BRITs Hits

So...this week...the biggest night in music happened. Yep, I'm talking about the BRITs. As you probably have read, I predicted who would win. Let's see which ones I got right and which ones I got wrong.

Best British Male

I predicted that Craig David would receive this award. However, I also noted how he had strong competition in the form of David Bowie. And yep...of course David Bowie won.

Best British Female

Of course it was going to be Emeli Sande. With her second album getting to number one, it is clear that everyone had missed her. This BRIT award was the icing on the cake for Emeli after having her hugely successful comeback. Oh and when she received her award, she brought her sister on stage to accept the award with her. That is what I call "sister goals."

Best British Group

We had Bastille. We had Radiohead. Somehow, The 1975 won. Matty Healy used his acceptance speech to inform people to use whatever platform they had to speak about what was important to them. To be fair, The sound and Chocolate are both good songs, and it was the least predictable win of the night.

Best British Video

This was voted for on Twitter so obviously, One Direction won. I think we should just give awards to One Direction, when Twitter decides the winner, to be honest.

Best British Single

I missed this category out of my predictions because it could have gone to any one. There were so many good songs by acts such as, Coldplay, James Arthur, Clean Bandit and Calvin Harris, to name a few. However, all eyes were on the fact Little Mix's Shout Out to my Ex was up against erm...the ex, in the form of Zayn's Pillowtalk. The champions of this battle were Little Mix, who thanked their exes for inspiring this song. It is also noteworthy that the girls were up against Zayn's former band mates in the best video category, with One Direction winning, as previously mentioned.

Best British Breakthrough

I really thought Blossoms had this. They even went as far as forming their own campaign, which included the band handing out leaflets saying "vote Blossoms" to members of the public. However, Rag 'n' Bone man won. Don't get me wrong, I like Rag 'n' Bone Man but he had already received an award, in the form of the Critics' Choice. Surely, with their full on campaign, Blossoms had a chance?

Best International male

To be honest, he had to win for having the longest running number one, with One Dance, and having the most annoying song in the form of Work. Yep, I am talking about Drake. However, yes it was number one for weeks, but One Dance is a good song and during his speech, Drake took the time to do a shout out for Skepta. Could there be a collaboration on the way?...

Best international female

Who else would it have been but Beyoncé? Yep, Queen Bey herself bagged the prize, beating the likes of the princess of R n B, Rihanna and quirky girl, Sia. Also, she beat Solange in the whole "battle of the sisters." All hail Queen Bey!

Best International group

So...we had two huge successes of 2016, which were Kings of Leon and Twenty One Pilots. Randomly though, it went to A Tribe Called Quest. A lot of people I think were wondering who they are, myself included.

Best British album

It was David Bowie...obviously. The man is a legend and will never be forgotten. What was sweet was that Duncan Jones, Bowie's son, came to collect the award, with the intention of telling his son what his grandad was like. He also stated that the award was for people who were considered to be  "kooks" who liked to be different.

Notable moments

The BRITs are usually so controversial but recently it has been really tame. But I would like to thank Katy Perry for providing entertainment into what is known as "a falling house." Yep,  a dancer dressed as a house fell off the stage. Also, she had massive skeleton puppets who were strangely dressed like Donald Trump and Theresa May. Well played Katy. Well played!

Another highlight was Twitter going into a panic when The 1975 performed The Sound, as they thought that The 1975, The BRITs and ITV1 itself had been hacked. This was due to pink screens showing insults about the band popping up between shots of the band performing. However, The 1975 fans knew that messages just so happened to appear in The Sound music video. Problem solved!

There was also a not so secret performance from Coldplay and The Chainsmokers, who performed their new song, Something Like This. This was no thanks to Spotify, who had announced the release of the single earlier that day. Chris Martin also performed a beautiful tribute to George Michael, by singing A Different Corner, with George being shown on a big screen. Before the tribute, Andrew Ridgely, Pepsi and Shirli spoke about times with their bandmate, with tears in their eyes, showing how loved George Michael was.

So...the BRITs are over for another year. With some worthy winners and some standout moments, will the BRITs 2018 top the BRITs 2017? Time will tell.

Em x

NME awards...The good, the bad and the...what?

Hello Everyone!
So...the most rock and roll night of the year happened on Wednesday (15th Feb)...the NME awards. Here's a run down of what went on...from the good and the bad to the...err...what?

The Good

The NME awards kicked off with an amazing performance from Bastille, singing their Best track nominated...er...track Good Grief, complete with images that fans will know were from their Wild Wild World tour. Things got even better for the London quartet that night, as they won the Best album award for Wild World, beating the likes of Beyonce, Radiohead and the Mercury Prize 2016 winner, Skepta.

Another highlight was seeing the Pet Shop Boys get the Godlike Genius award. Having watched the eccentric 80s duo live, as a support act for Take That back in 2011, I can assure everyone that it was a good choice. Ending the show, performing hits, such as West End Girls and It's a Sin, they provided proof of why they deserved to win this award.

