The BRIT awards has often been considered as the biggest night of the year in British music, and this year was no different, promising live performances and appearances from all our favourite music stars.
Justin Timberlake opened the show, kick-starting the action with his song “Midnight Summer Jam” before being joined onstage by Chris Stapleton to perform their country ballad ‘Say Something’, surely getting everyone into the swing of things quickly.
The first award of the night was Best British Solo Female, which went to Dua Lipa, who also picked up the award for Best British Breakthrough, which personally I cannot think of someone more deserving, for someone who became Spotify’s most streamed female artist of 2017. She commended the women who had stood on the stage before her “Who gave girls in society someone to look up to”, she continued, “here’s to seeing more women on these stages and more women taking over the world”.
Rag’n’Bone Man then took to the stage with Critic’s Choice Winner Jorja Smith to perform a stripped down version of his song ‘Skin’, their vocals radiating all across the arena, showcasing their true vocal talents, with no need to hide behind a heavy bass or backing beat, just a simple piano. Rag’n’Bone man then reappeared to collect his award for Best British Single for ‘Human’ which garnered over 520,000 record sales in the UK alone. However, many people believed Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” or Dua Lipa’s “New Rules” would have been a more worthy winner.
However, someone who probably had the night of his life was Stormzy, who took home Best British Solo Male and Album of the Year, both making him appear dumbfounded and speechless. His performance of “Blinded by your Grace” and “Big for your Boots” went down a treat, including his verse targeted at Prime Minister Theresa May, in which he sang: “Yo, Theresa May, where’s the money for Grenfell? What, you thought we forgot about Grenfell?” After-all, it wouldn’t be the BRIT awards without some politics. With Gorillaz stating in their acceptance speech for Best British Group: “This country is a lovely place, don’t let it become isolated, don’t let yourself become cut off. Don’t let politics get in the way of that” before they were ironically cut off mid-sentence.
Of course, the night couldn’t end without a moving tribute to the 22 people who lost their lives after the Manchester arena attack last June, with Liam Gallagher performing “Live Forever” whilst pictures of the 22 victims were displayed overhead. The last shot of the show also included a list of all their names, moving many viewers to tears.
Many people tuning into this year’s BRIT awards will be thankful for the fact that different genres of music are finally being recognised, including grime and rap music, both snubbed by the awards in previous years.
You can listen to all the BRIT Award winners on this Spotify playlist below:
By Faith Pring