Busy doing nothing…

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Tonight it’s the annual wonder which is the Brit Awards. Hurrah!

Actually, I shouldn’t be too sarcastic, as I actually quite like watching the Brits.  Of course, the performances are always over-hyped – what is billed as a once-in-a-lifetime performance actually turns out to be the same promotional-dance-routine for the latest single with a few extra dancers standing at the back.

The only interesting performance is usually that from the artist being given the “Outstanding Contribution” award at the end.  I say “at the end” but that’s not always the case.  A few years ago, when The Darkness were riding high, Duran Duran won the “Outstanding Contribution” award but were made to perform in the middle of the show whilst The Darkness got to perform a three-song set at the end.  For me, a small like that ruined the show and actually brought home to me that it’s not actually about who wins the prizes on the night, but it’s a just a showcase for record companies to try to shift more records.

Another case is the “Bestselling British Live Act” which was created for one year only and given to Steps a few years before that.  Now, for those of you who don’t recall, Steps was a pop act who never sung a single note “live” in their short-lived career.  Of course, I don’t know what went on behind the scenes to give them that award but I can imagine it was something involving record company politics.

Another myth about the ceremony is that winners are not known in advance.  It’s no secret that the larger, more famous acts, get told whether they’ve won or not beforehand so that they can avoid the embarrassment of missing out on a prize and not bother turning up if they’ve not won anything.

Having said all this, I’ll still watch the ceremony as I do find the whole thing quite entertaining…

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