21:30 - The Ting Tings and Estelle take to the stage together for one of the most bizarre collaborations I’ve ever witnessed. It kind of works as they boh get to perform their biggest hits but it’s not a patch on last year’s Rihanna/Klaxons mash-up.

21:33 - Alan Carr on stage to present the award for ‘British Single’. What the hell is he wearing? I’m not exactly the most fashionable guy but some of these outfits are terrible. I’ll stick to Primark I think. And the winner is… not Diana Vickers… Girls Aloud. Much deserved, and it means Scouting for Girls missed out. A fact we should all celebrate.

21:37 - Tom Jones presenting the award for ‘British Album’. He’s finally let himself go gray! Good decision Tom, something you should have done years ago. And the winner is… Duffy for Rockferry. Three awards out of three. Adele must be sick as a parrot.

Read more

20:02 - Johnny Vegas’ dulcet tones introduce the ceremony and U2 enter stage right to open the show.

20:05 - Kylie Minogue, James Corden, and Matthew Horne, our three presenters for the night, join the fray. The two male comedians are dressed as lady dancers as they all perform one of Kylie’s biggest hits.

20: 09 - Duffy wins ‘British Female Solo Artist’ - the genius that is Simon Pegg announces her as the winner. She accepts the award, with an accent that is a cross between Welsh, English, and American.

Read more

There’s one huge story obviously dominating news of the Grammy Awards 2009 - Chris Brown being arrested for allegedly assaulting Rihanna. But that’s been covered to the nth degree in various different places, and the full details have yet to emerge.

So, as is my remit here at Brit Music Scene, I’d like instead to focus on the good that came out of this year’s ceremony. Several British artists went home with awards on the night, and they deserve the plaudits they are receiving.

Last year’s Grammy Awards were all about one British artist in particular, with Amy Winehouse winning five honors. She also performed live via satellite without screwing up, leading many of us to believe she was on the road to recovery. But that wasn’t to be.

The Grammy Awards 2009 saw the range of British artists winning much more diverse, and that’s a great indicator of the healthy state of British music at this point in time.

Read more

It’s that time of year again when The Brit Awards reign supreme. Unlike the critics-lead Mercury Music Prize, the Brits tend to follow popularity and sales, both in nominations and the eventual winners.

Here is the full list of nominations for the Brit Awards 2009, along with my choice and my prediction for winner. They very rarely match up. There are few surprises in the list, with Coldplay and Duffy leading the fight with four nominations each. How Scouting For Girls managed three nominations remains a mystery.

British Male Solo Artist

Ian Brown
James Morrison
Paul Weller
The Streets
Will Young

My Choice: Will Young
My Prediction: The Streets

British Female Solo Artist

Adele
Beth Rowley
Duffy
Estelle
M.I.A.

My Choice: Duffy
My Prediction: Adele

Read more

The annual Q Awards was held in London on Tuesday, and Coldplay were the ultimate winners on the day, picking up two massive awards. They won ‘Best Album’ for Viva La Vida, and ‘Best Act In The World Today’.

Duffy picked up an award for ‘Breakthrough Artist’, while ‘Best New Act’ went to The Last Shadow Puppets. Kaiser Chiefs won ‘Best Live Act’ for their spirited and always lively stage presence, while Adam Ant won the ‘Q Icon’ award for being a legend.

Read more

I remember a time not so long ago when there was such a dearth of British female singers that Annie Lennox was almost guaranteed a Brit award every year. Now times have changed somewhat, and not only do we have Amy Winehouse doing her thing (drugs, booze, music, more drugs and booze), we have people such as Kate Nash, Lily Allen, Duffy, and Adele flying the flag around the world.

Adele and Duffy have come through at exactly the same time, and their singles seem to have coincided with each other quite a lot. I don’t know whether that’s an intentional ploy from the record companies, but it has set up a kind of battle of the divas.

