Lorde leads by example for ARIAs as Royals rumbles on Lorde in concert. This is big. As big as it gets really. Which is why there's no ennui for 17-year-old Ella Yelich-O'Connor at the thought that her song is still No.1 in the American charts. "It's still a thing," the artist known as Lorde said with a laugh. Eight weeks, right? Eight weeks and counting for her single, Royals, which is turning into one of the biggest songs of the year. That's not too shabby for a girl from the Auckland suburb of Devonport who has only just completed her final year at school. And one reason why it is Lorde and not the older, chart-topping American Alicia Keys who is the hitherto secret star of Sunday's ARIA Awards. All of which suggests Lorde's first Australian television performance might be a timely lesson for a local industry high on domestic success this year but still searching for its next international star. You could argue that, for the awards, having Lorde - who writes, produces and performs her songs as well as being a handy prose writer - is saying to our own artists that you can do this and you can do it without being a Beyonce copy or an imitation of a British band from two years ago. And, given her lively commentary on fame and the stupidities foisted on the famous, you can do it without turning into a bland public figure, too. "Here's the thing, when I started making music I had no press shots, and done no interviews and I was like, I'm going to be the mysterious one because I listened to a lot of electronic music and I admired that persona," Lorde said. As things developed, I realised I was moving into the mainstream and I didn't know if pop really needed [an] unattainable figure. I was like, I'm a teenager doing this, I'm so new to it and I'm pretty much learning how every other teenager would be in this situation so I might as well be outspoken about it. Asked if she saw a compatible Australian artist, Lorde plumped for both Melbourne rapper Allday ("he's informal and funny") and electronic musician Flume, the 22-year-old Sydneysider Harley Streten whose nine nominations at the ARIAs confirms a successful year. "There's some cool electronic music coming out of Australia and I really like what he's doing," Lorde said. Flume's success has brought a lot of people out thinking they could do what he has done, which is cool. If Flume makes it as the next breakout star, Lorde has one piece of advice: take and keep control. This is my thing all the time, 24 hours ... I make music.