Now let's get one thing straight. Robbie William's 'Angels' is not the best British song of the last 25 years. It's not even the best Robbie Williams song of the last 25 years. We're long-term Robbie fans here at CMU (I seem to remember us bigging up 'Life Thru A Lens' long before things went all crazy following the release of 'Angels' as a single), but he don't deserve that accolade. Then again, Robbie winning the special Brit gong designed to celebrate the award event's 25th anniversary did give Matt
Lucas and David Walliams an excuse to dress up as Gary Barlow and Howard Donald again (the Take That Rock Profile was always my favourite) in order to present his prize, which provided some entertainment value if nothing else.
Anyway, it was the Brits last night. And as Victoria Newton wrote in yesterday's Sun, "it's back to the best of British at this year's awards following an amazing 12 months for music. In previous years the [Brits] show has been inundated with American artists
- which implies that we don't have any good home-grown acts.
Not this year". And to prove her point Ms Newton listed off some of the acts on the Brits line up this year, including those legendary Brits the Scissor Sisters, Green Day and, erm,
Snoop Dogg.
Of course she's right about one thing - it has been a great year for British music and some of that was on show at last night's
Earls Court show, in the line up of both winners and performers.
That said, in terms of number of awards won the night really belonged to New Yorkers Scissor Sisters. They were victorious in three of the international categories - Best Group, Best
Album and Best Newcomers - and wowed the crowds with their show-opening performance of 'Take Your Mama'. With three gongs in her hand, the band's Ana Matronic commented on her band's Brit successes:
"If you told us a year ago we would be getting these awards today we would have called you crazy. You guys made our dream come true."
On the British music front, Franz Ferdinand, Keane and Joss Stone won two awards each. Muse took the best 'Live Act' award, **Mike
Skinner got Best Male Artist, McFly** were named Best Pop and
Will Young got Best Single for 'Your Game'. Other international awards went to Gwen Stefani for Best Female Artist and Eminem for Best Male Artist. Bob Geldof, meanwhile, was presenting with his prize for an Outstanding Contribution To Music.
To summarise, the winning list ran like this.
British
Group: Franz Ferdinand (Domino)
British Male Solo Artist: The Streets (Warners / 679)
British Female Solo Artist: Joss Stone (Relentless)
British Rock Act: Franz Ferdinand (Domino)
British Live Act: Muse (Warner)
Pop Act: Mcfly (Universal Records)
British Urban Act: Joss Stone (Relentless)
British Breakthrough Act: Keane (Universal/Island)
British
Album: Keane - Hopes And Fears (Universal/Island)
British Single: Will Young - Your Game (BMGSony/S)
International
Album: Scissor Sisters (Universal/Polydor)
International Group: Scissor Sisters (Universal/Polydor)
International Male Solo Artist: Eminem (Universal/Interscope)
International Female Solo Artist: Gwen Stefani (Universal/Polydor)
International Breakthrough Act: Scissor Sisters (Universal/Polydor)
Best
Song Of The Last 25 Years: Robbie Williams - Angels (EMI)
Outstanding Contribution To Music: Sir Bob Geldof (Eagle)
Labels wise, a very good night for the Universal Music Group who took all of the international prizes plus scored three British gongs via Keane and McFly. EMI can celebrate over the Robbie best song award, plus they scored two gongs courtesy of Virgin's
Relentless imprint with Joss Stone. Warner were represented thanks to their association with 679 (The Streets) and their previous acquisition of Mushroom (Muse). But if it hadn't been for a merger with BMG, Sony wouldn't have had an act on the winners list at all, and even as part of the new mega-major they only scored one gong (with BMG's Will Young). As for the indies - big up Domino and their double win with Franz Ferdinand.
For those not at the ceremony last night (or for those who were too drunk to focus on the actual proceedings) - the whole thing will be screened on ITV tonight at 8pm.