Canada’s top music prize, the Polaris Music Prize, announced finalists on their official Short List today. As expected, Metric, Malajube, K’NAAN, and 2007 winner Patrick Watson are all in contention for their latest albums. Also nominated are Fucked Up, Great Lake Swimmers, Elliott BROOD, Hey Rosetta!, Joel Plaskett, and Chad VanGaalen. The prize (more than just a statue, it’s $20k) is handed out on September 21 in Toronto. While the nominees are chosen by a cadre of 190 industry folk, the final prize is voted on by only 9.
This is the second time K’NAAN, Malajube, and Metric have all been nominated together. The last time was in 2006 when they lost to Final Fantasy. It’s hard to put an early handicap on the race, however, top-selling or even crticially acclaimed acts tend to lose out to dark horse nominees. K’NAAN’s breakthrough success makes him a frontrunner, but this could just as easily be the year for Great Lake Swimmers. We’d be happy to see either Metric or Malajube take home the prize, but Patrick Watson is clearly a judge’s fave.
Narrowed down from an official long list (announced last month), the finalists are a surprisingly un-diverse bunch. Almost all the nominees are from eastern Canada, with Calgary’s VanGaalen being the only western Canadian act on the list. Emily Haines of Metric is the only female voice, K’NAAN is the only non-white Canadian, and Malajube is the only Francophone act in the bunch. The long list was perhaps more diverse, but the finalists here do represent the country’s premium records of the past year, and across genres – from hardcore band Fucked Up to the modern folk of Plaskett and Hey Rosetta!. We’ll keep you posted on the prize gala details and of course, the winner.
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