So, in that thumb twiddling period between Amnesia Closing and dc10 opening/closing.....we got as many fag-packet backs as we could collectively muster at the official Spotlight Awards HQ and began scratching our heads.
This year, there have been some clear winners in various categories, so we've not always opted for the obvious choice and instead, picked those who deserve a little more of the limelight.
CLUBS
Best night - There have been some quality parties this year; Flower Power as always, the Swedes at Pacha, the Zoo Project, Carl Cox and We Love at Space have had some really cool line-ups, but......BUT, if you can believe it, Cocoon got even better (and busier?!). This party is just the best, simple as that.
Cocoon Closing.....10AM and still going strong!
Worst Night - Obviously completely subjective but Fridays at Pacha were a complete dud this year. Some half decent line ups - if that's your thing - but a totally disinterested crowd, only there for the 'I've been to Pacha' experience, too many ironed shirts and polished shoes and nowhere near enough dancing. C'mon Pure Pacha, sort it out.
FMIF Award for most rammed club - Cocoon Closing was by far the busiest party of the season, Cream's Radio 1 event was also really busy and FMIF and The Zoo Project were generally full most weeks, but Supermartxe packed 'em in at Privilege every single week of the summer.
Best venue - Amnesia, last year's winner, kept everything good it had from last year and added Matinée (rammed every week!), La Troya (really busy most weeks) and Roger Sanchez, who totally reinvigorated the Tuesday party to the detriment of Armin in the Main Room. Add to this the spectacular Amnesia Closing and you can see why it's a multiple winner of "Best Global Club" award.
Best small venue - Easy peasy this one. Underground have top class DJs playing in a perfectly sized environment for dancing and getting to know people, whilst the outside area would be the chill out area from heaven for a club like Amnesia. Girls get in free, boys pay 10€ but get a free drink. Brilliant!
Most Expensive Event - F*** Me I’m Famous is the easy winner again. Let me explain...each week there are a limited amount of tickets for each party, these tickets are the only guaranteed way to gain entry, therefore the tickets can be effectively touted and auctioned to whoever is willing to pay the highest price. I actually saw this in practice one week, as the last 2 tickets in Playa d'en Bossa ended up in a bidding war that eventually saw them sold for 85€ each. Now that's just mental.
Biggest Disaster - A few to mention here. As One saw their Monday night squeezed out by the Zoo Project machine, Boho's busy schedule gradually withered away after poor numbers for every night except Sw.ankys and everything at El Divino was a waste of time. The winner by a country mile though is the 'Never Mind the Bollocks' event featuring Orbital held at Privilege during Radio 1 Weekend. If there were more than 500 people there, they must have been hiding, because the club was empty, empty, empty. Unbelievable amount of money lost!
Orbital at Privilege - fancy a dance, take a spot, take two, bring a friend - there's plenty of space!
Success/Surprise of the summer - How could we not mention the revelation of 2009, the daytime parties in beach bars and on boats around the island; Sirocco with Pippi till the early hours, Sands with Carl Cox playing soul and funk, Monza afters on a Catamaran......but there can be only one - Ushuaïa - and it's fantastic events featuring Tania Vulcano, Armin Van Buuren, Sven Vath and of course Luciano. The closing party with Luciano, Marco Carola and Richie Hawtin was a proper free beach party under the stars, magic!
Luciano and Marco Carola at Ushuaïa Closing
DJS
Best DJ - I didn't think Luciano's star could burn any brighter after last year. Yet, the Swiss Chilean maestro was a one man walking roadblock, bringing Playa D'en Bossa to a standstill on more than one occasion and confirming his superstardom. But, Loco Dice grabbed the Cocoon Terrace by the scruff of the neck this year and made it his own with some truly magnificent performances.
Loco Dice at one of the standout moments of the season, his gig at Carl Cox at Space in September
Ricardo Villalobos Award for Sweatiest DJ - Maybe it's just something about the Discoteca at Space, but Carl Cox is just pipped, ever so slightly, by the freely flowing fluid monster Norman Cook, who it just streams out. (Sorry, no photographic evidence as my camera got too wet)
The Sasha award for most statuesque DJ - I really, really love the guy, he's one of my true heroes, But, I was sure Carl Craig had been replaced by a waxwork for 20 minutes of his September We Love performance. Incredible music, motionless DJ.
Most talked about producer - It would be very, very easy to choose Reboot, who had numerous smashes this season and Luciano's No.1 support at Ushuaïa, but Joris Voorn wins for some stellar productions, including the ubiquitous Sweep the Floor, and his brilliant 'live' performances at Cocoon and We Love.
Knob twiddler extraordinaire Joris Voorn
Bad Day at the Office Award - A few to mention here. Tom Novy for doing his best to spoil the Sunset Terrace vibe at Space Closing.....go back to your Thursday residency please! Martina for billing a night with Francois K, Hell and other heavyweights, none of whom actually came to play. But, the winner is......El Divino, for investing no money nor effort into any decent nights, shameful!
Caner award - Ricardo Villalobos. The guy was off his tits all summer, quite often to the point where his ethereal Amnesia Terrace warblings got so weird........everyone just got bored and left!!
Give it a rest Ricardo!
LA MÚSICA
Tune of the summer - La Mezcla (my fav track for 2008) is the obvious choice but Caminando by Reboot was also played by everyone (even Tiesto for fuck's sake!!) and caused some memorable moments, including at Amnesia Closing and Circo Loco's one event at dc10. Other mentions go to 'Sweep the Floor' by Joris Voorn, 'La Palma' by Alex Celler and 'Leave the World Behind' by the Swedes and Laidback Luke.
