- You are tuned to Xfm London
- switch to Xfm Manchester
Antony And The Johnsons Win Mercury Prize
Outside bets Antony And The Johnsons surprised bookies last night by walking away with the Nationwide Mercury Prize 2005 for their emotive collection of torch songs, ‘I Am A Bird Now’. The group picked up a trophy and £20,000 prize money.
Whilst the bookies' favourites, the Kaiser Chiefs, floundered, Chichester-born singer-songwriter Antony sufficiently impressed judges to walk away with the annual award last night (September 6).
Beating off three-time nominees Coldplay and other strong contenders The Magic Numbers and Bloc Party, Antony And The Johnsons’ album was voted the best album of the year by a panel of industry judges chaired by Simon Frith (and featuring Xfm’s very own Lauren Laverne) at the ceremony hosted by Jools Holland.
The ceremony, held as always at the Grosvenor House in London, featured performances from The Kaiser Chiefs, who opened the show with a 'I Predict A Riot' plus songs from Maximo Park, The Magic Numbers, K.T. Tunstall and Bloc Party.
Conspicuous by their absence were Coldplay all of whom were are on tour in the US and playing Madison Square Gardens in New York that night.
If you’ve still not decided which your favourite album was, or still have little to know idea what a Polar Bear playing jazz sounds like, click here for all the news, reviews and album playbacks for all the nominated artists.
The full list of nominees was:
- Anthony & The Johnsons ‘I Am A Bird Now’ WINNER
- Bloc Party ‘Silent Alarm’
- Coldplay ‘X&Y’
- The Go! Team ‘Thunder Lightning Strike’
- Hard Fi ‘Stars Of CCTV’
- Kaiser Chiefs ‘Employment’
- K T Tunstall ‘Eye To The Telescope’
- M. I. A ‘Arular’
- The Magic Numbers ‘The Magic Numbers’
- Maximo Park ‘A Certain Trigger’
- Polar Bear ‘Held On The Tips Of Fingers’
- Seth Lakeman ‘Kitty Jay’
Tagged as Antony And the Johnsons, archive
Login to xfm+
latest videos
-
Oasis 'I'm Outta Time'
-
Xfm Meets New Order Part 1
How did New Order rise from the ashes of Joy Division? Peter Hook tells all.
-
Xfm Meets New Order Part 2
How New Order made the million-selling 12-inch monster 'Blue Monday'.
-
Xfm Meets New Order Part 3
Peter Hook reveals how New Order mastered playing electronic music live.
schedule
-
now: 1:00PM - 4:00PM
The best new music and classic tunes including the X-list at 1. Email Jo.Good@xfm.co.uk or text 83xfm (standard network).
-
next: 4:00PM - 7:00PM
Drive time with Dave Berry, call Dave on 0871 222 1049 or txt 83xfm (std network).