Elton John, Sinead O'Connor and David Gray were among the performers at last night's Meteor Ireland Music Awards, held in the Point Theatre. Big winners on the night included U2, who won awards for album and songwriting; Eminem for Stan, best international single; and The Beatles, who won the best international album for their One compilation.
The two-hour show, which will be broadcast to 50 million people throughout Europe, was hosted by comedian Ed Byrne. It raised over £170,000 for the Elton John's Aids Foundation and the IRMA (Irish Record Music Awards) Trust. The awards were divided into two categories, one for Irish acts and the other for international acts.
In the former category, winners included Ronan Keating (best selling Irish album); Sharon Shannon (best Irish female); JJ72 (best Irish newcomer) and Samantha Mumba (best Irish female single).
In the international section, David Gray won the best international male award; Whitney Houston the best international female award, and The Bloodhound Gang, best international single award for Bad Touch.
Larry Gogan presented West life/Samantha Mumba manager Louis Walsh with a special music industry award, and Sinead O'Connor presented Chrisy Moore with a lifetime achievement award. Declining to perform live on the night, Moore simply made a gracious acceptance speech.
Live performances by Atomic Kitten, Ash, Gabrielle, Morcheeba and JJ72 (who culminated their set by smashing up their instruments) kept the capacity crowd entertained, while backstage a gaggle of celebrities, including Lisa Stans field, Damon Hill, Robert Plant, Joe Elliot and film actor Matthew McConaughey waited in turn to present the awards. The show finished with Elton John performing a duet of Your Song with Ronan Keating.
Apart from Eminem and The Beatles, the only major absentees on the night were U2, who are in Miami rehearsing for their upcoming world tour. The band did appear on video and appeared specially delighted to win the best songwriter award, which was shared by Bono and The Edge.
The two dance music awards on the night went to Morcheeba (international) and Mark McCabe (Irish), both of whom performed. Dave Fanning won the Best Rock DJ category while a Hot Press magazine Critics Choice award was presented to Emmylou Harris.
New Northern Irish band Relish won the "Best Hope for 2001" award.
The ceremony, which was sponsored by new mobile phone network Meteor, incorporated what used to be known as the IRMAs and is set to become an annual event to be held every St Patrick's Day weekend in Dublin.
Although no tickets went on sale for the show, the 6,000 capacity audience was made up of members of the Irish music industry and winners of a competition published in The Irish Times. The awards will be broadcast on Network 2 tomorrow night at 8.30 p.m.