The official launch of the Meteor Ireland Music Awards 2009 took place this afternoon. The list of nominations in the public voting categories was leaked yesterday, generally making the whole thing a bit of an anti-climax:
Best National DJ
Tony Fenton - TodayFM
Dan Hegarty - 2FM
Alison Curtis - Today Fm
Dave Fanning - RTE Radio 1
Ray Foley - Today FM
Rick O'Shea - 2FM
Best Regional DJ
Dermot, Dave & Siobhan - Dublin's98
The Red Rooster Show with KC and Lenny - Cork's Red FM
Leigh Doyle - Beat 102.103
The Zoo Crew - Spin South West
Mark Noble - FM104
Jon Richards - Galway Bay FM
Best Irish Band
The Blizzards
Republic of Loose
Fight Like Apes
The Script
Snow Patrol
Best Irish Male
Mick Flannery
Damien Dempsey
Duke Special
David Holmes
Jape (Richard Egan)
Best Irish Female
Enya
Lisa Hannigan
Gemma Hayes
Imelda May
Tara Blaise
Camille O'Sullivan
Best Irish Pop Act
Boyzone
The Blizzards
The Coronas
The Script
Westlife
Best Irish Album
Fight Like Apes - Mystery Golden Medallion
Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns
Lisa Hannigan - Sea Sew
Messiah J & The Expert - From the Word Go
The Script - The Script
Best Irish Live Performance
The Coronas - The Button Factory (?)
The Blizzards - Oxegen
The Swell Season - The Olympia
Fight Like Apes - Whelan's
Republic of Loose - The Academy
At the launch this afternoon, it was also announced that renowned traditional accordianist Shannon Shannon is to receive the lifetime achievement award - pretty good going for a woman who's yet to turn fifty! She'll be the youngest ever recipient of the award and is set to perform the (massively annoying) hit "Galway Girl" at the award ceremony. Nominations for the following "non-public voting" categories were also announced at the launch:
Best Traditional/Folk
Damien Dempsey
Martin Hayes & Denis Cahill
Colm Mac Con Iomaire
Eleanor McEvoy
John Spillane
Best International Live Performance
Leonard Cohen - IMMA
Coldplay - The O2
Kings of Leon - Oxegen
Bruce Springsteen - RDS
The Killers - Marlay Park
Best International Band
AC/DC
Coldplay
Elbow
The Killers
Kings of Leon
Best International Female
Beyonce
Duffy
Lykki Li
Pink
Rihanna
Best International Male
Chris Brown
Nick Cave
Bon Iver
James Morrisson
Kanye West
Best International Album
Day & Age - The Killers
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Only By The Night - Kings of Leon
The Circus - Take That
Viva La Vida or Death and all his friends - Coldplay
The Meteor Ireland Music Awards 2009 will take place at the RDS on St. Patrick's day this year. The ceremony will be hosted by TV presenter Amanda Byram and broadcast the following day on RTE2. Go to meteormusicawards.meteor.ie to get voting for your favourite Irish artists now.
