Duffy, Adele celebrates her black roots

Once again, the Mobos have announced their shortlists without bothering to actually publish the list on their own website, which - along with the news that Mel B and the Run from Run DMC will be presenting - suggests that even the MOBOs don't really take themselves seriously anymore.

Amongst this year's nominations for best music of black origin prizes are Adele and Duffy.

Which makes it a little more bemusing that the MOBO chief executive has a pop at Britain for not treating our black artists properly:

: "Hip Hop and R&B have emerged as popular music, not just genres beloved by a minority, and British artists are at the forefront.

"It's fantastic to see artists like Estelle, who Mobo championed early on, get their due.

"I'd like to call on the music industry to keep up the good work and capitalise on this. There are still barriers out there. Estelle had to go to America to really break through and be given her big chance.

"The talent is undoubtedly here, let's get behind them."

How about making a start by not using the awards designed to correct the white-artists-only bias of the Brit Awards to honour exactly the same white artists that the Brits fawn over.

Estelle, the Telegraph reminds us, was complaining about this very thing back in March:

"I'm not mad at them, but I'm wondering - how the hell is there not a single black person in the press singing soul?" she asked in an interview published in March. "Adele ain't soul. She sounds like she heard some Aretha records once, and she's got a deeper voice - that don't mean she's soul. That don't mean nothing to me in the grand scheme of my life as a black person."

That's going to make things a bit frosty at the prize-giving, then.