mercurial nonsense...

Things that you might have missed during the Mercury Music Prize, and the mania following Klaxons win (did you know that the Guardian gave their album a one star review in January?!):

Jools Holland pocketed the cheque before announcing the winner, and produced later on whilst interviewing the band to genuinely delight cries of “The cheque! The cheque!!”. I thought the Stormtrooper-style plaster cast added to the vaguely futuristic gold lame look the band had been sporting. And they appear to have Edward Scissorhands as a drummer…


In other notable Mercury nonsense:

Seb Rochford – aka The Hair!

Fionn Regan – his acceptance speech: “From the trenches and the moats, for this drawbridge, thanks.”

Natasha Khan – where does her voice come from? Spooky.

Young Knives – suited and booted in a city slicker version of their usual country jacket attire.

Only the Arctic Monkeys weren’t there to perform live - shame. That’s what winning the Mercury does – means you get so big you have to tour the US.

Everyone else did admirably but nothing more or less than we expected of them, namely, Jamie T, The View, New Young Pony Club, Maps, and Dizee Rascal.

And at last and least, we come to Amy – in her very own “she was there” shocker! She was also sounding and looking good, but the classic moment, caught on camera but off mic, was her mouthing to Jools post-performance, “Have I won?”

Amy, Amy, Amy – what is there left to say? Instead I’ll direct you to the prescient lyrics (given that Amy’s aged only 23) of Sir Andrew of Lloyd Webber in Evita’s High Flying Adored:

High flying, adored, what happens now, where do you go from here?
For someone on top of the world, the view is not exactly clear.
A shame you did it all at twenty-six.
There are no mysteries now,
Nothing can thrill you, no-one fulfill you.

High flying, adored, I hope you come to terms with boredom -
So famous, so easily, so soon, is not the wisest thing to be.
You won't care if they love you, it's been done before.
You'll despair if they hate you, you'll be drained of all energy.
All the young who've made it would agree.


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