CELEBRITIES LOVE awards ceremonies – and what's not to love? A roomful of beautiful, well-dressed people, all gathered to celebrate your towering achievements, and applaud vigorously as you step up to receive your Most Terrific Person of the Year award, writes KEVIN COURTNEY
When the invites are sent out for this year’s big awards ceremonies, you can be sure the celebs will be swiftly rsvp-ing and rehearsing their acceptance speech for the night.
But there’s one awards invite that Irish celebs handle as though it were an envelope filled with anthrax. When this awards ceremony kicks off tomorrow night at Dublin’s Sugar Club, you can be sure most of the nominees will be at home washing their hair, or will be otherwise engaged. There’s no shortage of top names on the shortlist for the third annual Gooseberry Awards – which includes Westlife, Joe Duffy, Daniel O’Donnell and Chris De Burgh – but don’t be surprised if none of them shows up on the night.
The Gooseberries are Ireland’s anti-Meteors, anti-Iftas and anti-Sharks, celebrating the “worst” in Irish entertainment and media. Ireland’s celebrity bubble is a small one, but the Gooseberries are intent on bursting it in style tomorrow night, when they hand out “Goosies” to this year’s crop of celebrity chaff.
“It’s meant to be self-deprecating, but not many Irish celebs are very self-deprecating,” says journalist Barbara McCarthy, who started the Gooseberries with Sugar Club manager Oisin Davis. “A lot of them have an overblown sense of their own importance, and few of them have a sense of humour, so it’s hard to persuade them to come down to collect their awards. Irony and sarcasm seem to be lost on them.”
Still, McCarthy is hopeful that one or two of the nominees will show up and take it all in good spirit. She conceived the Gooseberries as an antidote to the annual back-slapping fests that clog up the Irish social calendar. The format is based on the US Raspberry awards, or the “Razzies”, which highlight the worst in Hollywood filmmaking.
Leading the pack for 2009 is The Tudorsstar Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who will be given a lifetime achievement award for his ongoing role as a true divo of drama. "It's the full-of-himself-ness, the tantrums at the airport, the dodgy moustache and the man-heels," says McCarthy.
Chris De Burgh is nominated in two categories, Worst Act of 2009 and Worst Gig of 2009 (for his Gaiety concert last autumn). Should he win in either or both categories, he's unlikely to turn up to collect his gongs. Never fear: McCarthy has asked Paddy Casey to accept the award on Mr De Burgh's behalf; though, if Casey agrees to do it, he may draw the line at singing The Lady in Red.
“We’ve got great alternatives lined up, just in case the winners don’t turn up,” says McCarthy. “When Twink won last year, Panti made a great acceptance speech.” Other nominees include twin brother duo Jedward (Worst Irish Act), Terenure rockers The Coronas (Worst Irish Album and Worst Irish Single), journalists Kevin Myers, Brendan O’Connor and Barry Egan, and radio presenters Marty Whelan and Derek Mooney.
VIP, the RTÉ Guideand The Phoenixgo head to head in the Worst Irish Publication category, Harvey Norman have two nominations for Worst Irish Ad of 2009, and The All-Ireland Talent Showis neck and neck with The Afternoon Showand TV3 News for Worst Irish TV Programme.
The nominees were chosen by public votes posted on the Gooseberries website (thegooseberries.com), so there’s no use complaining.
Ryan Tubridy, is absent from the nominations, which can only be taken as an endorsement of his first season at the helm of The Late Late Show.
The recession has reawakened the spectre of begrudgery, but McCarthy insists these awards are all about good-natured slagging – the Gooseberries may be green, but not with envy.
“It’s just people asking, why do we have to endure this, or what are we paying our TV licence for? It’s a fun way to complain about all the mediocrity out there.”
- The Gooseberries take place at the Sugar Club, Dublin, on Thursday at 8pm, Adm free
