{"id":205009,"date":"2025-10-16T20:54:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T20:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/205009\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T20:54:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T20:54:08","slug":"mercury-prize-2025-watch-iconic-awards-ceremony-with-performances-from-nominees-sam-fender-and-pulp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/205009\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercury Prize 2025: Watch iconic awards ceremony with performances from nominees Sam Fender and Pulp"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Can anyone beat bookies\u2019 favourite CMAT?published at 21:51 BST<\/p>\n<p>21:51 BST<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-8kvzjk-Contributor etflsgg2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/f31231e6-b825-4aa7-8dac-313f6cfc2220.jpg.webp.webp\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\" class=\"ssrcss-11yxrdo-Image edrdn950\"\/>Ian Youngs<br \/>Culture reporter<\/p>\n<p>      <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"CMAT on stage playing guitar and singing\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1845e625-83fa-4850-a256-b91374122623.jpg.webp.webp\"  width=\"1998\" height=\"1123\" class=\"ssrcss-11yxrdo-Image edrdn950\"\/>Image source, PA Media<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">We&#8217;ve heard from the 12 shortlisted artists, and now it&#8217;s in the hands of the judges. But just who will they pick? <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">CMAT is the deserved frontrunner, the clear favourite with<br \/>\nthe bookies for her brilliant album Euro-Country, and a win would be the<br \/>\ncrowning moment for her as a big star.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But the Mercury judges often give the favourites a swerve&#8230; so if not her, who else? <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">PinkPantheress is an outsider (according to the bookies), but<br \/>\nshould be in the mix for the heady, infectious Fancy That. The judges like to anoint a distinctive major new(ish) talent and, like<br \/>\nCMAT, PinkPantheress would fit the bill.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">FKA Twigs deserves credit for Eusexua \u2013 an intoxicating<br \/>\nand boundary-pushing record that at times feels like an update to the sensual 90s-era<br \/>\npop of Kylie or Madonna.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Fontaines DC are the bookies\u2019 second favourites,<br \/>\nand Romance is a step up and in many ways a great album&#8230; it came out 14 months ago<br \/>\nso the wind may have left its sails. Sam Fender would be a logical and popular<br \/>\nhometown hero (at the ceremony in Newcastle), and People Watching is excellent but perhaps a bit less urgent<br \/>\nand vital than previous albums.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Jacob Alon\u2019s In Limerance is a beautiful and tender album &#8211; will his tremulous singer-songwriter style be original enough for the judges? Emma<br \/>\nJean-Thackray is a distinctive and compelling voice but perhaps an acquired<br \/>\ntaste.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Pulp made a triumphant comeback, but may feel too much like retreading<br \/>\nold ground, while fellow past winners Wolf Alice have had a more muted<br \/>\nreception this time around.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Folk veteran Martin Carthy would be a poignant and popular winner but I don\u2019t<br \/>\nthink the album quite has enough appeal to win. Similarly, Pa Salieu and Joe<br \/>\nWebb are worthy nominees but would be shock winners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But the panel like to defy predictions, so your guess is as<br \/>\ngood as mine, or the bookies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Can anyone beat bookies\u2019 favourite CMAT?published at 21:51 BST 21:51 BST Ian YoungsCulture reporter Image source, PA Media&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205010,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-205009","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}