Celebrating 20 years, the RTÉ Choice Music Prize is bigger than ever before.
The countdown is on for one of the biggest nights of the year for the Irish music industry, which takes place in front of a live audience at Dublin’s Vicar Street tonight.
The live awards event will be broadcast on RTÉ 2FM from 7pm and is hosted by Tracy Clifford.
Showcasing the best in Irish music, the event was originally set up to encourage, highlight, and promote Irish music of excellence.
Since its inception in 2005 the Choice Prize has grown and has championed homegrown music, with artists ranging from The Divine Comedy, to Denise Chaila and Villagers all having won the top accolades.
Over the awards’ history there have been more than 200 shortlisted albums, numerous performances and twenty winning albums and it has been an important launchpad for many rising artists across the country.
Last year’s winners included Lankum for their album False Lankum and Cian Ducrot for his song Heaven.
There is a range of five categories in the awards event, including the prestigious Album of the Year award.
While organisers will be remaining tight lipped about this year’s award winners until tonight, one category was revealed in February.
Watermark from Enya was confirmed as the Classic Irish Album and it was selected by a panel of industry experts.
The judges said they chose Watermark, because not only was it a "remarkable piece of work for its time, but it has endured across the 37 years since it was released …. And continues to inspire and influence generations of music to this day."
There are four remaining categories to be revealed and they include, Irish Song of the Year, Irish Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Irish Artist of the Year and the prestigious Irish Album of the Year.
For Irish Song of the Year, the fans are invited to pick their favourite track through a public vote.
Irish Album of the Year carries a €10,000 prize and this winner is chosen by a panel of music industry experts.
The nominees for Irish Album of the Year include, A Lazarus Soul with No Flowers Grow In Cement Gardens, Curtisy with What Was The Question, Romance from Fontaines DC, Orla Gartland with Everybody Needs A Hero, Fine Art from Kneecap, NewDad's MADRA, Niamh Regan with Come As You Are, Róis with Mo Léan, Silverbacks with Easy Being A Winner, and Sprints' Letter To Self.
Due to touring commitments, Fontaines DC and Kneecap won’t be present but are sure to be keeping an eye on the awards for the evening!
If you did not get your hands on a ticket for the live event, you can tune in to hear the show live on RTÉ 2FM or watch the highlights on RTÉ2 on Thursday, 13 March at 10.35pm.
Check out choicemusicprize.ie for the list of nominees.
