The Brits 2012...

Last night saw the return of The Brit Awards at the O2 with a very nervous (initially) James Cordern hosting. There were 8 performances in total, with Blur closing the show with a spectacular11-minute compilation of a few of their hits, Damon Albarn still just as rowdy and energetic as before, a beautiful, uncomplicated performance of Lego House from Ed Sheeran and an effortlessly stunning performance of the chart-topping, worldwide smash-hit Rolling in The Deep by Adele. Others included a weak, uninteresting performance from Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Bruno Mars delighting performing Just The Way You Are and Coldplay opening the show with a vibrant performance their new single Charlie Brown, as well as performances from Olly Murs who was joined by the fun enigmatic Rizzle Kicks and a dirty (surprisingly not in that way!) performance from Rihanna.

Here are the winners and losers:

British Male Solo Artist: Won by Ed Sheeran over James Blake
                                                                                    James Morrison
                                                                                    Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
                                                                                    Professor Green
Agree - Thoroughly deserved Ed has captivated a generation of music-lovers from young to old, with his unique spin on modern music, a charming singer-songwriter with an outstanding voice and lyrics to match, unafraid to venture into genres where perhaps an artist like him would rarely be seen, for example the grime-inspired You Need Me, I Don't Need You.

British Female Solo Artist:  Won by Adele over Florence & the Machine
                                                                               Jessie J
                                                                               Kate Bush
                                                                               Laura Marling

Agree - The others are all very talented artists each with stunning voices and plenty of heart and soul but it really would be difficult to make a case against any of them toppling the mighty Adele. With such sincere, heartfelt songs as Rolling in the Deep and Set Fire to The rain matched by her beautiful voice hitting every note with absolute perfection it is well earnt.

British Breakthrough Act: Won by Ed Sheeran over Anna Calvi
                                                                               Emeli Sande
                                                                              Jessie J
                                                                              The Vaccines

Agree- Narrowly deserved over Emeli Sande, whom Sheeran even praised in his subsequent ITV 2 interview, Maverick Sabre should have been nominated in this category however.

British Group: Won by Coldplay over Arctic Monkey's
                                                              Chase and Status
                                                              Elbow
                                                              Kasabian

Agree- Although a very unfair voting system, as winner decided through listeners of Radio 2...oh of course songs like Blind Faith (Chase and Status) and Days are Forgotten (Kasabian) are played regularly on Radio 2...not.

British Single: Won by One Direction: What Makes You Beautiful over
                                                                                    Adele - Someone Like You
                                                                                    Ed Sheeran - The A Team
                                                                Example - Changed the Way you Kissed Me
                                                                                    Jessie J ft B.O.B - Price tag
                                                                                    JLS ft Dev - She Makes Me Wanna
                                                                Military Wives/Gareth Malone - Wherever You Are
                                                                Olly Murs ft Rizzle Kicks - Heart Skips a Beat
                                                                                    Pixie Lott - All About Tonight
                                                                                    The Wanted - Glad You Came
                                                         
Disagree- Absolute disgrace and really illustrates the power one group of people (teenage girls with no taste in music) can have when voting, especially given that it was won against not only  artists that don't rely on looks and auto-tune, but truly gifted songwriters such as Adele, Example and Ed Sheeran and worldwide hits accomplished with all types of people, such as Jessie J's Price Tag.

International Group: Won by Foo Fighters over Fleet Foxes

                                                                        Jay Z/Kanye West

                                                                        Lady Antebellum

                                                                        Maroon 5

Agree- Brilliant band, with a fiery stage presence, incredible work-ethic that has seen them produce hit after hit and a die-hard following.

British Album of the Year: Won by Adele - 21 over Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto
                                                                                    Ed Sheeran - +
                                                                            Florence & the Machine - Ceremonials
                                                                            PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

Disagree - As talented an artist is Adele is, when looking at her work as a whole it is fairly homogeneous, sombre love songs, mainly about heartbreak. Whereas, Ed Sheeran's +, for example, is not only diverse ranging from songs like Drunk and Lego House to You Need Me...ground-breaking, masterful, words that also spring to mind with Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto. Coldplay return with yet another epic album, that's arguably their best to date. Completely detached from their previous style, much more modernised and with such phenomenally brilliant tunes as Paradise, Hurts like Heaven and Every Teardrop is a Waterfall, deserved to win this catgeory.

 International Male Solo Artist: Won by Bruno Mars over Aloe Blacc
                                                                                                Bon Iver
                                                                                                David Guetta
                                                                                                Ryan Adams

Agree - Charming, fresh, charismatic...and that's just the music! Astounding songwriter with an effortlessly fantastic voice, captured an entire generation and performed brilliantly on the night. Yes to Mr Mars.

International Female Solo Artist: Won by Rihanna over Beyonce
                                                                                    Bjork
                                                                                    Feist
                                                                                    Lady Gaga

Agree - Just a year after releasing her Loud album which sold a staggering (at least in this ilegal-download age) 207,000 copies in it's first week Rihanna released Talk that Talk with two top-ten tracks already. Possibly the most remakrable thing about Rihanna, is her age at just 24 she has accomplished so much and it seems Beyonce in particular is struggling to keep up with her, probably to Jay Z's disappointment, given his split commitments with the two...managing one and marrying the other! We Found Love is a phenomenal tune and Rihanna sounds simply heavenly on it, this award is deserved just for that.

International Breakthrough Act: Won by Lana Del Rey over Aloe Blacc
                                                                                                    Bon Iver
                                                                                                    Foster the People
                                                                                                    Nicki Minaj

Agree - Lana is an acquired taste to say the least, I didn't 'get' her initially, given her contralto vocal range which is very unorthodox, but she's individual, audacious, passionate and absolutely gorgeous, in a very natural way. Give her some time and you will see what all the fuss is about.