The Brit Awards have always been met
with an air of tension, and a feeling that anything could happened. From Jarvis Cocker’s stage invasion to
Samantha Fox and Mick Fleetwood’s disastrous hosting, and the cutting off of
Adele’s acceptance speech, there’s hardly been a year when there hasn’t been
some sort of Brits’ controversy. However, this seemed to be lacking this year.
Yes, James Corden was an excellent host, and yes, there were plenty of drunken
celebrities to go round, but this celebration of British talent just didn’t seem
to deliver this year.
The problem was not in the
performances. The ceremony opened with a expectedly loud and proud performance
from Muse, setting the tone for the level of performances during the ceremony,
with a variety of acoustic, pop and a certain American music star. One
Direction gave an exclusive, energetic, pinball-inspired performance of their
Comic Relief cover of One Way or Another
(Teenage Kicks), a cover which has divided the public over the song choice
(just take solace that it’s for charity).
The Brits even had international
superstars take to the stage, starting with Justin Timberlake making a super
slick appearance, adding a huge level of class to the evening. Making women all
over the UK drool, faint or scream over his performance of new single Mirrors, this was probably a much-needed
highlight of the evening for many. Taylor ‘legs for miles’ Swift later took to
the stage in an unusually ferocious get-up, perhaps taking inspiration from
having ex Harry Styles sat metres away in the audience. The night ended with
Female Solo Artist and British Album winner Emeli Sandé, who luckily decided to
end with Next to Me, thankfully more
upbeat than her Olympics’ appearances.
There were no massive surprises when
it came to the winners either. There was some confusion over who Ben Howard was
from disappointed Olly Murs fans, and of course mixed reactions over acceptance
speeches. Aside from this, other winners could have easily be predicted, and were
all well-deserved (according to most). There was no protest over winners like
that seen a few years ago from Kanye West, and no cutting off of speeches
because of time constraints, although mocked by host James Corden and Adele
herself. Everything seemed too rehearsed, as if the winners were actually
briefed beforehand that they had won.
It’s not like there wasn’t plenty of
opportunity for scuffles or misbehaving, what with Taylor Swift and Harry
Styles in the same room, along with more than enough drink to go round. There
was Sharon Osbourne’s mention of Harry Style’s manhood and Robbie William’s confused
award presentation, yet these moments were overtaken quickly but some table
interviews that were seemingly only used to fill time. Perhaps it was the
calamity of last year’s ‘speech-gate’ that caused producers to be over-careful
of what was broadcast which shattered any hopes of an actual talking point for
this year’s ceremony.
As the night
carried on, even the free-flowing of alcohol couldn’t provoke outrageous
behaviour, although jokes became looser and more adult-friendly, sometimes
falling flat to those of us not lucky enough to be there in person. Even the
mini-concert we’re used to at the end of the night wasn’t there, as the Outstanding Achievement Award is no
longer awarded, meaning the end of the night was met with little impact. Maybe
this summed up the night as a whole.
If it wasn’t
the performances, hosting or actual winners that caused the fall-down of this
year’s ceremony, then perhaps it was the lack of a competitive atmosphere and
an over-cautious producing approach that denied us the controversy us viewers
always look forward to at the Brits. With so much talent in the UK at the
moment, it seems a shame that an event that so many across the world will see
failed to produce a talking point on the same level as previous years. Music
stars, start planning your stage invasions and protests for next year’s
ceremony please.
The Night’s Food in Numbers
60 chefs
100kg of tomatoes
120 litres of fresh lime juice
130kg diced lamb shoulder
150kg butter
220kg red cabbage from Cambridgeshire
550 front of house waiting staff
1200 lamb best ends
1500 food preparation hours
3000 eggs
5200 pieces of crostini from 175 foccacia slabs
7800 “truffles” rolled
15000 glasses
List of
Winners
British Male Solo Artist – Ben Howard
British Female Solo Artist – Emeli Sandé
British Breakthrough Act – Ben Howard
British Group – Mumford and Sons
British Live Act – Coldplay
British Single – Adele – Skyfall
Mastercard British Album of the Year – Emeli Sandé – Our Version of Events
International Male Solo Artist – Frank Ocean
International Female Solo Artist – Lana Del Rey
International Group – The Black Keys
Brits Global Success (For International Sales in 2012) – One Direction
British Producer of the Year – Paul Epworth
Critics’ Choice Award – Tom Odell
Special Recognition Award – War Child
(I was trying to get a video of JT doing Mirrors but that didn't work so here's Taylor Swift instead)
(I was trying to get a video of JT doing Mirrors but that didn't work so here's Taylor Swift instead)
