The third annual Shortlist Music Prize went to Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice [ tickets ] on Sunday night (10/6) during an event in Los Angeles that featured live performances by eight of the 10 award finalists.

Rice was presented with the statuette--nicknamed "The Shorty"--and $5,000 following the four-hour-plus Shortlist Concert. Besides Rice and his four-piece band, acts that performed were Bright Eyes [ tickets ] (backed by an orchestra), The Streets, Cat Power [ tickets ], The Black Keys, Cody Chesnutt, Floetry and Interpol [ tickets ].

Icelandic group Sigur Ros (a past Shortlist Prize winner) and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were also finalists for the award, but didn't attend.

The finalists were selected by a panel of 19 nominating judges--known as "Listmakers"--that included Tom Waits, Cameron Crowe, Dave Matthews, Erykah Badu, Flea, Tori Amos and Musiq.

The concert was taped by MTV2 for broadcast as a one-hour television special that will debut on Oct. 25. The special will feature performances from the concert, interviews with Listmakers and finalists, and a look at the deliberations that determined the winner.

The Shortlist Prize, which is modeled on Britain's Mercury Music Prize, was spearheaded to create opportunities for "left-of-center" groups to cross over into the mainstream, according to organizers. Artists who have sold more than 500,000 albums during the year were not eligible for the award.

N.E.R.D., a recording alter ego of producers The Neptunes, won last year's Shortlist Prize.