The MOGO Awards (music of ginger origin) were first held in 1996 in Darlington to honour the heritage and influence of ginger music.

The awards concentrate on seven primary forms of contemporary music; Pop, Rock, Country, Folk, Metal, Classical, and Punk.

The organisers of MOGO itself claim that the awards are designed to celebrate talent in these areas irrespective of hair colour.

Since 1998 the awards have been held at London's Royal Albert Hall and attract the biggest names in ginger music including Sid Vicious, Mick Hucknall, Tori Amos, Feargal Sharky, Geri Halliwell and Annie Lennox. The awards now attract a worldwide television audience of over sixteen.

The nominees are decided by over 1,000 members of the MOGO academy (all from a music or media background) but the winners are chosen by the public by phone vote or over the MOGO internet site.

The awards have been dismissed as lacking in credibility by some pro-ginger groups who claim that the ceremony is not truly representative of the music within the ginger community and are used to gain mainstream acceptance for the most listener friendly of red-headed artists.

On the whole however, the awards are seen as a celebration of contemporary music and as an acknowledgement of it's fundamental roots.

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