In the awards based on festivals, Glastonbury rightly won Best festival and Coldplay won Music Moment of the Year, after their touching tribute to Viola Beach. This involved Coldplay creating an "Alternative future" for the band, by covering Boys That Sing, enabling them to be Glastonbury Headliners for one night. Meanwhile, Adele won Best Headliner.

The Bad

OK...so the points I'm going to make are not necessarily bad but I am a bit biased when it comes with who I want to win at awards ceremonies. Having seen Bastille live, I reckon they would have easily walked away with the best Live act award. It is particularly noteworthy that The 1975 got voted worst band a couple of years ago by NME readers and now they are being voted the Best Live act. Err...okay then.

In the mean time, Biffy Clyro won Best British Band. Again, I would have liked to have seen either Bastille or The Last Shadow Puppets win. However, with their most recent album, Ellipses, going to number one in the UK official album chart and gaining headline slots at T in the Park and Download, it's fair to see why they got the prize.

Regarding the best track, Bastille lost out to Christine and the Queens' Tilted.  Christine and the Queens also managed to beat Beyoncé at best international female but I still think Christine and the Queens is a good artist.

The err...what?!

So...it is always a little bit strange when a politician attends an awards ceremony so when the London Mayor, Sadiq Kahn turned up to present an award, I was a little bit surprised. However, it actually worked. He even got a photo with a Skepta and Wiley, among others. Just think, it could have been Boris Johnson...

Another interesting moment was when Matty Healy from The 1975 came to get the award for best Live act and started waffling about the current state of the world. However, I couldn't help but think that he was slightly tipsy (the wine glass in his hand might have been a clue).

Finally, it's not exactly music based but I was shocked that Stranger things didn't win best TV show. It got beaten by Fleabag. So a Netflix hit TV show which has practically been watched by everyone lost out to a TV show not many might have heard of. Yep...makes perfect sense.


I hope you enjoyed my summary of the NME awards. Here's to next year's :)

Em x

So...BRITS...who is going to win?

Hello everyone!

So, firstly, apologies for being away for a couple of weeks but I'm back! During my time away, there has been some big news regarding the BRIT awards ...yep the nominations have been revealed. So...who do I think is going to win? (Note: I have not included Best British Video as the actual shortlist will be announced on the day of the BRITs.)

Best British male:

• Craig David
• David Bowie
• Kano
• Michael Kiwanuka
• Skepta

Who Should Win? I reckon out of all these Craig David has a good chance that he'll win Best British Male, considering the successful comeback that he had. However, amongst the nominees is David Bowie and Mercury Music Prize winner, Skepta...

Best British Female

• Ellie Goulding
• Emeli Sande
• Lianne La Havas
• Nao
• Anohni

Who should win? I saw Lianne La Havas last year when she supported Coldplay and she was really good so it would be nice to see her win this award. However, previous winners Ellie Goulding and Emeli Sande are also in the mix so Lianne has stiff competition...

Best British Group

• Radiohead
• Little Mix
• Bastille
• Biffy Clyro
• The 1975

Who Should win? As a fan of Bastille, I hope they win yet for some reason I think one of the other groups might pip them to the post...maybe Radiohead? 

Best British Breakthrough

• Anne-Marie
• Skepta
• Rag 'N' Bone Man
• Blossoms
• Stormzy

Who should win? As a fan of Blossoms, I hope they win. However, unlike the other categories, the winner is decided by a public vote so any of the nominees could win...

Best International Male

• Drake
• The Weeknd 
• Leonard Cohen
• Bruno Mars
• Bon Iver

Who should win? This is a difficult one as I believe there is more than one winner in here. However, if I had to pick one, I would pick Drake. 

Best International Female 

• Sia 
• Beyoncé 
• Solange
• Rihanna
• Christine and the Queens

Who should win? Again, a diificult one as I believe there is more than one winner. However, Beyoncé is in there...

Best International Group 

• Twenty One Pilots
• Drake and Future
• Kings of Leon
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
• A Tribe Called Quest

Who Should Win? I think Kings of Leon are worthy winners as they have had a big successful comeback in the past year. However, Twenty One Pilots have had a suceesful 2016 as well so either of these acts could win...

Best British Album

Blackstar-David Bowie
I Like It When You Sleep for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It-The 1975
Made in the Manor- Kano
Konichiwa- Skepta
Love & Hate- Michael Kiwanuka

Who should win? Considering how popula Skepta has been, with Konichiwa winning the 2016 Mercury Music Prize, I would not be surprised if it wins Best Briitish Album. However...it is up against fellow Mercury Music Prize nominees, Bowie's Blackstar and I Like it When You Sleep... from The 1975

So...with predictions now made...will they be correct? Find out by tuning into The Brit Awards on Wednesday February 22nd on ITV1 at 7:30pm.
Em x