Polaris Music Prize

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Grand Jury secrets revealed! August 18 2009
Who picks the winner of the Polaris Music Prize, you ask? Each year, a Grand Jury of 11 is selected from the greater Polaris jury. They convene in Toronto at the Gala to debate, discuss and ultimately vote on which Short List album most deserves the $20,000 prize.

The Grand Jury for 2009 is:
Bryan Acker (Herohill)
Stuart Derdeyn (The Province)
Mary Dickie (ELLE)
Brad Frenette (National Post)
Nicholas Jennings (freelance)
Robert Mersereau (CBC TV)
Brendan Murphy (Hour)
Mia Parang (MusiquePlus)
Ben Rayner (The Toronto Star)
Brad Wheeler (The Globe and Mail)
Lisa Wilton (Calgary Sun)

A few insider secrets about the process: Each jurist can serve as a Grand Jury member just once. We take great care to bring in representatives from across the country and thank our friends at RedBull for sponsoring the jury travel. The 11 are sequestered during the gala event and cannot emerge until a winner has been chosen -- not by consensus but by point vote. They do not know the winner until it is announced to all by Steve Jordan at the end of the evening. We thank all our jury members for their valuable service and for not getting into any fistfights during the heated debates.