This year’s Hyundai Mercury Prize Awards Ceremony is shaping up encouragingly, with the exciting news that Golden Globe-winning actor Idris Elba will feature at the star-studded bash. The “Luther” star has been announced as a guest presenter at London’s Eventim Apollo, with last year’s winner Skepta also performing live on September 14th.
No stranger to the bright lights
A familiar face to television and film fans alike – boasting an impressive CV that includes unforgettable performances in “The Wire” not to mention “Thor” – Elba is seldom far away from the bright lights these days it seems.
He was heavily fancied to become the next James Bond until Daniel Craig relented on his rumoured split from the popular film franchise, yet that is unlikely to prove a major disappointment to the suave English actor, musician and disc jockey.
Forty-five-year-old Elba is also said to be a handy boxer, presumably explaining his appearance alongside the formidable presence of world heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua at the recent glitzy GQ awards.
Additionally, he has developed into a respected music producer in what limited spare time his acting career affords him and can boast the contribution of his distinctive vocals to tracks by American musicians Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
Elba delighted to be involved
His appearance at the Mercury Prize event seems to have been well considered though, as he has described it on the official site as “a huge moment in the music calendar,” adding that he was “so happy to be involved.”
Lauren Laverne hosts
With all of this year’s short-listed artists bar Ed Sheeran expected to provide live performances on the evening, the event is well worth attending.
Hosted this time around by BBC Music’s Lauren Laverne, the Mercury Prize is often a tricky award to predict the eventual winner of, as the nominees battle for the prestigious honour of the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Impressive shortlist
This year’s event boasts the expected impressive list of contenders for the prize, a sentiment echoed by Elba who referred to “a special night to celebrate the incredible shortlisted artists.”
South London’s Sampha Sisay (who performs under the mononym of simply “Sampha”) is one of the hot tips, given his past associations with the likes of Drake and Kanye West.
But also look out for J Hus, whose 2017 single “Did You See” peaked at number 9 on the UK Singles Chart and who has also featured alongside Stormzy on “Bad Boys”.
Other short-listed artists for the top award expected to perform live at the Hammersmith event include Alt-J, Blossoms, Dinosaur, Glass Animals and perennial favourites The xx. Maybe the electronic rock band could yet repeat their previous victory back in 2010, to emulate P J Harvey as the only other artist to have won the prize on more than one occasion.
