Polaris Music Prize pits Arcade Fire against names who need the money more

Arcade Fire won over judges at the Grammy and Juno awards earlier this year with the album "The Suburbs."

But they have yet to face their most critical jury of all.

The Montreal band was the most popular name among the acts shortlisted for the sixth annual Polaris Music Prize, whose $30,000 winner will be selected by a group of 11 journalists, broadcasters and bloggers during a gala in Toronto on Sept. 19.

An announcement on Wednesday at the city's Drake Hotel narrowed a longer list of 40 contenders down to 10, based on input from more than 200 tastemakers from across the country, who were asked to pick their five favourite Canadian discs released in the preceding year.

Yet one of the albums featured on the shortlist, "House of Balloons," was neither released on a CD nor made available for sale.

Rather, the debut collection by the Weeknd, the alter ego of 20-year-old Toronto singer Abel Tesfaye, was distributed as a free online download, which gained attention due to an endorsement from rapper Drake.

While mainstream stars have rarely been acknowledged by the Polaris Prize, in favour of a largely predictable slate of acts championed by rock critics and non-commercial radio stations, there is still room for the occasional surprise.

Ron Sexsmith, the veteran singer-songwriter who teamed with producer Bob Rock to make a commercially viable record, "Long Player Late Bloomer," was a generally unexpected finalist. Sloan and Neil Young, two other widely recognizable names that appeared on the long list, were knocked out of contention.

The main motivation behind the Polaris Prize, though, is to shine the spotlight on acts that have lacked widespread exposure.

Austra, Braids, Destroyer, Galaxie, Hey Rosetta!, Colin Stetson and Timber Timbre have all been championed in the media to some extent, although being shortlisted will help boost their profiles. Each runner-up will also get $2,000.

Last year's unexpected Polaris champ, Montreal indie rock act Karkwa, became the rare modern francophone act to gain notice across Canada. And the grand jury could similarly transform the fortunes of one of the 2011 nominees.

Or, they might end up giving the award to Arcade Fire.

(Reuters Photo)