MELVYN BRAGG ANNOUNCES THE OFFICIAL NOMINEES FOR THE 13TH ANNUAL SOUTH BANK SHOW AWARDS CELEBRATING THE BEST OF BRITISH TALENT ACROSS THE ARTS
On the 20th January 2009, Melvyn Bragg will host the South Bank Show Awards in front of a star studded audience at The Dorchester Hotel, London.
Now in its 13th year, the annual awards show is the only awards show in the world to reflect the strength of British talent and achievement across the spectrum of the arts including, Classical Music, Comedy, Dance, Film, Literature, Opera, Pop, Theatre, TV Drama and Visual Arts.
The South Bank Show Awards is broadcast on ITV1 Wednesday 28th January 2009 at 22.35.
The nominees in the category of Pop echo the range and diversity of current successful British artists. Winner of the 2008 Mercury Prize, alternative rock band Elbow set the bar for the nominees following a year of wide critical acclaim.
Elbow will have to compete with two fellow Mercury Prize nominees who have both made headlines for female achievement in British music.
Grammy-nominated R&B singer Estelle has had international success in 2008 with her hit single "American Boy" featuring Kanye West and took home the award for World's Best New R&B Act at this year’s World Music Awards.
Also nominated for her album ‘Alas I Cannot Swim’ is Reading-based songstress Laura Marling, who has been likened to veteran folksters Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez and has toured with a number of well-known indie artists around the world.
This year’s Film nominations demonstrate a strong representation of works from both emerging and established artists. Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges, which opened the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, will battle it out in the South Bank Show Awards Film category against James Marsh’s highly praised documentary Man On Wire and Steve McQueen’s debut feature film Hunger.
In the Theatre category, two Donmar Warehouse revivals - the newly energised The Chalk Garden and the refreshingly classical production of Othello starring Ewan McGregor, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Kelly Reilly – face stiff competition from the Royal Court
Theatre’s politically controversial play Now or Later written by young playwright Christopher Shinn.
Previous South Bank Show Award winners Gavin and Stacey return with their second series to compete for the Comedy Award against BBC3’s Pulling – Series 2 and Michael McIntyre’s Stand Up.
C4 positions itself with strong odds in the TV Drama category pulling in two nominations with The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall - a moving story of a family's struggle to discover what happened to their son in the Gaza Strip in April 2003 - and Peter Flannery's Civil War epic The Devil’s Whore, featuring an all star ensemble cast including John Simm, Dominic West and Angela Riseborough. They will compete against ITV1’s gripping thriller The Children starring Kevin Whately and Geraldine Somerville.
Competing for the Visual Arts Award is contemporary artist Sam Taylor-Wood, nominated for her work at White Cube alongside the disciplined, more formal work of Peter Doig at Tate Britain and the ongoing epic project by Charles Avery - The Islanders which began in 2004. The project uses texts, drawings, installations and sculptures to describe the cosmology of an imaginary island.
Classical Music nominees include Alfred Brendel, arguably Britain's greatest living pianist, for his Retirement Concerts, and the Southbank Centre’s Messaien Festival: Philharmonia Orchestra, a series marking the 100th Anniversary of Messaien's birth, including performances of two of the composer's most epic works: La Transfiguration de Notre-Seigneur Jesus-Christ and, Turangalila, conducted by the much-admired Kent Nagano and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Both will contend against classical music superstar Sir Simon Rattle, Liverpool Phil’s Artist Laureate for 2008.
Last year’s winner David McVicar's powerful production of the controversial Salome at the Royal Opera House will face the English National Opera’s collaborations with the Young Vic in the Opera category.
This year ENO and the Young Vic staged the UK premiere of Lost Highway and a new production of Punch and Judy. Another nomination for a Royal Opera House production finishes the category with perhaps the biggest event on the international opera scene this year – The Minotaur.
This year’s Dance nominations demonstrate the incredible diversity found in dance in the UK today. Akram Khan’s Bahok (Liverpool Playhouse) brought together nine dancers from different cultures, traditions and dance backgrounds.
Also nominated are the acclaimed I am Falling (The Gate at Sadlers Wells) and two productions from Wayne McGregor ; Infra, McGregor’s latest work for The Royal Ballet and Entity which has been praised by critics as ground breaking and technically astonishing in its field.
Literature continues to be an exciting category at the South Bank Show Awards with nominee Child 44, the serious crime novel by Tom Rob Smith, going up against the absorbing exploration of the notorious Road House murder case of 1860 in The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale. The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant – a beautifully detailed character study and poignant family history – is also nominated.
Arts Council England’s Diversity Award celebrates outstanding achievement by a diverse artist or by an organization that promotes diverse groups and cultures in any category of the arts.
Nominees this year include Heart n Soul, an organization with learning disability culture at its heart, and Arcola Theatre, an East London arts venue that runs one of the most extensive multi-cultural community and youth programmes in England.
The category is completed by a nomination for urban spiritual artist Mohammed Ali, known for his merging graffiti style with Islamic art and using his creative ability to connect different communities.
Winners in all categories, as well as those of the South Bank Show Award for Outstanding Achievement in association with The Dorchester Hotel, the Times Breakthrough Award and the Arts Council England’s Diversity Award, will be announced at the South Bank Show Awards Ceremony at London’s Dorchester Hotel on 20th January 2009.
Full Nominations List
Literature
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale
The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant
Theatre
The Chalk Garden – Donmar Warehouse
Othello – Donmar Warehouse
Now or Later – Royal Court Theatre
Pop
Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
Laura Marling – Alas I Cannot Swim
Estelle - Shine
Classical Music
Alfred Brendel’s Retirement Concerts
Messaien Festival: Philharmonia Orchestra – Southbank Centre(Two concerts; conductor Kent Nagano, La Transfiguration de Notre-Seigneur Jesus-Christ and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, Turangalila)
Simon Rattle conducting the Liverpool Phil (Excerpts from Wagner’s Gotterdammerung, Brett Dean’s new Songs of Joy and Symphony no 5 by Sibelius)
Opera
Salome - ROH
ENO/Young Vic (Punch and Judy / Lost Highway)
The Minotaur - ROH
TV Drama
The Children (ITV1)
The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall (C4)
The Devil’s Whore (C4)
Comedy
Gavin and Stacey – Series 2 (BBC)
Pulling – Series 2 (BBC3)
Michael McIntyre Stand Up
Dance
Akram Khan's Bahok - Liverpool Playhouse
I am Falling – The Gate at Sadler’s Wells
Wayne McGregor’s Infra at ROH and Entity - Wayne McGregor/Random Dance at Sadler's Wells and national tour
Visual Arts
Peter Doig – Tate Britain
Sam Taylor-Wood – White Cube
Charles Avery – The Islanders
Films
In Bruges – Martin McDonagh
Man On Wire – James Marsh
Hunger – Steve McQueen
Arts Council England’s Diversity Award
Heart n Soul Arts Organisation
Arcola Theatre
Mohammed Ali, Street Artist
Outstanding Achievement Award in association with The Dorchester
To be announced on the day
The Times Breakthrough Award
To be announced on the day
