European Border Breakers Awards: C2C wins public choice prize

Brussels/Groningen, 10-1-2013 — /europawire.eu/ — The winners of the 2013 European Border Breakers Awards (“the EBBAs”), highlighting the best new music acts in Europe which have achieved cross-border chart success, were honoured this evening at the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival at Groningen in The Netherlands. The biggest winners of the night were French DJ collective C2C, who scooped the public choice award, which was announced live during the ceremony following an online vote to select the ‘best of the best’. A four-time winner of the World DJ Championships, C2C mix jazz, soul, blues, electro and hip-hop. Originating from Nantes, the group is comprised of four DJs – 20Syl, Greem, Pfel and Atom. Their No1 debut album, Tetra, achieved platinum (100 000) sales in France and also charted in Belgium and Switzerland.

“My warmest congratulations go to C2C – I hope that the public choice EBBA will bring the group even more international acclaim and sales success,” said Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, after the announcement.

The award ceremony featured performances by C2C and six of the other ten winners of the 2013 European Border Breakers Awards: Nabiha (Denmark), Ewert and The Two Dragons (Estonia), French Films (Finland), Dope D.O.D. (Netherlands), Amor Electro (Portugal) and Juan Zelada (Spain). There were also live performances by three former EBBA winners – Saybia, Alphabeats and Katie Melua. Of Monsters and Men (Iceland), Niki and the Dove (Sweden) and Emeli Sandé (United Kingdom) sent video messages.

Hosted by British TV presenter-bandleader Jools Holland and Dutch singer-actress Birgit Schuurman, the event will be broadcast throughout Europe in the coming weeks.

Now in their tenth year, the EBBAs aim to encourage artists to make the most of the EU Single Market by appealing to audiences beyond their home country. The awards receive support from the European Union’s Culture Programme and are organized by Eurosonic Noorderslag in partnership with the European Broadcasting Union.

More information

Website of the prize

Press section of the EBBA Website

European Commission: Culture Programme

Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou’s website

Follow Androulla Vassiliou on Twitter @VassiliouEU