We are only three sleeps nights away from the biggest night in Canadian music.

That’s right, on Monday night the winner of the 2010 Polaris Prize will be announced! Did you seriously just ask yourself what the Polaris Prize is? How many times am I going to have to explain it? Essentially, it is the coolest prize in Canadian music. Over the best summer, the year’s albums have been widdled down to only ten. Of those ten albums, one of them will win $20,000 to continue their path to making great music. Make sense?

This year’s short list includes:

* The Besnard Lakes, The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night

* Broken Social Scene, Forgiveness Rock Record

* Caribou, Swim

* Karkwa, Les chemins de verre

* Dan Mangan, Nice, Nice, Very Nice (!!!)

* Owen Pallett, Heartland

* Radio Radio, Belmundo Regal

* The Sadies, Darker Circles

* Shad, TSOL

* Tegan and Sara, Sainthood

I’m too nervous to say who I think is going to win. But if I had to choose, I would say Dan Mangan, (but I have ulterior motives.) And yes, I’m still annoyed that Owen Pallett and Caribou are on the short list, since they’ve already won the prize before. And since it is only a few years old, they really should share the wealth. Literally.

Jann Arden has made the bold move of announcing her favourites: “Melodically and lyrically Tegan and Sara hit the mark with every one of these songs. The songs are edgy without losing their pop sensibility.”

So who do you think is going to win? Never heard of any of the artists? Don’t worry, that’s sorta the point. Head on over to the Polaris site and listen to all the nominees. You’ll be disappointed that you haven’t been enjoying them all year!