Scissor Sisters star Ana Matronic will jet into Belfast this month to announce the winner of an new international art competition, it has been revealed.
The singer, whose real name is Ana Lynch, will present the £20,000 prize to the winner of the MAC's (Metropolitan Arts Centre) inaugural contest for contemporary art.
The 40-year-old, who has sold millions of records worldwide, will then take to the turn-tables as guest DJ at a glitzy after-show party.
She said: "Prizes such as MAC International are to be strongly commended as they provide a fantastic platform for professional artists across the world to profile their work.
"This is a truly international prize - it will be a real honour for me to announce the winner and I can't wait to get to Belfast to see the exhibition myself."
More than 1,000 artists from 30 countries across the world entered the competition which has one of the biggest prizes in the UK and Ireland.
Work from all of the shortlisted contenders includes sculpture, painting, photography, film, installation and performance and will go on display in the MAC's galleries through the autumn and winter.
The three-month exhibition is expected to attract around 60,000 visitors.
Hugh Mulholland, curator at the MAC, said: "The presence of the Turner Prize in Derry-Londonderry during 2013's City of Culture made a major statement to the world about the strides visual art practice has made in Northern Ireland and this prize will strengthen that even further.
"The calibre of the shortlisted submissions is truly world-class."
Two Belfast artists, Dougal McKenzie and Colin Darke, are among those named on the shortlist, along with Dublin's Darek Fortas and Maria McKinney.
Andrew Cranston and Jordan Baseman, from Glasgow, are also shortlisted along with London-based Mike Harvey, Tim Ellis, Mairead McClean, and Roxy Walsh and Sally Underwood.
A panel of international curators including Francesco Bonami, an Italian art curator and writer who is currently the artistic director of Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin, and Judith Nesbitt, head of national and international Partnerships at Tate, London, will select the winner.
Suzanne Lyle, head of visual arts at the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said: "Given the volume and diversity of entries, I don't envy the task undertaken by the judges but I am very much looking forward to seeing the work of the shortlisted artists at the MAC."
The shortlisted artists are:
:: Rolando Vargas - Film (Santa Cruz, USA)
:: Lenz Geerk - Painting/sculpture (Dusseldorf, Germany)
:: Andrew Cranston - Painting (Glasgow, Scotland)
:: Zimoun - Sound installation (Switzerland)
:: Jordan Baseman - Film (Glasgow, Scotland)
:: Darek Fortas - Photography (Dublin, Republic of Ireland)
:: Harri Palviranta - Photography (Helsinki, Finland)
:: Roxy Walsh and Sally Underwood - Painting /installation (London, England)
:: Salla Tykka - Film (Helsinki, Finland)
:: Hanibal Srouji - Painting (Beirut, Lebanon)
:: Maria McKinney - Sculpture (Dublin, Republic of Ireland)
:: Mike Harvey - Film (London, England)
:: Grace Ndiritu - Photo/archive based installation (Birmingham, England)
:: Tim Ellis - Painting (London, England)
:: Shelly Nadashi - Film (Brussels, Belgium)
:: Euyoung Hong - Installation (South Korea)
:: Tsahi Hacmon - Sculpture/Installation (Israel)
:: Dougal McKenzie - Painting (Belfast, Northern Ireland)
:: Cian Donnelly - Performance (Rome, Italy)
:: Steven Baelen - Drawing (Gent, Belgium)
:: Ulf Lundin - Film (Enskede, Sweden)
:: Mairead McClean - Film (London, England)
:: Charbel Samuel Aoun - Sculpture/installation (Lebanon)
:: Colin Darke - Sculpture (Belfast, Northern Ireland)
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