Four-time winner Sia ‘saddened’ by criticism after failing to attend 2014 ARIAs

SIA Furler has lashed out at the amount of criticism she has copped for being a no-show at last night’s ARIAs, and has now given away all four of her precious statuettes to fans.

HOLLYWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 08: Singer Sia performs onstage at "TrevorLIVE LA" honoring Jane Lynch and Toyota for the Trevor Project at Hollywood Palladium on December 8, 2013 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images for Trevor Project)

SIA has spoken out on social media about how “saddened” she is after copping criticism for being a no-show at this year’s ARIAs.

The notoriously shy singer was the biggest winner of the night, claiming a total of four gongs. But there was no swinging from the Chandelier as she didn’t make an appearance at the awards show held in Sydney on Wednesday night. Instead, three of her awards were accepted on her behalf, with presenter Katy Perry accepting her Best Female Artist award.

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Sia, who chose to remain at her home in L.A., took to Twitter this morning to clarify what went on.

“I made four thank you/acceptance videos for the arias. They chose to show one,” she told her 740,000 followers, adding: “I’m saddened to be getting sh*t for being a ‘no-show’.”

I made four thank you/acceptance videos for the arias. They chose to show one. I'm saddened to be getting shit for being a 'no-show' 😔.

— sia (@Sia) November 26, 2014

ARIA bosses have now responded to Sia’s remarks, releasing the following statement to Faster Louder: “ARIA congratulates Sia on being the winner of 4 ARIA Awards. ARIA would have loved for Sia to attend and we invited her to perform at the event, but unfortunately she couldn’t make it.

“Of her two Award wins that were televised, the Album Of The Year video acceptance footage was shown on air and Sia’s friend, Katy Perry accepted Best Female Artist on her behalf. We will be posting Sia’s acceptance speech videos online, as well as all the other videos of the awards that aren’t televised. They will be posted on ARIA socials once they have completed downloading.”

Katy Perry promised to deliver Sia’s gong to her pal in person back in the US.

The Adelaide-raised singer-songwriter won Best Pop Release, Best Video, Best Female Artist and the biggest award of the night — Album of the Year for 1000 Forms of Fear. When her final award was announced, Sia’s acceptance video played on the screen with her newest stand-in recruit, US comedian Carrot Top (aka Scott Thompson) doing the honours wearing a signature Sia wig.

Sia followed up with a second tweet promising to give away her precious statuettes to the “first four people to document doing a good deed.”

On the upside, I won! Who wants one? First four people to document doing a good deed, I'll send you an aria. GO!!!

— sia (@Sia) November 26, 2014

Many of her followers began to tweet photos of their charitable acts, including donating money, helping family members and saving animals. It didn’t take long for Sia to find new homes for all four shiny gongs.

The first went to @MrWayneyB

@MrWayneyB address? You get one. Make sure you cc @17days . You were first!

— sia (@Sia) November 26, 2014

The second went to @QueenSiaFurler

@Sia i made a salad for a family whose child has terminal cancer :(❤️

— sia's aria (@QueenSiaFurler) November 26, 2014

The third went to @JACQUES901

@JACQUES901 you are third! Make sure to cc @17days with your address!

— sia (@Sia) November 26, 2014

The fourth went to @QTLBJ

@QTLBJ you were number 4! Cc @17days your address!

— sia (@Sia) November 26, 2014

Sia, whose big hit Chandelier dominated airwaves this year, is known for her efforts to avoid publicity and often performs with her back to the audience. She last appeared at the Aussie music awards in 2010 when she collected her own award.

Sia on the red carpet at the 2010 ARIA Awards at Sydney Opera House.

Perhaps she could have asked our favourite Sia stand-ins, Triple J co-hosts Matt and Alex, to accept the gongs on her behalf.

Matt Okine and Alex Dyson from Triple J dressed as Sia and Chet Faker.

Meanwhile, the awards nearly doubled their ratings from last year’s event. About 570,000 viewers tuned in to watch the show last night on Ten, with a peak of 602,000 watching the red carpet arrivals.