The Listeners Award One of the main awards has been decided by you the listeners. The vote is now closed, and the winner will be announced on 28 January. The top four artists are listed below.
Cheb Mami (Algeria)
nominated by Ed Gill, Cambridge:
'I discovered Cheb Mami's amazing vocal talent after buying Nitin Sawhney's Prophesy album. The track "moonrise" on which Cheb guests was instantly the track i enjoyed most. It had a mix of influences: flamenco, Brazilian strings and of course, rai! The track led me to find out more about Cheb and his latest album Delali which shows how great the voice of the artist is. I also found World Routes Cheb Mami concert coverage brilliant and recorded the songs from it. Cheb's appearance on later with Jools Holland impressed me further.
An all-round brilliant discovery and an eye-opening journey into the Algerian rai sensation.'
