Vile Fifty

The arrival of The List's Hot 100 ought to be my excuse to start moaning about the choices and their positioning - frankly, having spent a week laying out Clingfilm for Tramway Young Critics, I'm disappointed that there aren't more Hot designers in the top ten - but that seems as easy as poking fun at Creative Scotland. I'm more interested in the diversity of talent that the 100 reveals. Then again, Ewan Morrison would probably be excluded on my list, because he tried to steal my drink last night.

The cultural profile of Scotland is stunning. It's what keeps me chained to the computer, trying to cover it on the blog and for The Skinny.  Whether I would place David Greig below Cora Bisset - both are included, pretty much on the back of the same two productions, Glasgow Girls and Whatever Gets You Through The Night - is irrelevant. What matters is that they are both making internationally acclaimed theatre while still being based in Caledonia.

Although I have no idea about the politics of independence, the Hot 100 is a stark reminder that Scotland does have its own distinctive identity: it is jarring when certain names appear who are either no longer based in Scotland - and who have perhaps made their impact in a broader context - or the occasional artist who is generally not seen as Scottish. David Byrne may have been born in Scotland, but his work has always featured an American voice. It's not so much that the nation can't claim him, but that the rest of list emphasises that it doesn't need him.

Of course, what the Hot 100 really needs is a few talking heads - minor comedians or DJs perhaps - to comment on the individual's moments of glory. That'll make it more like those TV nostalgia shows, and give legitimacy to the whole enterprise. Either that, or it must finally acknowledge the hard work of critics - without them, none of this creativity would reach an audience in the first place. Since there are plenty of awards knocking about at this time of year, I am instituting the Vile Fifty 2012. There's no hierarchy - everyone on it is number one - and it goes out to the editors and critics writing for The List, The Skinny, The Herald, The Scotsman, to the on-line bloggers and the press departments and freelance PRs who keep the wheels of culture turning.