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| NEW: New venue, new trophy - but another special night for the BRITS |
TONIGHT’S BRIT awards ceremony in London was a colourful and explosive celebration of music, in many different ways. Canadian indie band Arcade Fire and British rapper Tinie Tempah were the big winners, as both collected two awards at the 02 Arena. There were also big wins for Take That, Mumford and Sons and Rihanna.
Tinie Tempah was the favourite to storm the ceremony this evening, as he led last month’s nominations with four. Sure enough, he claimed two awards; for British Breakthrough Act and Best British Single. His incredible song ‘Pass Out’ held off stiff competition from the likes of bookies favourite Matt Cardle, Plan B and Scouting for Girls amongst others. However, he missed out on British Male Solo Artist, which went to the brilliant Plan B. When Elton John compares you as the male version of Amy Winehouse, it might set some alarm bells ringing, but Plan B has the potential to build massively on his second album ‘The Defamation of Strickland Banks,’ and confirmed to host of the show, James Cordon, that he is planning a hip-hop/reggae mix for his next album.
Arcade Fire had struggled to hit the heights before 2010, but ‘The Suburbs,’ was their massive breakthrough. It was the band’s third album, but it went straight to number one in Canada, the US and the UK and they won the Best International Album award, along with International Group. The eight-piece group looked stunned to have achieved so much success in the last twelve months; “Thank you Britain, we are so honoured.’ Unlike Tinie Tempah, whose live performance was electric and extravagant, Arcade Fire’s live show was okay, without ever being spectacular.
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| SUCCESS: Take That picked up another award tonight |
Robbie Williams decision to rejoin Take That in the summer of last year was one of the big music headlines in the previous calendar year and they look stronger than ever. They kicked the glitzy ceremony off full of colour and fireworks which surrounded their performance of ‘Kidz.’ Later in the night, they scooped the British Group award, which means it is now a staggering 20 BRIT wins between Robbie as a solo artist and Take That as a group. Despite this, ‘Progress,’ a massive seller lost out in the prestigious award category of the evening. Instead, the MasterCard British Album of the year went to the unfancied Mumford and Sons. Their album ‘Sigh No More,’ has sold over one million copies, but up against the likes of Take That, Plan B and Tinie Tempah, their chances can’t have been great.
Just like the X-Factor final before Christmas, Rihanna decided not to wear much clothing for her live performance. Sometimes you wonder if she has heard of the word! Her miming was ridiculous, the dancers looked horrific and quite frankly, it was one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen in BRITS history. How some people can see her as a hottie is beyond me! Nevertheless, Rihanna is a general hit with the British public and she denied Katy Perry a deserved success to claim the International Female Solo Artist.
Other winners on the night were Jessie J, who was the pre-selected winner of the Critics Choice award. She follows in the footsteps of ADELE and Florence + the Machine, in becoming the fourth female to win this award. She looked very emotional on claiming the award from last year’s recipient, Ellie Goulding. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you for making my dreams come true,” she said, almost bursting into tears. Cee Lo Green won nothing in 2007, having been nominated three times. Four years later, he returned to win the Best International Male Solo Artist award, with his no.1 single ‘Forget You’ reaching two million hits in one week on YouTube last year. 16-year old Justin Bieber was the unsurprising winner of the International Breakthrough Act, largely down to the viewers of MTV and there was a total shock in the British Female Solo Artist category, as the unheard Laura Marling beat Cheryl Cole and Ellie Goulding to the prize.
With celebrities on the night ranging from Radio 1’s Fearne Cotton, chatty man Alan Carr, F1 ace Lewis Hamilton and former singer, turned actor Will Young giving out awards, other attention went out to the live performers. There can be no doubt that ADELE wins in this category. The 21-year old gave a stunning and spine-tingling performance of her new single, which is currently no.1 in 17 countries. It left everyone in the 02 Arena in shock! Plan B’s live routine looked more like a violent episode of The Simpsons. However, his medley of ‘Prayin’ and ‘She Said’ totally rocked. Aside from Rihanna and a brave, but forgettable live show from Mumford & Sons, most of the performances live were fairly decent this year, compared with some of the drunk, half-hearted attempts of recent years. As for James Cordon, his performance as host was mellow and decent, but it never reached the expected heights. I don’t think he will hang onto this position for the 2012 ceremony.
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| CHANGE: Dame Vivienne Westwood designed the new style |
2010 was an unforgettable year of music across the world and the biggest night in the music calendar year certainly didn’t disappoint. Let’s see what 2011 will bring, but don’t be too surprised if the stars of this year’s BRITS end up dominating next year’s ceremony too.
