Sam Smith performs for ARN in Melbourne hosted by new breakfast presenters Jase and PJ

Sam Smith’s special live in Melbourne event, powered by Optus, KIIS and iHeartRadio, gave fans an unforgettable performance at Melbourne Town Hall last night.

The exclusive event was hosted by Melbourne’s newest breakfast team, KIIS 101.1’s Jase & PJ aka Jason ‘Jase’ Hawkins and Polly ‘PJ’ Harding.

After welcoming Sam on stage the duo did a short Q&A, with questions put forward from some of his biggest fans.

More than 1,350 fans, media, celebrities, music and radio industry executives attended the event including Magda Szubanski, Olympia Valance, Cathy Freeman, Rob Mills, TV presenters Christine Ahern and Jo Hall and cricketers Stephen Fleming and James Faulkner.

Smith treated the audience to an unforgettable performance which included songs from his new album The Thrill of it All.

Playing twelve songs over an hour, Smith chatted to the audience throughout the set, revealing stories behind the songs.

‘Palace’, he explained, was written after a song-writing session in Nashville, after realising that he’d never regretted any of the times he’d fallen in love. “True love is never a waste of time. Give your love away guys, every day”, he said, before beginning the song.

His introduction to ‘Say It First’ was just as candid, explaining: “This next one is the only positive love song I’ve ever written. This is that song where you just started seeing someone and you’re falling for them and you really love them, but you want them to say it first.”

Of his upcoming tour, he added, “I can’t believe we’ve already sold out some shows, I’m so excited to tour here.”

The final song of the night was reserved for his number one hit ‘Too Good At Goodbyes’ which had the entire room on their feet, swaying and dancing.

Fans won their way into the exclusive event via iHeartRadio.com.au and by listening to the KIIS NetworkMelbourne’s KIIS 101.1, Sydney’s KIIS 1065, Brisbane’s 97.3FM and Adelaide’s MIX 102.3. Optus also offered their customers the chance to meet the man himself, along with VIP tickets.

Bushra Abel, OPTUS’ Associate Director for TV Mobile and Video Content said: “The opportunity to give our customers an intimate experience with global megastar Sam Smith was not something we could pass up.

“At Optus, we are dedicated to bringing Australians closer to the music they love through data free streaming and exclusive events. Thanks to our partnership with KIIS 101.1 and iHeartRadio we’ve created an amazing event with incredible content that we can’t wait to share with music fans.”

iHeartRadio’s Geraint Davies said: “Sam Smith is an incredibly talented artist and it’s an honour to be part of the team, along with EMI and Optus, that gave his dedicated fans, and some well know faces like Magda Szubanski and Cathy Freeman, the chance to see him perform in such an intimate environment. The Australian public obviously loves Sam and his music, it’s great to see he’s added additional dates to his upcoming tour.”

“This was an excellent way to kick off what is going to be a fantastic year for ARN in Melbourne,” according to ARN’s National Content Director Duncan Campbell.

“KIIS 101.1’s new Breakfast team of Jase & PJ brought a great energy to their hosting role at the event and of course Sam Smith gave a brilliant performance for his Melbourne fans. I am excited that KIIS 101.1 and iHeartRadio in partnership with EMI and Optus could give Sam’s fans the chance to see their favourite artist up close in such a unique venue as Melbourne Town Hall.”

‘Too Good At Goodbyes’, the first single off Sam Smith’s new album, has achieved global success, hitting #1 on the ARIA Singles Chart and racing to Platinum sales. It also reached Number One on the UK singles chart, delivering Sam his sixth UK number one single, along with Australian, UK and US iTunes charts.

It’s been more than three years since Sam Smith’s debut album was released, and since then he has become one of the biggest acts on the planet with over 12 million global album sales and an array of impressive awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, three Brit Awards and four Grammys, among others. ‘The Thrill of It All’ sees him once again working alongside close friend and long term collaborator Jimmy Napes as well as the likes of Timbaland, Malay, Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd and Stargate. The album also sees Sam collaborate with unsigned artist, YEBBA for their breath-taking track ‘No Peace’.

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