He started singing as a choirboy in Chichester before moving to New York where he became a cross-dressing performance artist. But as well as his extraordinary, androgynous voice, it was Antony Hegarty's nationality that was in the spotlight last night after his band, Antony and the Johnsons, won the Nationwide Mercury music prize.
I Am a Bird Now, the American-based singer's second album of strikingly stark songs about sexual identity, fought off more orthodox competition from a raft of very British guitar bands, including the favourites Kaiser Chiefs, Coldplay and Bloc Party, to win the £20,000 prize. "Crazy" "insane" "nutty" and "bonkers" were how the self-effacing Hegarty described his victory.
"It's like a contest between an orange and a space ship and a potted plant and a spoon," he said of the diverse range of 12 artists on the Mercury shortlist, including the jazz of Polar Bear and Seth Lakeman's Devon folk album. "Which one do you like better? It's mad."
While other shortlisted artists drew influence from places such as Staines and Sunderland, Hegarty has worked in the US with Lou Reed and his partner, the singer Laurie Anderson, who once likened the effect of Hegarty's voice to that of hearing Elvis Presley sing for the first time.
Before the 14th Mercury awards, one critic said the presence of Hegarty on the shortlist showed the prize had adopted the equivalent of football's "Irish granny" approach to nationality.
Although he holds a British passport and has drawn inspiration from Boy George - who appears on his album - Marc Almond and Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins, Hegarty, 34, has spent most of his life in America after his parents relocated to California when he was 12.
Earlier this month, Kaiser Chiefs accused Hegarty of sneaking on to the shortlist through a "technicality".
"He's an American, really," said Nick Hodgson of Kaiser Chiefs, who hail from the rather less exotic Leeds. "It's a good album, but it's daft he's got in on a technicality."
Asked if he was influenced by mainly British music after performing the haunting Hope There's Someone on a grand piano at the ceremony in west London, Hegarty said it was singers, rather than a particular country, that inspired him. "My thing is really mixed up because I've been moved around my whole life. I take influence from soulful singers."
Unlike ceremonies such as the Brit Awards, which are more directly related to sales success, the Mercury prize aims to provide a snapshot of the best in British music - always a more contentious field than simple popularity.
According to organisers, eligibility for the prize is defined by nationality, not residency. They have argued that today's globalised music industry makes it is harder to decide than ever who can be chosen, with very British artists such as Morrissey spending years in the US.
The controversy over his country of origin has not troubled most of Hegarty's fellow nominees, with many being keen fans of his starkly emotional album.
At the announcement of the nominations, Sean and Angela Gannon of the Magic Numbers - another shortlisted band to boast an exotic background - declared I Am A Bird Now was their personal favourite. KT Tunstall also recently declared that she would pick Antony and the Johnsons as the winner.
"For me the Mercury is about originality, and Antony has made the most original record of the year," she said.
While Damon Albarn once famously likened the Mercury prize to "carrying a dead albatross around your neck for eternity", the award is unlikely to weigh so heavily on Hegarty.
Despite being described by Attitude magazine as the "gayest thing ever recorded", I Am A Bird Now has crossed into the mainstream and has even received rave reviews from British tabloids.
Describing his "exciting relationship" with British music, Hegarty said the prize was not about acclaim or becoming the next big thing. "For me, singing has always been an opportunity to take a flight of fantasy, to dream," he said.
Antony & The Johnsons have won the 2005 Mercury Music Prize for their album ''I Am a Bird Now''.

Anthony Hegarty, born in Chichester, United Kingdom, won the award of £20,000 for creating the most original album by a British or Irish act during the last year.

Other nominees included Coldplay, M.I.A. and the bookies favourites The Kaiser Chiefs.