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The BRIT Awards 2008 and The Brits Encore

Posted By Matthew Rimmer on February 21, 2008 12:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The BRIT Awards 2008 and The Brits Encore

Date: 20^th February 2008

Channel: ITV1 (The Brit Awards 2008) and ITV2 (The Brits Encore)

Venue: Earls Court

I wasn’t there, but I watched it on TV and reviewed it as I watched…

The Awards were opened with aplomb by Mika with Love Today, Beth Ditto of The Gossip soon joining him for a rendition of Standing In The Way Of Control. This unexpected combination worked very well. Ditto vanished behind a red curtain leaving Mika to sing Grace Kelly alone and the audience seemed enthused by the start of the annual music awards.

On came the Osborne family – the four TV ones at any rate – to host proceedings, all clearly delighted to be back in the limelight. Tom Baker man announced the nominations, whilst Fearne Cotton provided the narration and interview links for ITV1. Sharon was as over-the-top as ever, whilst Jack looked a little awkward.

British Live Act:

Nominees: Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Klaxons, Muse, Take That

Winner: Take That, (clearly nervous collecting the award)

Presented by: Chris Moyles, (who provided the first worrying moment of the night with a string of jokes that got little reaction)

Rihanna and Klaxons performed Umbrella, sampling the ooo-ooo-ooo-aahs of Golden Skans and I have to say Rihanna was excellent live. Sadly, Klaxons seemed a little overshadowed by both Rihanna and Earls Court’s stunning lighting array.

Critics’ Choice: (a new award introduced this year)

Winner: Adele, (who was very good on BBC Three’s dreadful show Lily Allen and Friends last night)

Presented by: Will Young, (bland)

British Breakthrough Act:

Nominations: Bat For Lashes, (who? – they didn’t breakthrough to me, obviously), Klaxons, Leona Lewis, Mika, Kate Nash

Winner: Mika, (ecstatic)

Presented by: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, (I know the name, but can’t place him)

Kylie was the next live act with her poppy Wow. Not her best song, but your standard Kylie-fare.

Fearne did a quick interview with Adele and Mika – Adele was still championing Leona for British Single for Bleeding Love as she was on the dreadful Lily Allen and Friends, despite being stood next to Mika who’s up for that award with Grace Kelly. Realising her social faux-par, the two laughed it off.

International Male Solo Artist:

Nominations: Michael Bublé, Bruce Springsteen, Timberland, Rufus Wainwright, Kanye West

Winner: Kanye West, (smug, via recorded video acceptance)

Presented by: Kelly Rowland, (apparently back with new material)

British Male Solo Artist:

Nominations: Mika, Newton Faulkner, Richard Hawley, Mark Ronson, Jamie T

Winner: Mark Ronson, (deserving of an award, but as he doesn’t sing, making him the first non-singer to win this award, this award seems a little odd – at least he acknowledged his collaborators in his long acceptance speech)

Presented by: Beth Ditto, (larger than life…)

Kaiser Chiefs were up next performing Ruby live. I preferred Karl Kennedy actor, (and friend of Rare FM), Alan Fletcher’s Waiting Room version of this song as seen on the Neighbours documentary Neighbours On Five on Sunday.

International Female Solo Artist:

Nominations: Alicia Keys, Bjork, Feist, (oh, she’s an individual, not a group…), Kylie Minogue, Rihanna

Winner: Kylie Minogue, (friend of David Tennant)

Presented by: David Tennant, (in a shiny T-shirt)

Next up live on stage was Leona Lewis. Belting out the over-played Bleeding Love, she didn’t sound at her best. Don’t get me wrong, I think she has an amazing voice, but I’ve heard her sing that better.

International Group:

Nominations: Arcade Fire, Eagles, Foo Fighters, Kings of Leon, The White Stripes

Winner: Foo Fighters, (well-deserved, accepted via recorded video)

Presented by: Denise van Outen and Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, (Webber is not funny)

British Female Solo Artist:

Nominations: Bat For Lashes, PJ Harvey, Leona Lewis, Kate Nash, KT Tunstall, (PJ and KT seemingly having forgotten their names, although they’re not as bad as that k.d. lang, who’s forgotten capital letters as well…)

Winner: Kate Nash, (surprisingly beating Leona Lewis)

Presented by: James Nesbitt, (who came on with the announcement that Manchester United are losing)

International Album:

Nominations: Arcade Fire – Neon Bible, Eagles – Long Road Out of Eden, Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, Kings of Leon – Because of the Times, Kylie Minogue – X

Winner: Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, (accepted via recorded video and increasingly arrogant – oddly I predicted Arcade Fire would win, so started typing them in this slot, or at least intended to, I actually wrote Foo Fighters and then the announcement was made that they had won, weird…)

Presented by: Michelle Ryan, (EastEnd Bionic Woman)

In a Mark Ronson medley, Ronson and Adele covered Coldplay’s God Put A Smile On Your Face. They sounded good together. Adele was then replaced by Daniel Merriweather for Stop Me – one of the weakest of Ronson’s covers, I prefer the original, Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before by The Smiths. Out popped a drained Amy Winehouse who took a while to get going and looked to struggle throughout their cover of The Zuton’s Valerie, (the recorded version of which is a cracking cover of a brilliant track).

