Sour note as British-only award at Mercury event goes to US

US: The Mercury Prize ended in controversy on Tuesday night when the British-only music award was won by a US band.

US: The Mercury Prize ended in controversy on Tuesday night when the British-only music award was won by a US band.

Antony and the Johnsons, whose singer Antony Hegarty was born in Britain, beat a shortlist including Kaiser Chiefs, Coldplay and the Magic Numbers.

The band has been a fixture on the New York arts scene for over a decade. Hegarty often appears on stage with a Japanese hermaphrodite mathematician called Julia. - (PA)