The Sony Radio Academy Awards - a radio nerd perpective…
Just had a quick flick through the winners of the Sony Radio Academy Awards and its an interesting selection of winners / runners up.
Firstly there was a shocking lack of any Capital nominations, whether thats because they have been focusing on their quasi-nationalism (thats a cool word) or if there is something else going on behind the scenes (like the boycott of 1D on the Capital airwaves) I dont know… Personally next year I would love to see Andi Durrant nominated for an award, maybe in a head to head with MistaJam, to continue their friendly rivalry ;)
So to the actual awards and not to what was missing…
After only 9 months on air, Danny Wallace and the XFM Breakfast Show picked up a Silver and Gold, admittedly not for the show itself however for one of the best ‘live events’ I have ever heard on radio. The ‘Naked Breakfast’ (although not aired at breakfast time) was an amazing feat of radio, a completely accustic / live show, even with all branding and adverts performed live.
Danny and the team also won a Bronze award for what is one of the best radio quizzes ever!! ‘Quiz Face’ is possibly the most random and amusing quiz on air (and in my opinion should have won the Gold). Starting off as a random quiz of ‘chose a letter, now a number, and a colour, chose a question’ with a voice over saying the number ‘7’ at random times, oh and Danny insisting the contestant could play his ‘Joker’ at any time (he didnt), the quiz is still just as random, however has become more and more thought out and elaborate. It really has become a case of what are they going to do this week!! Oh yeah, and considering there are no rules to Quiz Face, you really should know the rules by now.
You can check out the first ever Quiz Face here
Congrats to Danny, Dave, Matt, Steve and all the Breakfast Team at XFM, its well deserved and I really hope that next year sees you at least nominated for best breakfast show, if not winning it.
So moving on, to the Breakfast Show Of The Year, and its great to see Kiss Fm winning the Gold. Once a religious listener to Kiss a little part of me is really happy to see them back on form, after a few wilderness years (or maybe they havent had wilderness years, could be more I stopped listening to them). Nominated for 5 awards and picking up 3 (including a Gold also for programmer Andy Roberts), its good to see that the youth market radio is going strong. Would have liked to have seen Clara pick up the ‘Rising Star’ award as I know she does a lot for that station, but oh well…
Well done Ricky, Melvin and Charlie, lets hope they dont suffer the curse of the ‘Breakfast Gold’ that a year later they are no longer on air… However I think it was another Kiss Breakfast show (the Bam Bam Breakfast) that broke that curse…
After an epic post, we might as well finish full circle (kinda) and talk music shows.
Although expected but not, was interesting to see Fearne Cotton win the Gold Sony Award for Best Music Programme. With The Live Lounge, New Music Mondays and generally having her finger (or maybe its her production team) on the pulse of what’s new, I can see why this won. She is a good presenter (maybe talks a little too much about baking), and even though I know a lot of people are still up in arms about Fearne replacing Jo Whiley, I think it works…
Maybe next year it would be nice to see Greg James or Nick Grimshaw in the mix, maybe in the music personality categories (btw congrats to Gemma Cairney for her nomination).
Similarly, for best specialist music show, it was great to see broadcasting veteran and all round nice guy David Rodigan win the Gold. Similar, I have heard a lot of good things about the Ronnie Wood show and the times I have heard it, definitely worth the Silver.
Have to give a nod to MistaJam for winning a Bronze for the second year in a row for ‘Music Broadcaster Of The Year’. As ‘bass music’ is my field, this guy has really helped push dubstep into the forefront of the musical consciousness. Equally, the MistaJam hosted documentary on ‘The Amen Break’ definitely deserved a nomination for ‘Best Music Feature’, not only informative but a very touching story too, well worth a listen if you can find it online.
After all the hype around it (almost) closing, 6 Music has gone on to win ‘Station Of The Year’, which is a well deserved feat. With talent like Lauren Lavern and Adam & Joe also picking up awards, this station has definitely turned a corner. Maybe the station being on the brink of closure helped them along their way… Who knows…
Finally, it was really nice to see that ‘Just A Minute’ host (and more likely star of) Nicholas Parsons won the ‘Gold Award’. He has hosted the show since 1967 over 62 series and 782 episodes later, there making sure there is no hesitation, repetition or deviation. Currently on its 45th year, I really hope that one day I get see a recording of this show as it always sounds immensely fun.
So yeah… Thats it…
Fingers crossed, I might get a nomination next year for my little ‘Bass & Breaks’ show, just with all this immense talent around, I somehow doubt it. In the mean time I will keep listening to the radio, discover new music, hear amazing documentaries and stay inspired by all these amazing presenters and their producers.
