "The art of originality is hiding your sources," and joked to the room's potential winners, "The trophies are sharp but they're not the biggest pricks in the room."

5:39pm: The show has officially started! Well, Richard Wilkins is warming up the crowd -- which includes The Wiggles, Molly Meldrum, 5SOS and Rita Ora -- for host Keith Urban. "A tight show is a great show," Dickie said. (We couldn't agree more.)

5:10pm: Keith Urban has delivered on his promise to bring wife Nicole Kidman as his date to tonight's ARIA Awards.

However! Kidman still brought her own special date to the event: her niece, Lucia Hawley, the 20-year-old daughter of her sister Antonia.

4:36pm: Sophie Monk has arrived with her dad, Andrew, and they both look incredible. Check out Papa Monk's shirt!

Andrew was meant to make his red carpet debut alongside Sophie last week, at the Maxim party thrown in the TV star's honour. However, because Sophie was recovering from surgery, they couldn't make the event. 

3:21pm: Fan favourites 5SOS hit the red carpet looking sharp.

2:44pm: And the stars have started arriving! They look very good given the rainy circumstances. Ksenija Lukich, Beau Ryan and Christian Wilkins were among the first to hit the ARIA Awards red carpet.

2:16pm: The 9Honey Celebrity team ready to report from the red carpet.

2:04pm: Here's a look at the red carpet set-up. Word is organisers had to re-organise everything at the last minute to make sure the red carpet was under cover. Because rain -- lots of rain.

1:59pm: Celebs have started sharing their ARIAs looks on social media! Hooray. Here's the very cute Amy Sheppard, of the band Sheppard, braving the rain in a frothy two-piece ensemble.

And here's her sister and bandmate, Emma Sheppard, in full glam mode.

1:31pm: The cat's been outta the bag for a while but Keith Urban -- who will be hosting tonight's ceremony -- has revealed on his Instagram that he will be performing with Amy Shark, the Gold Coast-raised muso who's been nominated for the most ARIAs this year! Looking forward to this one.

11:18am: Tayla Damir, the co-winner of Love Island Australia, is taking over 9Honey Celebrity's Instagram Stories today as she gets ready for the ARIAs. She's already been affected by the rain, and revealed she had to cancel several of her appointments due to wet weather!

9:03am: TODAY's entertainment editor Richard Wilkins announced this morning that rock royalty Sir Bob GeldofSir Bob Geldof at the ARIAs to co-present the Apple Music Song of the Year Award with Keith Urban.