Both artists have quite a bit in common: have been compared to Amy Winehouse, have unconventional looks but are still sexy in their own way, have voices to die for. But I do declare that you can only like one or the other, or at least have to pick your favourite.

Read more

As soon as Welsh pop starlet Duffy hit the scene with Mercy, comparisons were made with Amy Winehouse. Even I was guilty of it, describing her as ‘The New Amy Winehouse? - And Not A Junkie!‘ in the title for my review of the song on Killed By The Video Star.

It was an easy but unfortunate comparison to make, with Duffy certainly coming from the same school of being influenced by soul and original r’n'b. Since then, Duffy has varied it up a little and Warwick Avenue sounds completely different than anything Winehouse would ever produce.

Duffy has now complained to the media about her portrayal as the new Amy Winehouse, as well as the comments comparing her to 1960s singer Dusty Springfield.

Read more

Duffy has been one of the biggest stars to have emerged over the last six months in the wake of the success Amy Winehouse has enjoyed on both sides of the Atlantic. She was rewarded for her hard work by having her début hit Mercy named as Song Of The Year in the Mojo Honours List 2008 awards ceremony which was held last night at The Brewery in East London.

Duffy stood up to be counted alongside fellow winners The Last Shadow Puppets (Best Breakthrough), Led Zeppelin (Best Live Act), Neil Diamond (Classic Songwriter), Motorhead (Mojo Heroes) and The Sex Pistols (Mojo Icons). A full list of winners is available from the Mojo magazine website.

However, the biggest news of the night came after all the awards had been handed out and the winners were about to line up for a photograph. John Lydon, otherwise known as Johnny Rotten, decided he didn’t like the idea of a pop star winning an award at a historically rock oriented ceremony, and took his anger out on Duffy.

According to Metro, Lydon had been heckling Duffy all night long, verbally abusing the Welsh starlet who is currently riding high in the charts with Warwick Avenue. But then it got worse, and physical. Duffy is said to have been knocked in to a wall by a pair of swinging double doors near where Lydon was standing.

Read more

The 2008 Glastonbury Festival has had a tumultuous build-up, with complaints from many about the unnecessarily stringent ticket buying policy, and a distinct lack of enthusiasm over the line-up, with Jay-Z’s headline slot coming in for particular criticism.

This, as well as the lack of good weather, has lead to sales hitting a record low, and even at this late stage, there are still tickets available for the legendary festival. But not for long, as they will be going on sale in HMV stores around the UK tomorrow morning at 8am.

According to an announcement on Glastonbury Festivals, tickets will be available in seven store from 8am on June 11th. The stores are as follows:

HMV Bristol, 21/23 Broadmead
HMV Glasgow, Argyle Street
HMV Newcastle, 56 Northumberland Street
HMV Manchester, 90 Market Street
HMV Birmingham, 38 High Street
HMV Cardiff, 53 Queens Street
HMV London, 150 Oxford Street

While this is good news for those gig-goers still looking for tickets, it again raises serious questions over the whole anti-touting policy in the first place. People will be able to go in to the shop and buy a ticket tomorrow with no hassle. However, if you’ve bought one over the Internet already, you’ll know the hoops that the organisers expected you to jump through.

Read more

The music channel here at b5 is so extensive, and has such a broad range of tastes, that sometimes we feel the need to come together to explore each other’s musical loves.

To that end, today sees most of us sharing two songs which we think should be added to your iPod playlist. Two may not seem much I know, but it comes to over 40 songs if you compile the list created by us all working as a team. What’s more, it’s guaranteed to be a diverse mix.

Here are my two picks for the day, which are both by British artists, and have been released over the past month. I’ve already reviewed both of them on Killed By The Video Star, so click the title for the YouTube videos, and more.

The Feeling - Without You

Duffy - Warwick Avenue

I hope you enjoyed my choices, and will maybe now try to discover more from the artists themselves. Check back tomorrow for a link post to all of the other sites giving their recommendations for the day.