Karkwa won the $20,000 Polaris Music Prize last night.

I predicted Karkwa to win the 2010 Polaris Prize moments before the start of the gala show at the concert hall in the Masonic Temple. My reasoning -- besides putting out a sonically brilliant album, Les chemins de verre -- was that they were one of the most obscure acts to make The Short List.

I met Karkwa upstairs the Masonic Temple about an hour before the gala show.

Singer/guitarist Louis-Jean Cormier was jovial about his inclusion in this year's batch. "If we win we'll by a new van for the group," he said. "But we won't blow it all on one of those deluxe touring buses."

Cormier, along with keyboardist Francois Lafontaine, bassist Martin Lamontagne, Stephane Bergeron and percussionist Julien Sagot, were all thrilled and about as surprised as the rest of the nominees to win.

It was good to see these humble guys from Montreal, Que. win out other talented groups, including Toronto's own Broken Social Scene and The Sadies. Others on The Short List were: Shad, The Besnard Lakes, Caribou, Dan Magnan, Radio Radio, Owen Pallett and Tegan and Sara.