I mentioned a few weeks ago about the festival announcements starting to take place, and today was one of those big days in the music scene, as Oxegen was given the official launch for 2010.

In the busy Academy in Dublin the whos-who of the entertainment and media industry popped in to the launch to hear which international arists would grace the stages over the three day event, and I don’t think personally that anyone could really predict a line up like this. So far some of the names confirmed are:

EMINEM, MUSE, JAY-Z, BLACK EYED PEAS, KASABIAN, THE PRODIGY, FLORENCE+THE MACHINE, PAOLO NUTINI, FAITHLESS, STEREOPHONICS, DAVID GUETTA, VAMPIRE WEEKEND, MUMFORD & SONS JOHN MAYER, HOT CHIP, CALVIN HARRIS, NEWTON FAULKNER, GOSSIP, THE TEMPER TRAP, EMPIRE OF THE SUN, GOLDFRAPP, LA ROUX, WOLFMOTHER, RISE AGAINST, THE CORAL, BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE, ELLIE GOULDING, TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB, ARMAND VAN HELDEN, STEVE ANGELLO, SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO, EROL ALKAN, STEVE AOKI, A-TRAK, AEROPLANE

And there are more to be announced, as per usual.

Eminem is one the big boys playing the festival, along with rapper Jay-Z, offering a truly hip-hop feel to the mainstage. And, there’s the usual culprits in the form of Calvin Harris, The Prodigy and smaller acts. News about Eminem playing Oxegen was broken ahead of the launch, courtesy of a news article. [Thanks to Phantom 105.2 for that]

I wonder, since the criticism of Jay-Z at Glastonbury, will we have the same upset here. I doubt it, really. Oxegen is already diverse enough in terms of acts, but I may be wrong. Who knows.

As for other international festivals, T in the Park, which has a line-up which nearly imitates Oxegen, has been announced today. I’m certain a good few of the other acts from the festival which come across the water to Punchestown.

Oxegen itself is €224.50 for 3 days, with camping.

Electric Picnic and other Irish festivals have not announced their line-up as of yet.