Tuesday, September 17, 2002
3 things I hate about... the Mercury Music awards
1) Mercury: The most credible UK annual music awards are sponsored by the least credible UK telecommunications company. That'll be Mercury, the phone company that shone brightly for a brief period, then faded away into cashless obscurity. A very appropriate sponsor for the awards that brought you Gomez and, er, Talvin Singh?
2) Music: Apparently we're defining Joanna McGregor, The Bees, Guy Barker and The Coral as amongst 'the best in British Music'. These artists were virtually unknown before the shortlist was announced, and only a cynic would suggest that this event is merely a blunt marketing exercise to raise flagging record sales. However, I think the presence of the latest David Bowie album on the list speaks for itself.
3) Awards: The judges delight every year in not picking an obvious winner. Last year they passed over Radiohead, Basement Jaxx and Super Furry Animals in favour of P J Harvey. In 2000 they completely failed to spot the potential of a group called Coldplay. This year they gave the award to Ms Dynamite when clearly The Streets should have walked it. Next year expect either the Tweenies or a Popstars wannabe to destroy the competition.
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