James Blake surprised English music fans by taking home the Mercury Prize, an annual award given out for the best album by British or Irish performers.
Overgrown, the second LP from the performer, was critically acclaimed, yet was not among the favorites to win the award. Bookies in the UK had vocalist Laura Mvula's Sing to the Moon at five-to-two odds for winning, and both David Bowie and electronic act Disclosure were considered frontrunners. Not only was Blake not a favorite, he was near the back, at least in the bookies' esteem, coming in with 16-to-one odds. Blake himself seemed just as surprised to have won.
"I feel weird and confused. But wonderful," he said. "It's a moment you don't expect to happen to you. In fact you might even bet against it if you're British. This is the first thing I've ever won apart from a tennis trophy when I was 12. And I hold them in equal esteem. I'll be putting them on the shelf next to each other."
The songwriter was also nominated for his self-titled 2011 debut.
Many believed that this would be the year for Bowie, who has never won a Mercury Prize despite releasing eight albums since 1991, the year when the award was first given out. He was also nominated for 2002's Heathen. Blake paid tribute to the music icon during his comments after the ceremony.
"It's amazing for him to be in the running for this prize after so many years," he said. "A lot of people do their best when they're young, and I think it's always disappointing when people don't continue in that vein and don't continue innovating, and I think David Bowie is an example to people like me who want to continue doing that."
