January 11th saw big wins for the UK’s Anna Calvi and Ireland’s James Vincent McMorrow at the European Border Breakers Awards, which was held at the Eurosonic Noorderslag music festival in Groningen, the Netherlands. Coincidently, the awards ceremony was presented by Jools Holland and is a celebration of the best new talent in pop music from across Europe.

British act Anna Calvi performed at the ceremony and on collecting her award said: “I am really honoured to have won this award. My father is Italian, my Mother grew up in Switzerland. I don’t just feel English, I feel very European and it’s been really important for me that the record has done well in Europe as a whole”.

James Vincent McMorrow performed two songs at the awards show and accepted his award saying: “This is fantastic. I was here at Eurosonic last year and it was here where it all began. From then on it led to incredible things and this award means a lot to me”.

There were also awards for DJ’s Afrojack (Netherlands) and Swedish House Mafia (Sweden). More than anything, the EBBA’s demonstrates a strong vein of bold creativity within popular and alternative music in Europe, from the haunting and powerful sound of Anna Calvi to the crazy and funky house music of Swedish House Mafia; it shows how European music has more to offer than just Eurovision.

All the winners of the European Border Breakers Awards 2012 are as follows:

Elektro Guzzi (Austria)
Selah Sue (Belgium)
Agnes Obel (Denmark)
Ben l’Oncle Soul (France)
Boy (Germany)
James Vincent McMorrow (Ireland)
Afrojack (Netherlands)
Alexandra Stan (Romania)
Swedish House Mafia (Sweden)
Anna Calvi (UK)