So it is that time of the year again, where rich, talented and beautiful people gather to congratulate other rich, talented and beautiful people on how rich. talented and beautiful they are while you, the viewer, gawp on at the bright screen praying that your regular, human eyes won’t be blinded by all their brilliance. The BRIT Awards ceremony is the long-standing jewel in the UK music industry’s crown, successful for the big name acts it draws in on an annual basis as well as the odd publicity-boosting outrageous celebrity stunt.
However, this year the organisers opted for ‘one of us’ rather than ‘one of them’ as their presenter – none other than Gavin and Stacey comedian James Corden. The decision suffered a public backlash when announced, and debate confirmed Corden’s status as hit and miss at the best of times. Take (for instance) his hugely successful Sport Relief skits cast side-by-side with the Horne and Corden show, a series so bad sales of eyepatches went through the roof just after broadcast as thousands of viewers attempted to poke their own eyes out.
Yesterday Corden was a mixed bag. Clearly suffering from a case of the Gervais, he persistently threw out ice-cold insults on deaf ears, hitting below the belt (or skirtline, as was more often the case) as celebrities entered the long walk down the runway, too far away to react. It was a strange case of Jekyll and Hyde as he also seemed so enamoured with the acts during interviews (an awkward Bieber face stroke and bafflingly loved-up moment with Cee Lo Green comes to mind) to ask any effective questions, seemingly one goat sacrifice away from offering complete worship and compliance to his pop star deities.
It was a night for theatrics as Plan B, Rihanna and Take That all recruited impressive stage displays, clearly bringing their A-games out for the televised ceremony. While the latter may be accused of falling slightly short in comparison, it is hard to deny the fact that British pop music represented itself adequately against the relatively flat displays at this weekend’s Grammy Awards. A special mention should also be given to two-time winner Tinie Tempah. Despite she strange ‘standing man’ stage choreography, the rapper gave a fiery display and a laser show so fierce that I’m still seeing green-tinted spots on my computer screen while typing.
The night’s ‘winner’ performance-wise was no doubt Adele. The current Number One wowed the audience with a rendition of her track ‘Someone Like You’, brimming with sincerity and nerves which made the vulnerable honesty all the more piercing. The performance even provoked Corden’s finest moment of the night, as the camera cut to him to introduce the next section clearly bleary-eyed and genuinely moved.
Laura Marling and Mumford & Sons beating pop goliaths Katy Perry and Take That (respectively) to gain their awards were two of more unexpected verdicts of the evening. Seeing the genuinely bemused face of Laura Marling accepting her award in typically shy style seemed to be a firm confirmation of the BRIT’s declaration to become more ‘music centred’, and despite the immense success of Mumford’s 2009 effort ‘Sigh No More’, it was still slightly surreal seeing the band walking past Take That to collect the major award of the evening.
Love them or hate them, the BRITs are an integral part of the British music scene, and just like the hoards of racist alcoholics and mind-blowingly annoying Go Compare adverts, they show no sign of departing any time soon. Some may criticise the divisive nature of performance choices or the strong commercial ethos which underlines the ceremony, but with the likes of the Mercury Prize and the Ivor Novello awards tucked neatly into the 2011 calendar, this is one cynic who is happy to take the night off from moaning and watch vapidly as Rihanna shakes her stuff on stage and Take That are treated with reverence like scientists just discovered their spit was the world’s only cure for cancer.
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