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Are the Brits Important Anymore?
15th March 2010
So with the Brit nominations having just been announced, it led me to wonder whether they were all they’re cracked up to be these days. Have they just lost their credibility or is it just me losing faith in them?
If I have to start somewhere then I guess I’ll start with the British Single category, a category in which it seems that nominations have been based solely on sales figures and not the actual quality of the song. What exactly is Alesha Dixon doing in this category? ‘Breathe Slow’ wasn’t a great song, let alone one of the best British singles of the year. Another song that’s somehow managed to find its way in there is Joe McElderry’s first single, ‘The Climb’, just because he didn’t get Christmas number one doesn’t mean you should take pity on him and nominate him for a Brit. It was a mediocre cover of a poor song with a dramatic key change, not the best single of the past year! Another question I ask of the team that chose the nominations is how on earth you didn’t include arguably the biggest single of last year, Dizzee Rascal’s ‘Bonkers’?
Another big mistake that the Brits seem to have made was in the International Breakthrough Act category, with their inclusion of Animal Collective. How can a band be classed as a breakthrough act when they released their eighth studio album in 2009? Their first album came out in the year 2000, a decade ago. Not only this but I was surprised to see The xx not included in the British Breakthrough category after the year they’ve had that’s seen them impressing audiences all over the globe, with their debut receiving the accolade of Album of the Year by The Guardian.
It’s not all bad though, The Brits often get it quite right as to where the Critics’ Choice award goes to, with the highest plaudits going to local girl Ellie Goulding this year, along with Delphic and Marina & the Diamonds, all very big tips for success this year. Ellie is already a sure fire hit having gone down a treat at the Brit Awards launch party and Delphic were the first of this year’s big tips to release their debut album and having had it on ‘repeat’ since it came out it’s pretty safe to say they’re going to be big.
Well I guess what’s left is to watch the actual Brit Awards and see how I feel after they’ve happened. I expect Lady Gaga to sweep up and win all the categories she’s nominated for, everything she’s touched this last year turned to gold so it’s pretty much inevitable. This year the awards are going to be hosted by Peter Kay, and will take place Tuesday 16th February, so tune in to make your own mind up.