Yahoo Finance The 2023 Mercury Prize Live - Ezra Collective win the 2023 Mercury Prize
Tonight is the night when 12 artists discover who is the winner of the 2023 Mercury Prize, and NationalWorld is on hand to provide live coverage of the event, including information about the nominees, thoughts on the live performances and of course the announcement who has won this year's away.
Coverage is already underway on BBC 6 Music and BBC Sounds, with Tom Ravenscroft and Deb Grant interviewing the nominees and a previous Mercury host, with the winner being announced shortly after 10pm BST and live coverage on BBC 4 from 9pm this evening.
That was the Mercury Awards 2023
And that is our coverage at NationalWorld for this year's Mercury Prize.
Another congratulations to Ezra Collective - and see you next year!
A big speech about giving support to younger musicians, given the band met at a youth club.
They're about to perform one more time - a victory lap.
Lauren thanks everyone and we get Ezra Collective to play us off.
EZRA COLLECTIVE ARE YOUR 2023 MERCURY PRIZE WINNERS
They've done it.
Best performance of the night. Praises to god. Everyone, including the other nominees, seems happy for the group.
A well deserved win. Afrobeat needs wins like this
Jam Supernova is coming out to make the announcement.... who is it going to be this year?
We're getting a recap of last year's winner, Little Simz, and an interview with the musician who admits she "blacked out" when she heard she had won.
So who's it going to be? Did you have a favourite that was changed after this evening's performances?
We're at that stage now for a winner to be announced.....
So that's all the performances and we're past that "just after 10pm" estimate for an announcement of who is the winner.
But no one's going to rush Carner of the stage. He's utterly remarkable tonight.
Here comes the favourite - Loyle Carner
It's his second nomination for the Mercury Prize after his debut got the nod in yesteryears. The crowd are at their most energetic ahead of his performance.
Of course it was always going to be "Woe" that Shygirl would perform. Among a very strong group of songs on 'Nymph,' this one is definitely one that punches above the rest.
Shygirl to perform next...
... meaning Loyle Carner is closing the show.
This performance should be excellent - Shygirl has been signal-boosted by the likes of fka Twigs.
Fred Again is in London - but not Hammersmith
Fred Again... is currently on tour and is in residence elsewhere in London. He has sent a message thanking everyone for being included in the shortlist and we cut to his euphoric performance at Glastonbury 2023
The crowd are very receptive to RAYE as she takes to the stage
Another crowd favourite, RAYE performing "The Thrill Is Gone" very much has echoes of Amy Winehouse. Which is quite a lofty comparison that I'm sure she gets all the time, but it's eerie how similar they are - and how good it is.
There's a lot of music I'm buying this weekend isn't there?
Lankum on "Go Dig My Grave"
(Credit: Stereogum)
"Our interpretation of the traditional song “Go Dig My Grave” is one that centers around the emotion of grief – all-consuming, unbearable and absolute. A visceral physical reaction to something that the body and mind are almost incapable of processing. The second part of the song is inspired by the Irish tradition of keening (from the Irish caoineadh) – a traditional form of lament for the deceased. Regarded by some as opening up “perilous channels of communication with the dead,” the practice came under severe censure from the Catholic Church in Ireland from the 17th century on."
Lankum perform "Go Dig My Grave"
I heard that Lankum's performance was meant to be quite a powerful moment, with a cacophony towards the end of "Go Dig My Grave." It's pretty ominous sounding already - a dark horse for the award?
Where is Marina Licht when I need a fashion eye on what Lauren Laverne is wearing? I don't know if it's blue and black, or white and gold.
Young Fathers perform "I Saw"
Bookies favourite as of this afternoon alongside Loyle Carner, Young Fathers are always impressive live.
This performance is no exception
Pretty downbeat performance, but after that Ezra Collective performance I think a lot of performances tonight are going to be downbeat.
We've still got Young Fathers, RAYE and Loyle Carner to perform before the event finishes.
Speaking of which....
There are around 45 minutes until the awards are set to finish broadcasting, which means we have maybe 30 minutes for the judges to decide upon a winner.
We say this, but apparently, the judges at times are asked to have a verdict before the live performances. We can see now why, as blogged earlier, there can be a lot of animosity in that judging room
Jockstrap perform "Concrete Over Water"
Another performance I was looking forward to - I've enjoyed what I've heard of Jockstrap so far, and to sound utterly pretentious, I like the neo-Brechtian vibes from them. The crowd at the Apollo are pretty spellbound right now.
J Hus will not be performing
Bit of a shame as I was looking forward to his performance.
But Lauren Laverne's just announced that due to illness, J Hus will not be performing tonight at the ceremony.
Best wishes to him. Get well soon.
