November 30th, 2007
Choice Music Prize 2007
Jim has finally revealed some details about the 2007 Choice Music Prize, but has left us dangling on who the judges are (I’m expecting a couple of bloggers) and no hint of who’ll make the shortlist.
It’s no mean feat wading through so many albums but there’s usually a healthy mix of opinion from the 12 strong judging panel. It was a lot of fun last year and the debating process was a revelation - if you’d told me at the start of the night last year that Neil Hannon would be the eventual winner, I would’ve been happy but extremely surprised. Many of us in the room had polar opposite views, something which made duking it out really interesting.
So who will be on this year’s shortlist? I’d hazard a guess at Roisin Murphy, Delorentos, Super Extra Bonus Party, Dry County, The Once soundtrack, Hooray for Humans, John Hegarty, Future Kings of Spain, Cathy Davey and my favourite, Adrian Crowley.
The shortlist of 10 and the judging panel will be announced on Wednesday 9 January 2008. The winner will be announced at Vicar Street, Dublin on Wednesday 27 February 2008 with the Choice Prize gig featuring most/all of the acts shortlisted.
November 30th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Ah good, I should have had some visitors from Ireland by then so I’ll tell them to stock up on some of these CDs for me at Road Records, at least by the time the winner is announced I should have formed an opinion. I’ve only heard the Roisin Murphy one. Any recommendations asides from Mr Crowley?
November 30th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Delorentos have picked up huge support here and they always remind me of Franz Ferdinand (no bad thing). The Cathy Davey album is prettyt good, quite quirky and has picked up four, and even five star reviews in Ireland. John Hegarty’s album is a bit of gem, and deserves more coverage than its gotten. Saw Dry County supporting Halfset last week and they know how to put on a kickass live show. I also think the Hansard/Irglova musical collaborations are really evocative even though I’m not a Frames fan.
November 30th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
[…] If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my site using a feedreader or email. Thanks for visiting - Damien.is what some people will probably be saying when Jimbo Carroll makes them feel special. And they should feel special. The Choice Music event is a great thing. Hat tip Sinéad. Hope you didn’t fall off your seat when you saw the title. Digg it! | Reddit | Del.icio.us | Stumble Upon | Google […]
December 13th, 2007 at 12:38 am
Why do people have a problem with musicians judging writing awards, but no problem with bloggers,(writers?),judging music awards?
December 13th, 2007 at 8:39 am
Rory, I’m guessing you’re referring to the Lily Allen post from yesterday. There is a big difference between the two.
Judging panels for any prize should be put together on the basis of experience in relation to what they’re judging. It’s not about musicians judging musicians, writers must judge writers, etc it’s about experience and knowledge of the area you’re being asked to evaluate.
In terms of the Choice prize, you’re taking about people who work in the relevant area, who listen to a lot of music, review a lot of albums and generally have a wealth of knowledge and reference points that qualifies them as judges.
Hearing that Lily Allen likes to read, doesn’t mean she’ll be an informed judge.
If it turns out that a blogger like Niall is on the Choice judging panel, are you saying that he’s unqualified to be a judge because he’s not a musician, even though he posts multiple informed, varied, well-written reviews every day?
That’s something I’d have a problem with.
December 14th, 2007 at 1:24 am
No I’m not saying that, I just think if you have one you have to have the other. Ok I was being a bit frivolous concerning Lily Allen and her writing abilites but it was just to make a point. Anyway I don’t read music reviews, except for when I’m too hung-over to do anything else and then I just go and buy what I wanted anyway.