The 2009 edition of the
CanadianPolaris Music Prize was presented on September 21, 2009 in
Toronto[1] at the
Masonic Temple and broadcast live online for the first time in its short history. The award's eligibility period for 2009 covered albums released between June 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009.[2]
Initial coverage of the award's shortlist noted that six of the ten finalists were repeat nominees.[3]K'naan,
Malajube and
Metric were all finalists in the
2006 shortlist, while
Joel Plaskett,
Chad VanGaalen and
Patrick Watson were all part of the
2007 award, which Watson won. It was the first time in the award's four-year history that any artist was named to the shortlist for a second time.
Winner
Toronto hardcore punk band
Fucked Up won with their second album, The Chemistry of Common Life, which despite being controversial, received a great deal of acclaim when it was released in October 2008.[4]
Shortlist
The prize's 10-album shortlist was announced on July 7, 2009.[1][5]
Sirius Satellite Radio, which had been a supporting sponsor and broadcaster of the awards since their inception, became a primary presenting sponsor of the awards in 2009.[1]
Media
In addition to being broadcast live on
CBC Radio 3, the 2009 ceremony was also
webcast on
MuchMusic's website, as well as produced for later broadcast on MuchMusic.[5]
Jury
The Polaris Music Prize blog began announcing the 2009 jurors one by one in late June 2009. Announced jurors included
Corus Entertainment radio programmer
Alan Cross, music blogger Bryan Acker (Herohill) and newspaper music critics Sue Carter Flinn (The Coast), Peter Hemminger (FFWD), Serge Paradis (Ici), Stuart Derdeyn (Vancouver Province) and Brendan Murphy (Hour).