Last night was the Brit Awards. some good things happened, as well as some bad things. But on the whole it's a ceremony that won't live long in the memory. Some points about the evening, and the Brits in general:
Ed Sheeran wins 2 Brit Awards
When the nominations were announced back in January I did realise that there was a possibility that Sheeran could walk away with an undeserved treble, but I hoped so much he would be amongst those overlooked on the night. Not to be.
Any awards should be engraved with the names of whichever groups, companies or individuals are responsible for managing to successfully market and PR a below-average busker to such lofty heights. In an era where the public don't necessarily buy the music they want, but what is instead sold to them, the rise in popularity of 'artists' like Ed Sheeran can only mean that more dirge will likely be coming down the tubes in the future.
The Great British public should never be allowed to vote
Simple really. This isn't the (now sadly defunct) Smash Hits Poll Winners Party, this is the Brit Awards, supposedly the highlight in the British musical calendar. I know the majority of viewers probably welcome the chance to have their views heard (we do live in a democracy after all, even if it is one dependent on the bill payer's permission) but having a solid four weeks of One Direction fans clogging up Twitter with various #Vote1DBrits related hashtag begging isn't the way forward.
James Cordon shouldn't present the Brits next year
For the second year in a row, James Cordon stumbled his way through the awards, asking anyone who would let him about if they were having an 'incredible year', before making offensive remarks and closing off the night by 'cutting off' one of the winners with the tact of a startled elephant.
All I'm going to say is that Dermot O'Leary wouldn't make trans-phobic jokes about anyone on-air. (Adele said in her first speech she looked like a "drag queen in comparison to Kylie Minogue. In his next link Cordon referred to her as "one hell of a successful tranny", a remark which will probably have been overlooked by him cutting off Adele)
Musical Performances
I'm not going to write loads critiquing each act, so I'll keep it simple. Rihanna was best on the night, followed by Coldplay and Blur. I don't think I'd even bother to watch any of them on YouTube a second time, let alone pay money for them on iTunes.
The Coca-Cola advert was really quite good
Most musical-based adverts from the last two years have been truly awful; such as the Yeo Valley farmers, the John Lewis Christmas '11 campaign, and more recently that FindAProperty.com rap delivered at a speed nobody can understand. Even the inclusion of Mark Ronson doesn't detract from the quality of the song, and somebody at Coca-Cola deserves a nice pat on the back.
General Standards
The organisers of the Brit Awards probably know this already, but alas, I think it's worth reiteration. The Brit Awards will never be as slick as the Grammy's, but the gulf in quality between the two ceremonies only gets wider when you include 'media personalities' who cannot read aloud from an autocue or bit of flimsy card without messing up.
In extension to this, certain dress codes should probably apply. I fully understand that musicians can choose to wear what they want (eg Gaga, Rihanna et al) but I'm struggling to find justification for acts wearing t-shirts when performing live (Ed Sheeran), let alone if said t-shirts are from an artist's own merchandise range (Rizzle Kicks). Not good enough.
Adele being cut off isn't really that big a deal
Just when the night was about to slide into the gutter, a haze of forgettable beige-pop and champagne, ITV mess up so badly that the lasting memory will likely be James Cordon telling Adele to wrap up her speech. (NB: If an artist forgets to mention you until their second awards speech, the sad likelyhood is that you're a replaceable commodity)
Anyone who has worked in a 'live television' environment will know that timing is imperative. The Brit Awards are no different, and often sacrifices are made to allow for time. It's unfortunate for ITV that those sacrifices often come at bad moments, such as during the highlight speech of one of the most popular singers in the world (or in sport, during a football game when a goal has been scored). As much as I dislike him, it wasn't James Cordon's fault. The extra few minutes needed could've been found by not asking Ed Sheeran to show us his busking.
Verdict
What would have been a mostly forgettable evening was only provided with a 'talking point' that people will remember due to poor time management. 4.5 out of 10. (I'd also like to point out I correctly predicted 7/10 of last nights awards)
Paul
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