So, it's Brits week everybody, you can tell this because I'm wearing my special Brits hat, and I will be until the final bit of metal has been presented on Wednesday night. No, really. Anyway, here's some Brits news.
Firstly, the final shortlist for the public voted Best Single Award has been announced. The final five has been whittled down from the original ten shortlisted singles, and vying for your vote on Wednesday night will be Hoosiers, Leona Lewis, Mark Ronson/Amy Winehouse, Mika and Take That.
Elsewhere, organisers have confirmed that Doctor Who star David Tennant, that Ian McKellan fella, Gossip frontwoman Beth Ditto, Radio 1 bod Chris Moyles and the ubiquitous James Nesbitt will be among the c'lebs presenting awards on the night. Kylie is set to present Paul McCartney with his lifetime achievement prize.
Macca will not, however, perform a duet with Brits host Ozzy Osbourne, despite insiders saying that that had been suggested to the lifetime achievement winner who will, as tradition dictates, close the show with a short greatest hits set. Macca reportedly said he'd rather perform a couple of his big hits rather than try something quirky with Ozzy for the finale set.
Organisers still seem hopeful that Amy Winehouse will make it, with plans for her to perform her single 'Love Is A Losing Game' plus her Mark Ronson collaboration 'Valerie'. The tabs are reporting that the singer has been put on methadone and prescription drugs to make her well enough to perform at the Brits, with the Sunday Mirror quoting one source thus: "Amy would be far too sick if she was made to go through complete cold turkey. [Medics] have accepted the important thing at the moment is to get her through the awards shows". Whether that will all work remains to be seen - news that incarcerated husband Blake Fielder-Civil was rushed to the medical block at Pentonville Prison over the weekend after a suspected drugs overdose won't help Winehouse's attempts to pull her life back together.
Finally in Brits news - and sorry to end on a sour note - but Craig David has been dissing the big awards bash - possibly because of that 2001 thing where he was nominated in six categories but won none. He has told reporters he has "lost interest" in the awards because they fail to truly "represent" the reality of UK music. He told the BBC: "It's great for artists who pick up awards, but in terms of representing what's really going on, I think they've missed the eight-ball. The year that I was nominated for six, I couldn't have sold any more records or had any more number ones. To still not pick up one proved to me that however the voting system is and whatever the excuses were made, it just didn't really represent what was going on".
Of course you could argue that the Brits isn't meant to be based on chart success alone, but exists to combine commercial and creative success. Or you could agree with David and conclude that it's all a bunch of nonsense. Your choice really.