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Best Of British 2011: Best Radio Show - Annie Mac

MAC THE KNIFE: Radio 1’s queen of the weekend is “delighted”

When Annie Mac heard that she’d won the award for Best Radio Show, she was mid-way through a DJing tour of Australia.

“I’m delighted,” the 33-year-old shrieked, between gigs, dashing from one hotel in one city to another in a different location. And that’s about all she had time to say. You see, Annie Mac is probably the busiest woman in dance music. When she’s not hosting her weekend-starting Friday night 7-9pm Radio 1 ‘Mash Up’ slot she’s more than likely listening to music, preparing for a DJ set or actually DJing. A recent tweet while she was in Adelaide on her DJ tour read: “chilling in Adelaide, in my bathrobe, listening to ASAP Rocky’s mixtape. Feeling very hip-hop. Can you get cigars on room service?” Even her downtime is dominated by new music.

Annie Macmanus started out her career in regional radio. She moved to Radio 1 in the early 2000s, working as a broadcast assistant and doing stand-ins for Mary Anne Hobbs. She produced Zane Lowe’s show for a while before bagging her own slot in 2004 and, since then, has worked her hardest to become one of the national station’s biggest DJs. Her penchant for dubstep and the underground bass movement is what earned her the hallowed 7-9pm Radio 1 slot (previously filled by Pete Tong) in 2009, a start-of-the-weekend show she’s since packed with some of the most cutting-edge British music.

Her tastes stretch beyond bass music, however. Her ‘Annie Mac Presents 2011’ compilation, released on Island last year, featured tracks from Robyn and Calvin Harris next to Toddla T’s ‘Take It Back’. It’s that same kind of variety you get on her show. While she was away on tour in Australia last year, Florence Welch from Florence + The Machine presented her ‘Mash Up’ slot. Whatever you hear in that 180-minute Friday evening show, you know that with Annie at the helm it’s going to be good stuff. That’s why she’s not the only one that’s “delighted” that she’s won this award.

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  The Other Nominees

Mary Anne-Hobbs (Xfm) Numbers (Rinse FM) Gilles Peterson Worldwide (Radio 1) Sinden (Kiss FM)