The Award season rolls on! Last night the prestigious BRIT Awards took place at the O2 in London. As a quick summary, Ed Sheeran & Sam Smith were the big winners, Madonna fell off the stage and Kanye West was so explicit that ITV practically muted his whole performance. The O2 arena looked stunning, neon signs all around the arena carried the same quotes that Tracy Emin wrote on the trophy, “Congratulations on your talent, on your life. On everything you give to others. Thank you.”
The Awards were hosted by English comedy and TV presenting duo Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, otherwise known as Ant and Dec. At the beginning of the proceedings they gave a ‘Kanye’ warning, reminding the winners that “Kanye West is in the house, So if he thinks Beyonce deserves your award, just give it to him!”
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Taylor Swift opened the show with a fantastic performance of Blank Space. The monochrome set with dancers in white suits and bowler hats was very dramatic. Swift owned the stage with her slick, professional performance. Later on in the ceremony she won Best International Female, beating Beyoncé, Lana Del Rey, Sia and St Vincent. It is Swift’s first BRIT award and she dedicated it to Ed Sheeran who started her love affair with the UK by “taking me to pubs and showing me how to make a proper cup of tea.” Both Swift and Sheeran referenced their slow-building success in the UK. “Oh my god, wow,” said Swift. “I’ve been coming to England and playing shows for eight years and this is my first Brit Award, I’m so happy.”
(Tap on any video title to play the video in Creation 5.)
Taylor Swift performs ‘Blank Space’ | BRIT Awards 2015
British Male Solo Artist went to Ed Sheeran plus he scooped the main prize of the night Album of the Year for his best-selling record of 2014 X. Accepting his trophy from Russell Crowe, Sheeran said “I was really worried abut this album, it took a long time to make.” He also stated how he felt that this year had been a “very, very good year for British music.” he continued “I don’t think a statue gives justification of people’s success.”
Ed Sheeran performs ‘Bloodstream’ | BRIT Awards 2015
One huge surprise of the evening was Best British Group winners Royal Blood. “This is a huge surprise for us, probably more of a surprise for everyone here as you may not even know who we are. This is huge, so thank you.” This statement was met by a huge roar of approval from the balcony, suggesting that plenty of people knew who the band were. The reaction on Twitter was also huge with many applauding the choice: “Royal Blood just won an award over One Direction, finally British music is going somewhere #BRITawards.” and “That is incredible! Go royal blood! #BRITAwards.”
Sam Smith took home two awards, Best Breakthrough Act and the Global Success Award, recognising his sales achievements outside the UK. Smith, who won 4 Grammys earlier this month, gave a lovely acceptance speech thanking his fans. “Since I was a little kid I dreamed of people all over the world singing my songs and although I’ve got a long way to go, this shows that I’m stepping in the right direction.” Smith’s performance of Lay Me Down caused a flurry of appreciation not only in the audience but around the world too as Twitter went into overdrive. Ant and Dec just commented, “He’s got a lovely set of pipes…”
Sam Smith performs ‘Lay Me Down’ BRIT Awards 2015
We’re very pleased to report that Best Female Solo Artist went to Paloma Faith. About time as well, this was her third nomination. Naturally, she was very emotional and was fighting back the tears whilst thanking everyone. “I’m so moved! It’s been a long time coming. It’s taken me 14 years to stand up here and accept this award and it means so much to me.” Her speech wasn’t short, which she apologised for and ended with a rather nice dedication: “I want to dedicate this to all the underdogs and all the grafters.” Faith’s third album, A Perfect Contradiction, was the biggest-selling female record in the last year, shifting more than 725,000 copies. Her performance of Only Love Can Hurt Like This was probably the most elaborate of the entire evening as she belted her heart out under a streaming waterfall.
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Paloma Faith performs ‘Only Love Can Hurt Like This’ | BRIT Awards 2015
After presenting Sam Smith with his award Kim Kardashian announced: “I want everyone to get on their feet and welcome my husband, Kanye West.” The rapper made his first live performance of a new track All Day. Viewers who were watching on ITV only heard about 3 words as virtually the entire performance was muted due to its explicit content. “Genuinely thought there was an audio feed glitch on @ITV. Seriously, what was the point of that?! #BRITAwards.” Whether the BRITS was the right place to premiere such a dark track is another question – but this is Kanye West we’re talking about, compromise is not in his vocabulary.
Best British Single was won by Uptown Funk – “This is incredible,” said producer Mark Ronson. “I wouldn’t be holding this without the world’s most talented Hawaiian, Mr Bruno Mars, and I’m going to share this with him for sure.” He also thanked “people like Lionel Richie and The Commodores and Earth Wind and Fire and James Brown – the people that invented this genre of funk.”
Mark Ronson Wins British Single | BRIT Awards 2015
Take That perform ‘Let In The Sun’ | BRIT Awards 2015
George Ezra performs ‘Budapest’ | BRIT Awards 2015
The performance that got everyone talking was the closing performance from Madonna who took rather a nasty tumble down some stairs when her cape got stuck and she was pulled backwards. As a true professional, she carried on, stating after the show that she was fine and the cape had been “tied too tight”. Referencing the lyrics to her song she said on Instagram “Nothing can stop me and love really lifted me up. Thanks for your good wishes!” Many wondered why they was no audible gasp of shock coming from the audience, but if you were sitting in the balcony you could easily have seen it as some kind of clever dance move. Plus it came at the exact moment in the song when the lyrics say “I let down my guard, I fell into your arms” and she was back on her feet to sing “now that it’s over, I’m going to carry on”.
Some Red Carpet magic
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And the winners are:
British Male Solo Artist
Damon Albarn
Ed Sheeran – WINNER
George Ezra
Paolo Nutini
Sam Smith
British Female Solo Artist
Ella Henderson
FKA twigs
Jessie Ware
Lily Allen
Paloma Faith – WINNER
British Group
alt-J
Clean Bandit
Coldplay
One Direction
Royal Blood – WINNER
British Breakthrough Act
CHVRCHES
FKA twigs
George Ezra
Royal Blood
Sam Smith – WINNER
Critics’ Choice
George The Poet
James Bay – WINNER
Years & Years
British Single
Calvin Harris – Summer
Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne – Rather Be
Duke Dumont featuring Jax Jones – I Got U
Ed Sheeran – Thinking Out Loud
Ella Henderson – Ghost
George Ezra – Budapest
Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk – WINNER
Route 94 featuring Jess Glynne – My Love
Sam Smith – Stay with Me
Sigma – Nobody to Love
British Video
Calvin Harris – Summer
Charli XCX – Boom Clap
Duke Dumont featuring Jax Jones – I Got U
Ed Sheeran – Thinking Out Loud
Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk
One Direction – You and I – WINNER
Rita Ora – I Will Never Let You Down
Route 94 featuring Jess Glynne – My Love
Sam Smith – Stay with Me
Sigma – Nobody to Love
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MasterCard British Album of the Year
alt-J – This Is All Yours
Ed Sheeran – x – WINNER
George Ezra – Wanted on Voyage
Royal Blood – Royal Blood
Sam Smith – In the Lonely Hour
British Producer of the Year
Flood
Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory
Jake Gosling
Paul Epworth – WINNER
International Male Solo Artist
Beck
Hozier
Jack White
John Legend
Pharrell Williams – WINNER
International Female Solo Artist
Beyoncé
Lana Del Rey
Sia
St Vincent
Taylor Swift – WINNER
International Group
5 Seconds of Summer
The Black Keys
First Aid Kit
Foo Fighters – WINNER
The War on Drugs
Brits Global Success
Sam Smith – WINNER
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