Polaris Gala Performers Revealed

Finalists Black Mountain, Basia Bulat, Kathleen Edwards, Holy Fuck, Plants And Animals, Shad and Two Hours Traffic will perform at the third annual Polaris Music Prize gala at Toronto's Phoenix Concert Theatre on Sept. 29.

"Individually, these artists cannot be neatly categorized," says Polaris founder and executive director Steve Jordan. "But it's safe to say with instrumentation that touches on country, heavy rock, psychedelia, punk, folk, rap, electronic, dance and beyond, that this will definitely be the most musically diverse gala in our short three-year history."

Stars, Caribou and The Weakerthans will perform live via video at the event since they can't make it in person.

The gala will be hosted by CBC Radio 3 host and Smugglers frontman Grant Lawrence. It will be broadcast live on Sirius Satellite Radio's channel 86 and radio3.cbc.ca. The show will be shot for television broadcast on Citytv stations across Canada sometime in October.

Eleven people from the 178-member Polaris jury will decide the winner of the $20,000 prize on the night of the show. They are: Mike Bell (Calgary Herald); Denise Benson (Eye Weekly); Evelyn Cote (Ici); Lana Gay (CBC Radio 3, CFOX); Kevin Kelly (The Newfoundland Herald); Joshua Ostroff (AOL Canada); James Stewart Reaney (The London Free Press); Li Robbins (CBC Radio); Hannah Simone (The New Music); Darryl Sterdan (Winnipeg Sun); and Frank Yang (Chromewaves).

"There's a robust difference of opinion, experiences and geography with this group, which bodes well for an informed and carefully rendered decision come September 29," says Jordan. "We expect this gathering of critical minds to deliver a typically passionate discussion to determine this year's winner."

Other members of the Polaris jury will act as artist presenters, including George Stroumboulopoulos (CBC TV's The Hour), Alan Cross (102.1 The Edge), Johnny Hockin (MTV), Ben Rayner (The Toronto Star) and Laura Thompson (CBC News World's The Scene).

Final Fantasy's He Poos Clouds won the first Polaris Music Prize in 2006. Patrick Watson's Close To Paradise captured the award last year. Here are the albums vying for the 2008 title:

Black Mountain — In The Future
Basia Bulat — Oh, My Darling
Caribou — Andorra
Kathleen Edwards — Asking For Flowers
Holy Fuck — LP
Plants And Animals — Parc Avenue
Shad — The Old Prince
Stars — In Our Bedroom After The War
Two Hours Traffic — Little Jabs
The Weakerthans — Reunion Tour