Often dubbed as ‘the biggest night in British music’, they’ve come to lose their credibility and never had it been summed up better than by Ant & Dec in the opening sequence when they pointed out how the ceremony needed to ‘up their game’. Once you overlook the criminal exclusion of grime acts this year, here’s five reasons why 2016 was the best BRITs we’ve seen for a few years:
1. The Winners Were Unpredictable
The BRITs have built up somewhat of a reputation for dishing out the awards based entirely on commercial success, but no such pattern was followed this year. Tame Impala picking up Best International Band was as much of a shock as the Catfish & the Bottlemen fans out numbering that of Jess Glynne or even Years & Years when it came to the public-voted British Breakthrough award.
2. Justin Bieber Stepped Up
Not only were we treated to a classy collaboration with James Bay for campfire anthem ‘Love Yourself’, but Bieber’s vocal ability ascended to new levels of emotion, character, and individuality. The intricate acoustic ballad was then transformed into an explosive rendition of ‘Sorry’, where his skills as a true performer managed to shut the mouths of the non-beliebers – not that there were any of those left anyway.
3. Drake’s Cameo
Arguably the hottest rapper in the game even managed to surprise us with a cameo during Rihanna’s performance of her latest single ‘Work’. To attract such big names without even announcing them is indicative of just how much of an international big deal the BRITs are nowadays.
4. Big-Budget Performances
Each and every live performance at this year’s ceremony was just as easy on the eye as it was on the ear. Rihanna was working with a stunning grid-style light show and Little Mix exhibited an enthralling performance of ‘Black Magic’ with a strong tribal aesthetic.
5. Lorde’s Tribute to Bowie
Following a pair of poignant speeches from Annie Lennox and Gary Oldman, we witnessed the outright performance of the night from New Zealand-born pop prodigy, Lorde. Granted, she had the support of none other than Bowie’s own long serving backing band, but her interpretation of ‘Life On Mars’ perfectly executed the amount of understated splendour needed to achieve the tribute we all wanted to see, for one of Britain’s greatest musical exports.
BUT…
Most importantly, the BRITs 2016 finally managed to accomplish the two things that it sets out to do; restore everyone’s faith in pop music, and reward those who made it happen.