2008 Meteor Awards Explained

The 2008 Meteor Music Awards ceremony was held in the RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin, on Friday, 15 February 2008.^[1] Nineteen awards were presented.^[2] It was the eighth edition of the Republic of Ireland's national music awards. The event was later broadcast on RTÉ Two on Saturday, 16 February at 21:00 and was hosted by comedian Dara Ó Briain for the first time since 2004.^{[3] [4]}

Duke Special and Cathy Davey won the Best Irish Male and Best Irish Female Awards respectively, whilst veteran rockers Aslan won the Best Irish Band Award^[5] and Paddy Casey's Addicted to Company won Best Irish Album. For the eighth consecutive year Westlife won the Best Irish Pop Act accolade. Ham Sandwich were presented with the Hope for 2008 Meteor Award by RTÉ 2fm DJ Rick O'Shea. The Blizzards won Best Irish Live Performance for their Main Stage appearance at Oxegen 2007, whilst Muse picked up the award for Best International Live Performance, which also occurred at Oxegen the previous year. The award for the Most Downloaded Song was given to Mundy and Sharon Shannon's chart hit "Galway Girl".^[6] The Saw Doctors were presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award and were also amongst the performers at the event.^[7]

Performances

There were performances at the event from The Saw Doctors, Boyzone,^[8] The Coronas, Cathy Davey, Westlife, Shayne Ward, Tom Baxter, Paddy Casey and Scouting for Girls, as well as exclusive duets between Sinéad O'Connor and Mick Pyro of Republic of Loose,^{[9] [10]} who performed the Curtis Mayfield song, "We People Who Are Darker Than Blue" and Gary Lightbody and Lisa Hannigan who performed, live for the first time, "Some Surprise" from The Cake Sale charity album.^{[11] [12]}

Nominations

Public voting categories

Best Irish Male

• Paddy Casey
• Damien Dempsey
• Duke Special
• Glen Hansard
• David Geraghty
• Declan O'Rourke

Best Irish Female

• Andrea Corr
• Cathy Davey
• Maria Doyle Kennedy
• Róisín Murphy
• Sinéad O'Connor
• Dolores O'Riordan

Best Irish Band

• Ash
• Aslan
• Fight Like Apes
• Delorentos
• The Flaws
• Future Kings of Spain

Best Irish Album

• Addicted to Company
• Tales of Silversleeve
• In Love with Detail
• Achieving Vagueness
• Nervousystem
• Kill Your Darlings

Best Irish Live Performance

• Bell X1  - Malahide Castle
• The Blizzards  - Oxegen 2007
• Duke Special  - Vicar Street
• Fight Like Apes  - Whelan's
• Future Kings of Spain  - The Village
• Damien Rice  - Marlay Park

Best Irish Pop Act

• Bell X1
• The Blizzards
• The Coronas
• Brian McFadden
• Róisín Murphy
• Westlife

Best National DJ

• Ray D'Arcy  - Today FM
• Ian Dempsey  - Today FM
• Tom Dunne  - Today FM
• Dave Fanning  - RTÉ 2fm
• Ray Foley  - Today FM
• Rick O'Shea  - RTÉ 2fm

Best Regional DJ

• Pete Casey
• Keith Cunningham
• Leigh Doyle
• Joe & Keith
• Mark Noble
• Jon Richards

Hope for 2008

• Leanne Harte
• Owen Brady
• The Kinetiks
• We Should Be Dead
• Ham Sandwich

Non-public voting categories

Best Traditional/Folk

• Damien Dempsey
• Tommy Fleming
• Kíla
• Moving Hearts
• Majella Murphy
• Sharon Shannon

Best International Male

• Richard Hawley
• Bruce Springsteen
• Timbaland
• Justin Timberlake
• Rufus Wainwright
• Kanye West

Best International Female

• Björk
• PJ Harvey
• Kylie Minogue
• Kate Nash
• Rihanna
• Amy Winehouse

Best International Band

• Arcade Fire
• The Killers
• Kings of Leon
• Radiohead
• The Shins
• Take That

Best International Album

• Neon Bible
• Boxer
• White Chalk
• Sound of Silver
• Raising Sand
• In Rainbows

Best International Live Performance

• Arcade Fire  - Olympia Theatre
• Björk  - Electric Picnic 07
• Muse  - Oxegen 2007
• The Police  - Croke Park
• Bruce Springsteen  - The Point
• Justin Timberlake  - RDS Arena

Lifetime Achievement Award

• The Saw Doctors

Most Downloaded Song

• "Galway Girl"  - Mundy and Sharon Shannon

External links

• Official site
• MCD Promotions
• List of winners through the years
• List of 2008 nominations at Phantom FM

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Meteors are on the way… . 2007-12-14 . 2007-12-14 . meteormusicawards.meteor.ie . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721125359/http://meteormusicawards.meteor.ie/page1770421.aspx . 2011-07-21 .
2. Web site: Stars out for the Meteors. 2008-02-16. 2008-02-17. RTÉ. https://web.archive.org/web/20080218040355/http://www.rte.ie/arts/2008/0216/meteor.html. 18 February 2008 . live.
3. Web site: Dara Ó Briain to host MIMA '08… . 2007-12-05 . 2007-12-14 . meteormusicawards.meteor.ie . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721125403/http://meteormusicawards.meteor.ie/page1770177.aspx . 2011-07-21 .
4. News: LOADED: At the Meteor Awards. 2008-02-22. 2009-01-28. Irish Independent.
5. News: Old and new stars dazzle at Meteor awards. 2008-02-02. 2009-02-21. The Irish Times.
6. Web site: Meteor eight in a row for Westlife…. 2008-02-15. 2008-02-15. Breaking News.ie.
7. Web site: Saw Doctors to be honoured at Meteors. 2008-01-11. 2008-01-11. RTÉ. https://web.archive.org/web/20080123145241/http://www.rte.ie/arts/2008/0111/sawdoctors.html. 23 January 2008 . live.
8. News: Sinead cuts Loose with new band…. 2008-01-23. 2008-02-01. Irish Independent.
9. Web site: Loose to Duet with Sinead. 2008-01-22. 2008-01-27. BBC Northern Ireland.
10. News: O'Connor duet to light up Meteor Awards. 2008-01-22. 2008-01-22. Irish Examiner.
11. Web site: Gary Lightbody Surprise. 2008-01-24. 2008-01-27. BBC Northern Ireland.
12. Web site: Watch Meteor Ireland Music Awards on RTÉ.ie. 2008-02-19. 2009-03-14. RTÉ. https://web.archive.org/web/20090303200045/http://www.rte.ie/arts/2008/0219/watchthemeteors.html. 3 March 2009 . live.