NME awards loom on the horizon

Was it Idolator who were taking the piss out of us as a nation last week, with our seemingly non-stop rolling of music awards?

They'll still be snickering, as the NME announces where it'll be holding the prize-giving next February - presumably to allow diaries to be cleared.

Brixton Academy on February 25th, and still sponsored by that stuff you put in your hair.

Could you try and look a little more excited, please? Come on, NME, whip us into a frenzy. It's the awards. Surely you must have someone famous ready with a quote about how it's going to be the biggest ass-kickin' something or other of the year?

NME publishing director Paul Cheal said: "With the Awards night at Brixton Academy, the Big Gig at the O2 and an extensive range of Awards Shows across the country, we're confident that the Shockwaves NME Awards 2009 will be the most exciting yet.

"Voted for by fans and with more opportunities for fans to take part than ever before, the NME Awards will be the most accurate barometer of the best in new music."

Mmm. It's like a barometer, but a finely tuned one. Not like those Q Awards, which really only function to the standard of a little weather house where the man comes out if it's going to be raining and a woman comes out if it's going to be sunny.

I've never quite believed Ugly Betty when Henry somehow finds himself propelled out of the back office to be at the centre of things at Mode, but maybe it does happen.

The question is, though, doesn't this make it sound like the NME believes its readership are a better guide to the best new music is than the magazine itself?

The other question is: isn't this starting to look like a little too much fuss over a reader's poll? It's like the NME's sole raison d'etre is to hope to get through the summer with a Cool List or two before throwing itself on the mercy of the reader's poll. Michael Jackson (not that one) was rumoured to have only given What The Papers Say a berth on BBC2 because he wanted the awards; but unless the brand giving the prizes means something, where is the value of their judgement?