Remix/Remake - Not so many classics as in years gone by, but with the increasing trend to sample vocals from spanish folk songs (á la 'La Mezcla'), nearly everything qualifies as a remake. Reboot's mix of Saxtrak by Sebo K got the dancefloor swinging on a regular basis is one of the main traditional remix candidates. Yet, after being played on so many dancefloors it is veritable slag of a tune, the remake of Rose Rouge by St. Germain, produced by Analog People in a Digital World (!!), is the worthy victor. Kevin Saunderson, Sneak, Luciano and nearly every back/small room DJ on the island was playing this.
Most rinsed tune - Come on, where've you been. La Mezcla by Michel Cleis wins hands down.
Most Balearic moment - Amnesia Closing is about as Balearic as it gets and hearing the pure 80s sound of Yello's 'Oh Yeah', as the party continued into the afternoon, was magical.
Best "back in the day" tune heard - Luciano was still playing 'The Age of Love' by The Age of Love nearly every week at Ushuaïa. Nothing quite got the memory bank grinding like hearing Spastik by Plastikman, played by Seb Leger, at a few of his dates at Cream of all places.
Best Ibiza Radio station - Ibiza Sonica wins again. Last year I said it had a "far more diverse, eclectic and interesting range of music than Ibiza Global Radio", well I slightly take this back because Global is just as eclectic with reggae and souls shows. But Sonica's link up with Amnesia every night of the week plus the live broadcasts from Carl Cox at Sands and the IMS Grand Finale at Dalt Vila give Sonica the nod. www.ibizasonica.com
Most Shocking Musical Taste Award - Last year it was Ronaldo (the fat one) who couldn't get enough trance at Cream. This year it was, wait for it.......Ricky Hatton, absolutely bolloxed! Only in Ibiza. :)
THE REST
Parking nightmare award - What with the rain, which meant everyone's first thought was to drive there, and the Local Police seemingly looking for one last bonus for giving out parking tickets.....Space Closing was a nightmare! Even the huge Jet Car Park was bursting.
Scariest Security Staff - The gorillas at Bora Bora have been taking chill pills, as table dancing is now actively encouraged; so I guess by default that means Space wins, although not Claus.....legend.
Best beach - Playa D'en Bossa, how could it be anywhere else. In one year it was transformed its image as a stale, run down, outdated holiday resort into a stale, run down, outdated holiday resort with sh!t loads of posh beach bars and restaurants!! Wicked!
Best Bar - I've excluded the Bossa beach bars and whilst I could easily plump for any of the San An Sunset Strip bars, who are a great holiday accompaniment and have all the big DJs playing regularly, but Grial is like your dream bar; intimate, funky clientele, smooth cocktails and the best 150 person room for dancing on the island (with quality music a cert!)
Best Restaurant - Fine gourmet dining is typically not my thing so the fact Casa Colonial gets this one speaks volumes. Beautiful location, still outside the consciousness of the "oh we must go to KM5 or Bambuddha brigade" and sublime food.
http://www.casa-colonial-ibiza.com
Best PR stunt - Difficult to single anyone in particular out (Cocoon), but the offer of paying guest list to your favourite party seems cool, right? Well wrong if it means you only end up with a 10 euro discount from the normal ticket price and you have to queue an hour for the privilege!
Silicone/Muscle beach award - This year it's not a beach but a club and Matinée gets it. The amount of muscle-laden beasts with well groomed chest hair in Amnesia on a Saturday was quite frankly mind-boggling.
Biggest Pain in The Ass - Drinks prices! 18 euros for a vodka limon in Amnesia VIP, 10 euros for a bottle of Heineken in Ushuaïa, 14 euros for a can of Red Bull in Pacha. Obscene! Worse still, clubs like Space and Privilege now give you your mixer drinks with cheapo, watered-down post-mix (and also Kas instead of Fanta for Naranja/Lemon requests), further increasing their profits and lowering the quality of your drink.
Just for the trainspotters amongst you, here are last year's winners in full. (You'll note some categories have been replaced/amended or removed!)
Best night - Cocoon
Worst Night - Manumission
FMIF Award for most rammed club - F*** Me I'm Famous
Best venue - Amnesia
Most Expensive Event - F*** Me I’m Famous
Best Free Event - Goa at Space
Biggest Disaster - Made In Italy
Success/Surprise of the summer - Supermartxe
Best DJ - Luciano
Sleaziest DJ - Steve Angello
Sweatiest DJ - Ricardo Villalobos
The Sasha award for most statuesque DJ - Steve Lawler
Most talked about producer - Deadmau5
Bad Day at the Office Award - Loco Dice
Caner award - Sven Vath
Tune of the summer - Trompeta by Sis
Remix - Dubfire’s Terror mix of Grindhouse by Radioslave is the winner
Most rinsed tune - The Man with a Red Face (Mark Knight and Funkagenda remake)
Most Balearic moment - Alfredo sunset terrace, Passenger by Iggy Pop
Best "back in the day" tune heard - The Age of love by Age of Love
Best Ibiza Radio station - Ibiza Sonica
Worst Space Closing tune award - Zombie Nation - Kenkraft 400
Most Shocking Musical Taste Award - Ronaldo at Cream
Parking nightmare award - Supermartxe
Scariest Security Staff - Bora Bora
Most clichéd tattoo - Stars
Best T-shirt slogan -IBIZA FUCKIN (EXPENSIVE) ISLAND
Best beach - Talamanca
Best PR stunt - Pure Platinum
Silicone/Muscle beach award - Bora Bora
Biggest Pain in The Ass - The authorites - nuff said!
Our thoughts are with you Award - Frankie Knuckles and Kenny Dope