Mercury Music Prize U75 Sweepstakes! Roll up Roll up!

[janeb]

*claps and cheers*

Well done you

Well done us all (the 4 of us) and Antony, he looked really overwhelmed with the result - me and Mr Janeb discussed afterwards and we both think it's the vulnerability he exposes that makes his music so special. I can listen to this album any number of times and still hear new 'stuff', havent seen him live and don't think I'll be able to catch him on his forthcoming tour, but would love to.

janeb x

 

[clandestino]

i've seen him live and he left me cold, but i liked him a lot more after seeing his acceptance speech and the chat afterwards with jo whiley. seems like a decent bloke. when i saw him earlier this year i left feeling that i didn't enjoy it but i admired him for what he was doing and i feel much the same now. i'm glad he won, but i'd rather leap around to the go team or mia.

seems like the right choice, all told.

 

[silentNate]

Ahem....and Janeb and Silent Nate

Do we split the milky bar between us?

Aren't milky bars Nestle?

I told you so

 

[butterfly child]

i've seen him live and he left me cold, but i liked him a lot more after seeing his acceptance speech and the chat afterwards with jo whiley. seems like a decent bloke. when i saw him earlier this year i left feeling that i didn't enjoy it but i admired him for what he was doing and i feel much the same now. i'm glad he won, but i'd rather leap around to the go team or mia.

seems like the right choice, all told.

Is that ice in your veins!!

I adore Antony & The Johnsons, have been v fortunate to see them three times and am over the moon they won last night.

I'm not prone to excessive displays of anything, but last nights announcement saw me jump off the sofa and punch the air!

 

[andy2002]

seems like the right choice, all told.

I love the Kaisers and really wanted M.I.A. to win but I'm very happy for Antony. I'd never heard any of his stuff before but the song he did last night was amazing – I ordered the album straight after the ceremony on BBC4 had finished.

 

[Dubversion]

rubbish choice

 

[Belushi]

Watched a bit of the show on BBC4 last night but after Coldplay and The Go Team I couldn't face anymore.

 

[andy2002]

rubbish choice

Why? I've only heard the one song and I guess you could say it was a little mawkish but, bloody hell, what a voice! I actually found the song he did last night and his performance of it very moving, and I can't remember the last time I said that about anything.

 

[Dubversion]

it just does nothing for me. tortured, overwrought nonsense. he seems like a lovely fella and has a great story and stuff, but it's all too diva, too shrill, too bloody Marc & The Mambas or something.

 

[Termite Man]

I'm just pleased the Magic Numbers didn't win ! Although I still think it should have been the Go! team

 

[ska invita]

re: Antony & the Johnsons- The fact that laurie anderson and Lou reed (who are married, did you knw that?) championed him to death says a lot about it - its all very broken, fragile and soulful in a rehab kind of way. His voice is great, but I reckon a whole career based on it will get a bit samey. But critics love him to bits, and there is a lot to love - Im sure it comes over best live...

I think he's a worthy winner: the music is truly fresh, emotionally charged, lyrics are deep... good for him! However, people saying he sings like nina simone or billy holliday are tripping, he sings like a harrowed but extremely earnest man with gender issues. To be fair, he thinks they're tripping for saying that too...

Also, Im not sure if any of these new UK guitar bands have payed enough dues to be picking up awards yet - even last years winners Franz Ferdinand only deserved to win because the competition was a little bit weak.

I was impressed by Hard-Fi though, pretty clever lyrics and that, but the elad singer is a bit of a cocky little fucker... if they get any more famous he'll turn into Liam is hes not carefull. KT Tunistall sounded good too, never heard her stuff before.

All in all the most talented man won, I reckon.

 

[andy2002]

it just does nothing for me. tortured, overwrought nonsense. he seems like a lovely fella and has a great story and stuff, but it's all too diva, too shrill, too bloody Marc & The Mambas or something.

I know what you mean and all that would have usually put me off too. But I loved his voice and his performance was just absolutely captivating. It's difficult to say too much more as I haven't heard the rest of the album yet, but I just found what he was doing really interesting. It was funny to compare his song – raw, emotional, powerful – with the dreary, whiny, cynical Coldplay ballad they also showed last night.

 

[Lisarocket]

KT Tunistall sounded good too, never heard her stuff before.

Eye to the Telescope is a good album

 

[silentNate]

I know what you mean and all that would have usually put me off too. But I loved his voice and his performance was just absolutely captivating. It's difficult to say too much more as I haven't heard the rest of the album yet, but I just found what he was doing really interesting. It was funny to compare his song – raw, emotional, powerful – with the dreary, whiny, cynical Coldplay ballad they also showed last night.

Fistful of Love is their best track imho, I love his torchsong voice and would recommend anyone getting a copy
Can't comment on the other nominees though I'm glad Coldplay didn't win considering X+Y wasn't all that...

 

[J77]

views from last night

I thought Go! Team looked the best last night.

Didn't like M.I.A. when she was speaking/accepting the nomination - her music is better than her chat.

The others were so, so.

Magic numbers were the nest of the rest, imo.

 

[maldwyn]

I preferred his ( Antony) first album, this one seemed a tad flat and at 39 minutes a bit stingy. Still, good on him.

 

[gabi]

I think this result shows how pointless the Mercury is these days. Clearly, they're still wincing from having awarded it to the M People all those years ago, and so give it to the most left-field candidate they can find - regardless of whether they can sing or have any tunes. In this case, the winner definitely ticked all the right (wrong?!) boxes.

Nice guy/girl though.

 

[BadlyDrawnGirl]

Antony & The Johnsons are, frankly, sublime. It was one of those great moments when I first heard 'Hope There's Someone' on the radio - Radio 1 in fact, so not least because it stood out like a perfect white lily in a field of decaying dandelions.

Peely would have liked it.

 

[andy2002]

I think this result shows how pointless the Mercury is these days. Clearly, they're still wincing from having awarded it to the M People all those years ago, and so give it to the most left-field candidate they can find - regardless of whether they can sing or have any tunes. In this case, the winner definitely ticked all the right (wrong?!) boxes.

Nice guy/girl though.

Hardly – surely Polar Bear were the most 'left-field' candidates, no? It's also a bit narky to suggest Antony 'can't sing' as I suspect it's the quality and power of the bloke's voice that swung it for the Mercury judges.

And I thought M-People beating Blur to the prize all those years ago was hilarious. The arrogant twats had expected to walk it, so serves them right.

 

[Nitty]

Antony and the Johnsons!! There's more emotion in "Hope There's Someone" than in ALL of Coldplay's back catalogue...

My next two choices would have been Magic Numbers, Maximo Park & M.I.A... in that order...

 

[Nitty]

Three choices... (oops)