John Kennedy: "Mercury Is The Cream Of UK Music"

added 07 September 2010 at 17.25

The Xfm DJ and prize judge says the arguments continue to the last minute...

A load of indie A-listers are gathering at a swanky hotel on Park Lane this evening to find out the winner of this year's Barclaycard Mercury Prize. Xfm's John Kennedy is one of the 12 angry men and women on the judging panel and he says the decision goes right down to the wire.

"We meet up before the awards show and we have a big argument about who should win," he says, £and that argument continues literally until the very last minute."

Xfm's X-Posure supremo is pleased that once again most of the bands on the shortlist have appeared on his show over the past 12 months.

"The amazing thing is that it's from people such as Paul Weller who have a long long history to people who are brand new, such as The xx or Villagers... they've all been on the show.

"It really does represent a lot of things that have been happening in Britain, so you've got that folk element represented by Mumford and Laura Marling and then you've got the new rock things, the more experimental things such as The xx, Wild Beasts or Foals."

The winner is announced after 10pm tonight (September 7). Xfm's Dan O'Connell will be reporting live from the show, while Paddy Kelly will host a Mercury special from 10pm.

Tagged as Awards