Best of 2007

The winners are The Nightjars with 37.7% of the vote

The rest of the results:
Liz Green - 30.5%
The Courteeners - 18.2%
The Ting Tings - 7.1%
Whiskycats - 4.5%
Cleo - 1.9%

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More about the nominees:

Cleo Higgins

Cleo

In the most unlikely comeback since Northside, Cleo Higgins put her past as lead singer in the much-loved Cleopatra behind her and introduced herself to the world as simply Cleo.

If her debut, the immensely catchy and undoubtedly adult Feelin’ Like This, is anything to go by, she’s about to start comin’ atcha all over again.

The Courteeners

The Courteeners

Manchester’s love affair with bad boy indie rockers continued with the arrival of The Courteeners. Dispensing with his solo efforts, Liam Fray took on a frontman’s role with all the arrogance and swagger of that other famous Mancunian Liam.

Their debut, Cavorting, sold out before it was released and their journey from upstarts to icons began in earnest.

Liz Green

Liz Green

Having worked the car parks at Glastonbury a few years back, Liz Green won a national competition to play the festival and was considered so good by the judges that they upgraded her to the main Pyramid Stage.

Hardly surprising when you consider the sheer quality of her music - with the release of her debut, Bad Medicine, a major talent announced herself to the world.

The Nightjars (c) Anne-Laure Franchette

The Nightjars

The NME called them "zippy, bristly guitar pop", Fake DIY said they had an "inevitable road to success" and we all just rejoiced in the fact that Ollie and Phil’s childhood friendship finally produced some brilliant music.

The mini album may have been a little rough around the edges but regardless, their spiky and frenetic live shows and genuine charm placed them firmly on the musical map.

The Ting Tings

The Ting Tings

Having come very close with their previous incarnation, Katie and Jules made some tweaks to their sound, found a brand new name and unleashed the brain-boxingly catchy That’s Not My Name onto the world.

Their sheer energy took them from a jam-packed pub at Sounds From The Other City all the way to holding their own alongside KT Tunstall and Mutya Buena on Later… Not bad when you consider that they didn’t really get things started until June!

Whiskycats

Whiskycats

Every band has to have a solid fan-base to succeed, but Whiskycats took that to an extreme when they decided to get their most fervent supporters to help finance their debut album.

That support was repaid with a fine selection of tunes and the band then underlined just how well they can do without a record company by becoming the first unsigned act to headline the Academy 1.

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Vote criteria:

- To be eligible for all votes, at least one member of the act must have been born in or reside in Greater Manchester
- Breakthrough is defined as any artist that has released their debut album or single, by physical release or download, between January 1 and December 31 2007
- Both physical release and downloads are eligible
- Each vote has six choices
- Each vote will run from 4.00pm on Friday 21 December 2007 to 11.55pm Monday 31 December 2007
- Voting is restricted to one vote per person