We bet you didn't know that this year's Brit Awards are the 26th, unless of course you remembered that last year's were the 25th. Taking place at a venue that won't look at all like the soulless aircraft hanger that is Earl's Court when it's done on the 15th Feb, ITV will be screening the awards the following evening. This means that if you're all alone on Valentine's Night you'll be comforted by the knowledge that but for 48 hours it could have been a whole lot worse.
Nominations will be announced tomorrow, and there'll be some kind of hullabaloo over it all which we'll probably bring you if we haven't thrown ourselves in the river through boredom or disgust but we can at least tell you some of the acts confirmed to play on the night.
Coldplay will be there, they'll probably win something and they'll be very excited about it we're sure. Kaiser Chiefs, KT Tunstall, James Blunt, Kanye West and Kelly Clarkson will also be lending their tonsil abilities to the night's musical highlights and who are we to deny them this moment of greatness. They all appeared in some end of the year poll or another so that must mean something right? Of course it would have been good to see Akercoke up on stage so we'll have to leave the controversy down to the Master of Ceremonies for the night, Chris Evans. We're already taking bets on a couple of good Charlie jokes being in his opening speech (and there are better odds on ITV cutting them out of the broadcast).
The extra-special lifetime achievement award goes to the grumpfather himself, Mr Paul Weller. The BBC quotes Brit organisers as saying:
"The outstanding contribution award is the highest honour the UK record industry can bestow... It is reserved for those whose influence, longevity and creativity put them in the very top ranks of UK artists... Paul Weller is an artist who scores on every measure and typifies the range and quality of British music at its best."
So they must have forgotten about that last Style Council album then. Down here in the music dungeon we always thought that the highest honour the UK record industry can bestow is to keep an artist's CDs out of the Woolworth's bargain bins. You learn something new every day.