Oh look, Louis Walsh is in the audience and a transmission error puts Sharon and Kelly in freaky slow-motion mode.

British Group:

Nominations: Arctic Monkeys, Editors, Girls Aloud, Kaiser Chiefs, Take That

Winner: Arctic Monkeys, (second year running, shame – I wanted Editors – they collected the award dressed in hunting gear and the arrogant bunch had to be dismissed by Kelly Osborne)

Presented by: Sir Ian McKellen

Amy Winehouse was seemingly well enough to perform again. She performed Love Is A Losing Game, not a song I’m familiar with so it’s hard to judge if it was performed well. It was hard to decipher the lyrics, (I sound like an old man saying that), so it took me a while to find out what the song was called by searching on Google with string of lyrics.

British Single:

Nominations: James Blunt – 1973, The Hoosiers – Worried About Ray, Kaiser Chiefs – Ruby, Leona Lewis – Bleeding Love, Mika – Grace Kelly, Kate Nash – Foundations, Mark Ronson feat. Amy Winehouse – Valerie, Sugababes – About You Now, Take That – Shine

Winner: Take That – Shine, (just pipping Leona Lewis to the post and clearly having drunk a lot)

Presented by: Alan Carr, (drunk and making jokes about Amy Winehouse…)

[Sharon and Kelly appear to be padding as the Awards seem to be running ahead of schedule.]

MasterCard British Album:

Nominations: Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare, Leona Lewis – Spirit, Mika – Life In Cartoon Motion, Mark Ronson – Version, Take That – Beautiful World

Winner: Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare, (again as last year, drunk and useless as ever)

Presented by: Vic Reeves, (drunk and useless as usual)

Sharon’s mic. seems to have been left on and she is heard to say “Bloody hell, what have they come as”, as Arctic Monkeys fail to make a speech and are cut off as the overrun in their slot.

The Outstanding Contribution to Music Award:

Winner: Sir Paul McCartney, (obvious and deserving choice, short and sweet speech – Ozzy was very pleased as he’s a huge fan)

Presented by: Kylie Minogue, (she and Paul should do a single together – that would be interesting…)

McCartney performed the whistley Dance Tonight, although he struggled to whistle live. It’s a nice song, but hardly representative of McCartney’s illustrious career. Ah, Live and Let Die, that’s more like it. His backing band really shone on this and McCartney provided a fresh take on the classic track. Oh I see, solo, Wings, The Beatles. A look back through his career. He rounds off with Hey Jude. McCarntey really worked the audience and provided a fitting ending to what has been a successful BRIT Awards.

There were few classic BRIT Award moments, but the live acts were entertaining, Mika and Beth Ditto, Rihanna and Klaxons and Mark Ronson and Adele particularly standing out. The winners were largely deserving, although as ever there were a few surprises and some people were robbed, (Leona Lewis, particularly, missing out on four awards), but that’s always the way.

Bit cruel sitting Leona next to Kate Nash on The Brits Encore on ITV2 afterwards. Leona, not having won anything, had to sit next to Nash who beat her to British Female Solo Artist as they were interviewed.

The Brits Encore was presented by Lauren Laverne, Emma Griffiths and Matt Willis and included a shocking cover of Leona’s Bleeding Love by Willis. Viewers were also treated to Paul McCartney’s extended set – he continued playing after the Awards came off air. The extended set consisted of great renditions of Lady Madonna and Get Back, McCartney announcing they were on “ITV2, where nobody goes…”

The Brits Encore offered the usual collection of highlights from the night and quick interviews with winners, performers and commentators on their way to the after show parties, official and unofficial. We learnt that Will Young’s Dad owns a pub, so Will Young can drink, and saw Matt Willis freaking out as a man knocked nails into his face and the unexpected combination of Simon Pegg, David Tennant and Adele joined Laverne and Griffiths in the studio.

Oh, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, he played Henry VIII in The Tudors.

So to re-cap, the winners were:

British Live Act: Take That

Critics’ Choice: Adele

British Breakthrough Act: Mika

International Male Solo Artist: Kanye West

British Male Solo Artist: Mark Ronson

International Female Solo Artist: Kylie Minogue

International Group: Foo Fighters

British Female Solo Artist: Kate Nash

International Album: Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

British Group: Arctic Monkeys