theartsdesk received a New Year's gift last night when we were given a significant accolade from BBC Radio 5 Live. In Web 2009 with Helen and Olly, the station's podcasters and self-styled "internet obsessives" Helen Zaltzman and Olly Mann recognised theartsdesk as one of the five "essential sites of 2009" in a series of awards to the "cream of weblebrity".

• "theartsdesk.com is a really exciting new development for all arts consumers, journalists, promoters, movers and shakers"

• "The Arts Desk is a bloody good read, and tasting nice and reliable"

• "The line-up of writers is already so distinguished"

• "A daily must-visit, I’d have thought"

• "It is exciting to see theartsdesk.com using advancing technologies to cover the arts in new and innovative ways"

• "Brilliant content, very impressive list of contributors and a much needed counterpart to the shrinking of