2009 Polaris Music Prize


The 2009 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 21, 2009 in Toronto 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.
Initial coverage of the award's shortlist noted that six of the ten finalists were repeat nominees. 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.

Shortlist

The prize's 10-album shortlist was announced on July 7, 2009.Fucked Up, The Chemistry of Common Life

Longlist

The prize's preliminary 40-album longlist was announced on June 15, 2009.

Sponsors

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.

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.

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 and newspaper music critics Sue Carter Flinn, Peter Hemminger, Serge Paradis, Stuart Derdeyn and Brendan Murphy.