var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push([‘_setAccount’, ‘UA-11176202-2’]); _gaq.push([‘_trackPageview’]); (function() { var ga = document.createElement(‘script’); ga.type = ‘text/javascript’; ga.async = true; ga.src = (‘https:’ == document.location.protocol ? ‘https://ssl’ : ‘http://www’) + ‘.google-analytics.com/ga.js’; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

A quick note to begin, this article will be nowhere near as long as my Grammy’s article, which ended up sounding more like a dissertation than blog post. I’ll showcase my favorite performances of the night, and then look at the big winners and whether they deserved it or not.

Performances


Even if the performances this year were great, I have to admit that the lack of GaGa at this year’s show brought the excitement level down slightly. That said, three performers did stand out for me. First to mention would be Rihanna, who was on top form yet again. Performing all three singles from Loud, the S&M portion was especially great, the whole performance boding well for her upcoming tour. On a different note, Mumford and Sons understated acoustic rendition of Timshel was a brave move that really payed off. It was a much better fit for the group than their Grammy’s performance, the emotion of Marcus Mumford’s vocal echoing across the 02 Arena. The best performance of the night came from Plan B though, who recreated the feeling of his Strickland Banks music videos. The choreography and production of the performance made for a visually interesting interpretation of the album, exactly the sort of thing the awards show had been lacking up till that point. I’d have mentioned Cee-Lo Green’s closing performance of Forget You if he hadn’t brought Paloma Faith on to ruin his song.

Awards


Let’s be a bit different and start with the International awards. Arcade Fire were the unexpected big winners here, scoring a win in the Album and Group categories. Following their unexpected Grammy Sucess at the weekend, they continued to ruin Eminem’s fun by deservedly taking the album award. Cee-Lo Green made a surprising win in the Best Male category too, which meant the Best Female could go any way it wanted. Luckily Rihanna finally got the Brit Award she has deserved ever since Umbrella topped the charts for 10 weeks straight. RiRi had an incredible year, and it was nice to see an artist look so genuinely excited and happy about winning at the show. Beiber also won for breakthrough, but let’s try and forget his horrid Cheryl Cole kiss ever happened.

Onto the main section of the awards, where Tinie Tempah equalled Arcade Fire with 2 wins. Best Single and Best Breakthrough were two obvious choices for Tinie, who fully deserves the awards after his 2010. Plan B was not forgotten though, his deserved win for British Male making him a strong candidate for the main award of the night. The results werent very surprising, with Take That getting Group in recognition of their incredible success, while Mumford and Sons ended the night with the Mastercard British Album Award. The biggest surprise of the night was Laura Marling’s win in the British Female category, I had fully expected Ellie or Cheryl to be the main frontrunners this year. The critical praise Laura has received this past year has been impressive though, so maybe I should have anticipated her win after all.

Looking back at my Prediction Articles for British and International Awards, I incorrectly predicted all of the International awards, though 2 of my wishes, Rihanna and Arcade Fire won. On the other hand, I predicted 4/6 of the British Awards, with my wish for Plan B to win Male rounding it off as 5/6, only the Female category baffled me. I’m quite proud of my predictions this year, especially compared to my Grammy Results.

That’s it then, both the major music award shows are over and now I’ll finally shut up about them! Be sure to check back on 808sandFormulae for more ‘essential’ articles.