On Thursday evening (November 23rd) the Pop Culture Prize was awarded for the seventh time in the Prenzlauer Berg district of Berlin. Award-rich weeks are now coming to an end for the time being.
Around 1,000 guests have to rush through the “Blade Runner”-like rain. After being blow-dried to some extent, the pop culture cow was let fly in the historic Colosseum cinema building on Schönhauser Allee.
It’s up to Sebastian Zabel, editor-in-chief of the German edition of ROLLING STONE, to open the barrel of laudatory speeches. There is the first award in the “Lived Pop Culture” category, which requires explanation and is highly necessary, an award for committed creators.
“Living pop culture is crowdsurfing and crowdfunding, dancing all night long, driving around the villages in the band bus and recording music podcasts.”
Living pop culture also means awareness at concerts, means female festivals and gender-appropriate line-ups, anti-discrimination initiatives and sustainability management,” said Sebastian Zabel.
“Whether loudly against Nazis in Cottbus or 20 years of c/o pop in Cologne: Today’s nominees have made outstanding, valuable contributions to a lively and opinionated pop culture.”
And unlike just a few days ago at the enigmatic “Polyton” state prize, the winner in the “Living Pop Culture” category is a relatively normal, but no less praiseworthy, traditional event: the c/o pop from Cologne, which has been running since 20 after the withering away of Popkomm years of valuable Grassroutes work in the Roman part of Germany, which has long gone far beyond an April or May weekend in the trendy Ehrenfeld district.
“I would rather celebrate those who get things going,” explains laudator Zabel. The Rhenish cup winner Ralph H. Christoph was “very, very honored” on behalf of his Rhenish team.
Now the cinema binge is picking up speed. Radio One legend Silke Super, who has been providing clues on the airwaves at RBB for 12 years, is handing out the trophy in the “Favorite Album” search area. Super emphasizes that she believes in the dramaturgy of “Langrille” even in times of playlists. The “*innen” in announcements is now easily heard by most media professionals. And otherwise you’re woke, but also latently funny.
Mayram, who lives in Berlin by choice, says moving words about the situation in Iran, especially about the role of women there, and receives a long standing ovation. This is how the largely freely financed “Prize for Pop Culture” differs from the new “Polyton”, which wants to do everything differently and rather caused confusion when it debuted at an event location in Tempelhof.
The largely absence of politics in the Colosseum is positively noticeable. No punched-down Sunday speeches from some Bundestag people who then jet off with the driving service to the next Greetings August appointment.
The winner of the evening is clearly the successful Berlin rapper Nina Chuba, who won in two categories. Silke Super opens the cover for Chuba’s album “Glas.” The rapping singer is also a “favorite artist,” and the “*in” by no means excludes male crooners.
One is amazed: the “Pop Culture Prize” also honors artists who are well-known outside the country. It is easy to criticize the “Berlin-ness” of the German awards autumn. The fact that the band Provinz from the Upper Swabian town of Vogt near the puzzle game metropolis of Ravensburg won the “Favorite Band” category cannot hide the fact that the jury is very much on the move between Kotti and Charlottengrad. A little more research spirit outside of Berlin would be desirable here.
The “favorite song” goes to Berlin veteran Peter Fox with his “Zukunft Pink” (feat. Inéz). The “favorite video” called “Smile” goes to Shirin David. The “Most Hopeful Newcomer” goes to the Blumengarten duo, who won three awards within two weeks. It will be interesting to see how these advance laurels will affect the duo’s future career.
There is even a link to the “Polyton” award, with the “production favorites of the year”. The winners Suena & Lucry worked with “Polyton” performer Herbert Grönemeyer on his new single “Kaltes Berlin”.
The “Most Impressive Live Show” rightly goes to the Chemnitz trio Blond with their release concert for the album “Perlen”. This means that the former GDR would also be represented with an award.
For 2024, we recommend that the makers simply combine all the poly awards in the world again. This saves time, nerves and ultimately also taxpayers’ money.
WINNER PRIZE FOR POP CULTURE 2023
Favorite artist:
Nina Chuba
Favorite band:
province
Favorite producer:
Suena & Lucry
Favorite album:
Nina Chuba – Glass
Favorite song:
Peter Fox – Future Pink (feat. Inéz)
Favorite video:
Shirin David – Smile
Most hopeful newcomer:
flower garden
Most impressive live show:
Blond – Pearls (album release concert)
Living pop culture:
20 years of c/o pop festival