21:01 - It’s Take That’s turn to take to the stage. And they clearly need no introduction, coming straight on after Kings of Leon finish their acceptance speech. They descend from the ceiling singing Greatest Day. They’re all wearing spectacles and look like geeks. Have I missed something?

21:06 - James Corden looks like a penguin in his suit, while Matthew Horne looks like he belongs in the 1980s. Nick Frost arrives on stage with very long, straggly hair to present the award for ‘British Live Act’. If Scouting for Girls win it, I swear I’ll scream. And the winner is… Iron Maiden. Really. Nice. How very old school. The band are on a world tour and accept the award via video.

21:10 - David Hasselhoff on stage to present the award for ‘British Group’. He rambles on in a bizarre fashion when we just want to hear the nominations. The Hoff drunk and rambling? Never. And the winner is… Elbow. Ooh, a surprise for me, although they have already won the Mercury Music Prize this year. A brilliant band finally getting the recognition they deserve.

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2009 has arrived so I’m actually overdue in rounding up my best of Brit Music Scene from 2008. Here we find out what the biggest stories and talking points between the months of July and September.

July

Most bands now love having their songs featured in video games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero, but Led Zeppelin made a stand against the grain by refusing permission for their songs to be used. Meanwhile, Mani claimed that Ian Brown was the main thing stopping a Stone Roses reunion from happening.

There were claims that John Lydon AKA Johnny Rotten from the Sex Pistols had racially attacked Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke at the Summercase festival in Spain. While the moment that the Sex Pistols swore on live TV was voted as the most requested clip ever.

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Elbow are a long-standing British group who have kind of passed me by so far, hence I’m only just reviewing this single, One Day Like This, even though it’s been out a few months. I’m sure I’m not alone in only really taking notice of the band after they won the 2008 Mercury Music Prize in September.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve actually been aware of Elbow for years now, partly because they hail from Manchester, where I currently reside, and partly because they have flirted with mainstream success without fully achieving global fame.

The band have been around an incredible 18 years, being started in 1990 by lead singer Guy Garvey and some mates from college. It wasn’t until 1997 that they became Elbow and signed their first record deal, but it was still 10 years before they won the Mercury Music Prize, most often associated with new acts.

Commercial success may always have alluded the band, but their a fan and critic favourite alike. And this single, which reached number 35 in the British charts, shows why so many people love Elbow.

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Elbow have won the 2008 Nationwide Mercury Music Prize, beating the likes of Radiohead, Adele, Estelle, and bookies favourite Burial. The Manchester band won the annual music industry award for their fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid.

The prize was contested by 12 of the best of British acts from this year, all of whom were considered to have released the best albums from the past 12 months. The nominees were announced back in July, when I expressed my desire for Radiohead to win for In Rainbows. But it wasn’t to be.

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The Mercury Music Prize, sponsored by Nationwide, is the annual award given to the best album by a British or Irish artist released in the previous 12 months. The ceremony isn’t until later in the year, but a short-list is first released, with the name of the 12 artists, and their albums, on it which the judges think are the best of British.

Having said that, the Mercury Music Prize has a history of choosing albums by up and coming artists, rather than necessarily widely known artists, and certainly not the best-selling ones. Which means there are always some huge surprises in the short-list, and more often than not, in the eventual winner chosen as well.

Last year saw Klaxons named as winners, for their début album Myths Of The Near Future. They beat the Arctic Monkeys, Dizzee Rascal, and Amy Winehouse along the way, although Winehouse’ performance at the awards ceremony probably invoked more press coverage than the Klaxons themselves.

This year’s short-list has now been published, and the usual surprises are present, as well as there being many names missing that were expected to appear.

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