Ah yes, the Brits. The awards ceremony which is supposed to represent the pinnacle in British and international music. And in fairness, it terms of who was performing and present at the show, this was a very British affair. Certainly an improvement on the internationally dominated affairs of previous years. But the ceremony just came across too cheesy, and at times was truly cringe worthy.
Lets start with the positives, and the majority of the live performances were brilliant. The Kings of Leon were excellent, Duffy was pitch perfect and Take That stand out although I strongly suspect they mimed. There were, sadly, some exceptions (I'm looking at you Ting Tings and Estelle), but on the whole these were the highlights of the evening.
Unfortunately the rest seemed just too tacky to be taken seriously as the highlight of the British music year.
Kylie and co generally did a good job of hosting. But some crash and burn one liners and constant unnecessary references to Craig David often let them down.
Meanwhile how the presenters of the awards were chosen is mysterious to say the least. They were either incredibly famous (and more importantly music related) or personalities who simply looked lost and out of place.
Joe Calzaghe, a true sporting great, couldn't even remember what award he was presenting when being interviewed backstage, Jamie Cullum looked utterly dour while presenting Best British Male, and actor Nic Frost came out and said he didn't like live music...and then presented the Best Live Act award. At least guys like Sir Tom Jones and Lionel Richie were around to pick up the pieces.
The worst kind of crash and burn television though was the horrifically awful backstage segment sfronted by Ferne Cotton. I know you've got to fill time during these things, but this left a lot to be desired. Flanked by a plastic foliage and backed by a tacky caravan, Ferne's interviewing technique consistently came up short, a typical segment went as follows:
FC: How are you?
Interviewee: Fine.
FC: Are you having a good night?
Interviewee: Yes.
Ask open ended questions and you might get longer answers! Surely she does this all the time on her radio show and at places like Glastonbury?
All in all though, it was a solid live show, but let down by the chaos and just about everything else that was going on around it.
Verdict: 6 out of 10
