As you might now, the 2014 BRIT Awards were held last night, with some of the biggest names of the British (and global) music scene getting together and celebrating each other's work. The attendees and the viewers were treated with several live performances among which there was an interesting collaboration between Disclosure and Kiwi indie sensation Lorde. Now, let's be honest - we've heard the lead single of her pretty good Pure Heroine album far too many times already (catchy as it is) but here the song's remixed into a refreshingly new version. However, by the time the song speeds up and segues into "White Noise" with Aluna of AlunaGeorge coming to claim the stage, there's no question of which alt-popper's performance dominates in this mashup. Nice jobs from the both of them, anyway!
We also heard an Egyptian-themed live rendition of Katy Perry's latest single "Dark Horse", complete with her channelling a neon-clad Cleopatra. She does deliver a solid performance, even though I still can't get over the fact that Prism would've had basically ten better candidates for the next single (which is nearly every other song on the album barring "Roar" and "Unconditionally" which have already been released as singles, in case you missed it). I would very much prefer it without its silly trap elements. What is it with me and my disappointment in single choices these days...?
I'll leave the outfit commentary for fashion blogs, so let's move on to the awards. Deservingly, music icon David Bowie was awarded as the best British solo male, becoming the oldest recipient of a Brit Award at the age of 67. He wasn't present himself so his award was collected by Kate Moss. Fun fact: he's been nominated in the same category for four times before, the first of which resulted in a win in 1984, 30 years ago.
Elsewhere, Daft Punk and Arctic Monkeys were expectedly crowned as the best international and British groups, respectively, while the latter's latest record AM was chosen as the album of the year, beating Bowie's The Next Day among others. In addition to Arctic Monkeys, many BRIT Awards performers such as Ellie Goulding, Bruno Mars and Lorde received awards, while the latter's temporary partners in crime Disclosure were nominated in four categories but eventually lost them all, two of them to Arctic Monkeys. Such injustice - "White Noise" should've been the single of the year. And then there's One Direction who, like Arctic Monkeys, scooped two awards as well. *sigh*
Here's the complete list of winners:
British Male Solo Artist - David Bowie
British Female Solo Artist - Ellie Goulding
British Group - Arctic Monkeys
International Group - Daft Punk
British Breakthrough Act - Bastille
Critics' Choice - Sam Smith
MasterCard British Album of the Year - Arctic Monkeys - AM
British Single of the Year - Rudimental featuring Ella Eyre - "Waiting All Night"
International Male Solo Artist - Bruno Mars
International Female Solo Artist - Lorde
British Producer of the Year - Flood and Alan Moulder
British Video - One Direction - "Best Song Ever"
BRITs Global Success - One Direction
