2009 Meteor Awards

The 2009 Meteor Music Awards ceremony took place on 17 March 2009 in the RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin. It was the ninth edition of Ireland's national music awards. The event was recorded and it aired on RTÉ Two on 18 March 2009. The awards show was hosted by television presenter Amanda Byram.

The general public were eligible to vote in eight categories - Best Irish Band, Best Irish Male, Best Irish Female, Best Irish Pop Act, Best Irish Album, Best Irish Live Performance, Best National DJ and Best Regional DJ. AC/DC, Coldplay, Elbow, The Killers and Kings of Leon were nominated for Best International Band, whilst Boyzone, The Blizzards, The Coronas, The Script and Westlife were the nominees for Best Irish Pop Act. Mick Flannery, Damien Dempsey, Duke Special, David Holmes and Richard Egan of Jape were nominated in the Best Irish Male category, whilst Enya, Lisa Hannigan, Gemma Hayes, Imelda May, Tara Blaise and Camille O'Sullivan were nominated in the Best Irish Female category. The Hope for 2009 nominees were announced on 18 February, with public voting commencing on 23 February. Hot Press editor Niall Stokes received an industry award, whilst Father Shay Cullen's PREDA Foundation received €100,000. The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to traditional folk musician Sharon Shannon.

Performances
Boyzone, The Blizzards, Sharon Shannon, Stereophonics and Imelda May performed on the night.

Nominations
The nominees were officially announced on 28 January 2009, having initially been published on the official site the night before only to be quickly removed. And the winners are...

Best National DJ
Presented by Lorraine Keane
 * Alison Curtis – Today FM
 * Dave Fanning – RTÉ 2fm
 * Tony Fenton – Today FM
 * Ray Foley – Today FM
 * Dan Hegarty – RTÉ 2fm
 * Rick O'Shea – RTÉ 2fm

Best Regional DJ
Presented by Lucy Kennedy and Nancy Cartwright
 * Keith Cunningham (KC) - RedFM
 * Dermot, Dave & Siobhan – Dublin's 98
 * Leigh Doyle – Beat 102-103
 * Mark Noble – FM 104
 * Jon Richards – Galway Bay FM
 * The Zoo Crew – Spin South West

Best Irish Band
Presented by Sonya Lennon and Brendan Courtney
 * 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
Presented by Pádraig Harrington
 * Boyzone
 * The Blizzards
 * The Coronas
 * The Script
 * Westlife

Best Irish Album
Presented by Tony Lundon, Liam McCormack and Sinéad McKenna
 * Fight Like Apes – Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the 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
Presented by Craig Doyle and Devon Murray
 * The Blizzards - Oxegen 2008
 * The Coronas - The Button Factory
 * Fight Like Apes - Whelan's
 * Republic of Loose - The Academy
 * The Swell Season - Olympia Theatre

Best Traditional/Folk
Presented by Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh and Anna Nolan
 * Damien Dempsey
 * Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill
 * Colm Mac Con Iomaire
 * Eleanor McEvoy
 * John Spillane

Best International Live Performance

 * The Script
 * Coldplay
 * Kings of Leon
 * Bruce Springsteen
 * The Killers

Best International Band
Presented by Caprice and Laura Whitmore Elbow won the award in 2009.
 * AC/DC
 * Coldplay
 * Elbow
 * The Killers
 * Kings of Leon

Best International Female

 * Beyoncé
 * Duffy
 * Lykke Li
 * Pink
 * Rihanna

Best International Male
Presented by Louis Walsh
 * Chris Brown
 * Nick Cave
 * Bon Iver
 * James Morrison
 * 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 or Death and All His Friends - Coldplay

Lifetime Achievement Award
Presented by Gráinne and Síle Seoige
 * Sharon Shannon

Humanitarian Award
Presented by Pat Kenny and Conor Carmody from Meteor
 * Father Shay Cullen's PREDA Foundation

Industry Award
Presented by Dave Fanning and Joe Elliott
 * Niall Stokes

Hope for 2009
Presented by Rick O'Shea
 * Autumn Owls
 * Fred
 * House of Cosy Cushions
 * James Vincent McMorrow
 * Wallis Bird

Most Downloaded Song
"Galway Girl" – Mundy and Sharon Shannon

Multiple nominations
Lisa Hannigan was the only solo artist to be nominated in more than one category. She was nominated in two categories, Best Irish Female and Best Irish Album. She won neither.
 * 3 - The Blizzards
 * 3 - Coldplay
 * 3 - Fight Like Apes
 * 3 - The Killers
 * 3 - Kings of Leon
 * 3 - The Script
 * 2 - The Coronas
 * 2 - Lisa Hannigan
 * 2 - Republic of Loose
 * 2 - Snow Patrol