The Meteor Ireland Music Awards 2009 were launched today, Wednesday 28th January, and will be held in the RDS Dublin on St Patrick’s Day Tuesday 17th March 2009. The show will then be televised on Wednesday 18th March on RTE Two.

Amanda will be joined by a high calibre of artists from the music industry and various celebrities to celebrate the best in music, both home grown and international - including Sharon Shannon, who'll receive a lifetime achievement award in recognition for her legendary status as one of the world's leading accordionists. Shannon has played with the likes of Bono, Sinead O'Connor & The Waterboys - but most recently saw her work with Mundy on the Steve Earle track Galway Girl grab a top 5 slot for over 3 months.

With nineteen Meteor awards up for grabs music fans will be able to let their fingers do the voting, with the public getting the chance to have their say in 8 categories.

Public voting will be live from today, Wednesday 28th January, allowing the public to decide who will be awarded the accolade of a Meteor Ireland Music Award. Voting is easy, simply text VOTE to 085 7114444 to receive a list of keywords and categories, then choose who you want to win!

Meteor customers availing of Free texts of plans such as Offer of a Lifetime or Free Texts for Life can text for FREE, while other Meteor customers can avail of Meteor’s low text rates.

Voting is open to all Irish mobile networks and will be charged standard text rates. Online voting will be available on www.meteor.ie and everyone who votes will be automatically entered into a competition to win tickets to the 2009 Meteor Awards.

The Hope for 2009 Award will be voted for by RTE 2FM listeners while the remaining awards apart from the Most Downloaded Song will be decided by votes cast by representatives of the Irish music industry.

Speaking at the launch, Meteor’s Head of Marketing Communications Meadhbh Quinn said, “Meteor has built a strong association with music over the years - we have heritage in this space. As we expand our 3G services going forward, music will continue to play an important role. The Meteor Ireland Music Awards not only recognises established artists but also highlights up and coming talent who are making their significant mark on the Irish music industry.”

She added, “One of the best aspects of the awards is that the public have the opportunity to vote in eight popular categories for the artists that they feel deserve to be recognised”.

A limited number of tickets for the Meteor Ireland Music Awards will go on sale tomorrow Thursday 29th January costing €30.

2009 METEOR IRELAND MUSIC AWARDS

NOMINEES AND CATEGORIES

PUBLIC VOTING CATEGORIES
Best National DJ
Alison Curtis – Today FM
Dave Fanning – 2fm
Tony Fenton – Today FM
Ray Foley – Today FM
Dan Hegarty – 2fm
Rick O’Shea – 2fm

Best Regional DJ
Keith Cunningham (KC) - Red fm
Dermot, Dave & Siobhan – Dublin’s98
Leigh Doyle – Beat 102-103
Mark Noble – FM 104
Jon Richards – Galway Bay FM
The Zoo Crew – Spin South West

Best Irish Band
The Blizzards
Fight Like Apes
Republic of Loose
The Script
Snow Patrol

Best Irish Male
Damien Dempsey
Duke Special
Mick Flannery
David Holmes
Jape

Best Irish Female
Tara Blaise
Lisa Hannigan
Gemma Hayes
Imelda May
Camille O’Sullivan

Best Irish Pop Act
Boyzone
The Blizzards
The Coronas
The Script
Westlife

Best Irish Album
Fight Like Apes – Mystery Golden Medallion
Lisa Hannigan – Sea Sew
Messiah J & The Expert – From the Word Go
The Script – The Script
Snow Patrol – A Hundred Million Suns

Best Irish Live Performance
The Blizzards - Oxegen
The Coronas - The Button Factory
Fight Like Apes - Whelans
Republic of Loose - The Academy
The Swell Season - The Olympia

NON-PUBLIC VOTING CATEGORIES
Best Traditional/Folk
Damien Dempsey
Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill
Colm Mac Con Iomaire
Eleanor McEvoy
John Spillane

Best Intl Live Performance
Leonard Cohen
Coldplay
Kings of Leon
Bruce Springsteen
The Killers

Best International Band
AC/DC
Coldplay
Elbow
Killers
Kings of Leon

Best International Female
Beyonce
Duffy
Lykke Li
Pink
Rihanna

Best International Male
Chris Brown
Nick Cave
Bon Iver
James Morrision
Kanye West

Best International Album
Day & Age - The Killers
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Only by the night - Kings of Leon
The Circus - Take That
Viva la Vida - Coldplay