Polaris Prize Gala Tonight!

2010 Polaris Prize Gala
Polaris Prize Gala

Hey folks, all the handicapping and speculating will finally come to an end tonight (Sep 20) when the 2010 Polaris Prize winner is announced at the Annual Awards Gala at Toronto’s Masonic Temple. Like last year, all ten nominees (Dan Mangan, Tegan and Sara, The Besnard Lakes, Owen Pallet, Radio Radio, The Sadies, Broken Social Scene, Caribou, Karkwa and Shad) will be performing and the audio of the show will be simulcast in North America on SIRIUS Satellite Radio channel 86 and in the world on CBC Radio 3. If you’d like to see video of the show, it will be webcast live on muchmusic.com on Monday night and broadcast on MuchMusic on Sat, September 25 at 9pm and midnight ET.

Full details after the jump.

DATE: September 20, 2010 at 8pm ET
LISTEN: In North America on SIRIUS Satellite Radio channel 86 and in the world on CBC Radio 3.
WATCH: Live on MuchMusic.com and MuchMusic Saturday September 25 at 9pm and midnight ET.
WHERE: CTV’s Concert Hall studios at Toronto’s Masonic Temple.
WIN: A trip to the gala with SIRIUS Satellite Radio also has contest for fans to enter to win a VIP trip for 2 to attend the gala. The contest includes return airfare, 3 nights deluxe hotel accommodations, $500 spending money, 2 tickets for the Polaris Music Prize Gala, an exclusive Meet and Greet with a favourite Short List nominee, and a Sportster 5 radio with one year subscription to SIRIUS Satellite Radio. Contest entry is at www.sirius.ca and closes Tuesday, August 31.

We’ve got all ten, again! For the second year in a row the gala will feature performances by all of the 10 Short Listed artists. They are The Besnard Lakes, Broken Social Scene, Caribou, Karkwa, Dan Mangan, Owen Pallett, Radio Radio, The Sadies, Shad, and Tegan And Sara.

The gala will be hosted by CBC Radio 3’s Grant Lawrence and MuchMusic’s Sarah Taylor.

The Grand Jury are Rob Bowman (York University), Jenny Charlesworth (The Georgia Straight), Leah Collins (Dose.ca), Del Cowie (Exclaim!), Jonathan Dekel (Spinner), Amanda Farrell (Monday Magazine), Jian Ghomeshi (CBC – Q), Marc Xavier Leblanc (freelance journalist and DJ), Francois Marchand (Vancouver Sun), Andre Peloquin (Bang Bang) and Phillippe Rezzonico (Rue Frontenac). They will be sequestered deep inside the Masonic Temple during the gala to decide who wins the $20,000 at the end of the night They are selected from the 182 member-Polaris Jury.

This year’s gala presenters were also announced. They are members of the Polaris jury and include Alan Cross (Explore Music, The Ongoing History Of New Music), Johnny Hockin (MTV Canada), Carl Wilson (Globe and Mail), and Nick Jennings (This Beat Goes On).

Previous Polaris Music Prize winners have been Toronto’s Fucked Up for The Chemistry of Common Life in 2009, Dundas’ Caribou for Andorra (2008), Montréal’s Patrick Watson for Close To Paradise (2007) and Toronto’s Final Fantasy for He Poos Clouds (2006). Damian Abraham from Fucked Up will be on hand to crown the 2010 winner.