The site’s been getting literally tens of hits from people trying to find out who won at last night’s Best of Manchester Awards ceremony. Here’s what you’re looking for:

Music: Richard Cheetham, High Voltage
Fashion: Simon Buckley, Rags to Bitches
Art: Naomi Kashiwagi, conceptual artist

So I scored precisely 1 from 3 with my random predictions, which fits well probability-wise.

I didn’t make it to Urbis last night but it was apparently very busy, with live music from Gideon Conn, Kid British and Keith. The awards were presented by Claire Lomax (fashion), Luke Bainbridge (music) and Peter Saville (art).

There were also three special commendation awards made earlier this week – to Naeem Bawany for club photography, Christopher Gray for commercial design, Liam Hopkins for product design and Daniel Clark for the Manchester-based label and boutique, Junk Shop.

The Best of Manchester exhibition, featuring samples from all nine shortlisted entrants, is now open at Urbis until 28 September.

The shortlist for this year’s celebration of all things Manchester was announced last week, and it contains some familiar and (for me at least) not-so-familiar names:

Music:

• Richard Cheetham, who runs the successful High Voltage bands night and monthly fanzine, and is also the booking manager for Night & Day Cafe
• Duncan Sime, aka Red Deer Club, which started out as a great folk night and now continues as a label and DJing guise
• Jasper Wilkinson, part of multimedia collective I Am Your Autopilot, which ‘blends hard-edged electronica with choral sounds, using synthesizers, guitar and multi-layered harmonies’
• Random tip to win: Duncan Sime

Fashion:

• Simon Buckley, co-owner of Tib Street vintage boutique Rags to Bitches (with wife Flic Everett)
• Nabil El-Nayal, recent winner of the Womenswear Award the Graduate Fashion Week 2008
• Hasan Hejazi, who shoots for YQ magazine among others
• Random tip: Nabil El-Nayal

Art:

• Paul Harfleet, who is behind the innovative council flat-based Apartment exhibition space
• Naomi Kashiwagi, shortlisted for ||: Repetition :||, Fugue No.1 in QWERTY for 8 Typewriters, ‘a music and text score composed for typewriters’
• Jai Redman, creative director of UHC (which I’ve written about before) and creator of the Thin Veneer of Democracy, a 16-foot table decorated with a ‘power map’ of Manchester’s corporate and political movers and shakers
• Random tip: Naomi Kashiwagi

More information is available on the Best of Manchester blog and works by the nine shortlisted entrants will be displayed at Urbis from Friday.

The winners, each receiving £2,000  and a tailored professional development package, will be announced at a ceremony at Urbis on Thursday evening.

You’ve probably seen it advertised around town, but the deadline for this year’s Best of Manchester Awards is fast approaching so its organisers are making one last push for entries.

The annual competition, hosted by Urbis, ‘celebrates innovation in art, music and fashion’. This deliberately broad scope means art, for example, can include illustration, photography, graphic design as well as fine art and sculpture.

There are also apparently ‘no age limits, no hype and no rules’, so any creative professional living or working in Manchester can enter. Prizes include professional career development, an exhibition in Urbis and a one-off cash prize.

Susie Stubbs, who’s helping to promote the event, has been in touch with an update about this year’s competition:

It’s early days yet as the deadline isn’t until the end of the month, but we’ve already had around 100 entries. Some of the work that’s come in so far is fantastic – the judges are going to have their work cut out.

And the judging panel itself makes for impressive reading: chaired by designer Peter Saville and including Caroline Elleray (head of A&R at Universal Publishing), Miranda Sawyer (Guardian/Observer writer and broadcaster), Luke Bainbridge (Observer Music Monthly), Justin Crawford (The Unabombers/Electriks), Tim Thomas (Blueprint Studios), Claire Lomax (Flux) and Kwong Lee (Castlefield Gallery).

The deadline for entries is 30 June and you can follow the latest from the awards camp at their blog, http://bestofmanchester.wordpress.com/. For more information on entering visit the Best of Manchester section on the Urbis website.

I’ve been lost in the loud, boozy, dingy world of this year’s In The City music conference for the past couple of days. It’s been fun so far, if a little damaging to the health.

This is, of course, the first ITC since the passing of its co-founder Tony Wilson, so it’s been interesting to see how it compares to previous years. Good news is that nothing much has changed – same old venues I’d never normally set foot in (Walkabout, Studio, Bar 38…), terrible teenage bands (I’ve yet to see anyone interesting), industry back-slapping and painfully late nights.

This year there’s a big corporate sponsor (Coca Cola) on board and the delegate bags (one of my main reasons for attending) certainly aren’t going to last til ITC 2008. I’ve also noticed that the seminars are less about technology and the internet this year, with management, distribution and live music coming to the forefront. The ‘360 degree model’ seems to be something of a buzz phrase too.

Elsewhere in the festival town formerly known as Manchester, we’ve got a comedy festival going on and also a science festival. I’m not particularly into either – far too participatory – and I’m suffering from festival fatigue, what with the literature and food and drink events earlier this month, so browse the websites yourselves if you’re so inclined.

But before you go, check out Virtual Manchester’s Manchester Events Guide, Manchester clubbing guide Northernights and Aidan O’Rourke’s Life on Mars location guide.

* I Love Manchester photo nabbed from Nik Fletcher, who has just left Manchester for pastures new – best of luck Nik!