Antony and Johnsons win Mercury

Antony and the Johnsons have won the Mercury Music Prize for their album I Am A Bird Now.

The band beat favourites Kaiser Chiefs as well as chart-toppers Coldplay to the £20,000 prize money for the best album by a British or Irish act.

New-York based singer Antony Hegarty appeared shocked when he went to collect the award. He said: "I think they must have made a mistake."

The prize is seen as important because it's awarded for creativity not sales.

See pics of the Mercury Music Prize awards

Mercury Shortlist Antony and the Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now Bloc Party - Silent Alarm Coldplay - X&Y The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike Hard-Fi - Stars of CCTV KT Tunstall - Eye To The Telescope Kaiser Chiefs - Employment The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger M.I.A. - Arular Polar Bear - Held On The Tips Of Fingers Seth Lakeman - Kitty Jay

But the winner often goes on to sell loads more CDs.

Ten bands are nominated from 170 of the best UK and Irish albums released in the last 12 months.

'Nutty' competition

Hegarty, who qualified for the Mercury Prize because he was born in Chichester, described the competition as "a bit nutty".

"It's kind of like a crazy contest between an orange and a spaceship and a potted plant and a spoon - which one do you like better?" he said.

Kaiser Chiefs lost out

The winner was announced at a ceremony in London on Tuesday, and was chosen by music industry experts and journalists.

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Previous winners include Franz Ferdinand and Ms Dynamite.