The Brits 2019 (a commentary)

Last night saw the 39th annual Brit Awards in London. The show saw beautiful performances but a seeming slight lack of celebrity faces (especially from the Us, with Drake, The Carters and Ariana Grande all sending in video acceptances). Despite host Jack Whitehall’s best efforts, it was a rather PC affair, yet enjoyable watching (despite the thousand adverts).

Best Moment: The 1975’s acceptance speech. In the wake of the Me-Too movement, the red carpet has (rightly) become a place where celebrities can use their monumental influence to comment on important social and political issues. Matty Healy sacrificed his big moment to soak up his success and idolisation to prove that not only the ‘victimised’ females must stand up to misogyny. The boyband accentuated that the industry can only be restructured to overcome this patriarchal inequality when men call-out their peers too. Healy succinctly quoted from Laura Snapes article on the label of male “genius” exonerating abusive behaviour, providing a nuanced commentary on the behaviours of singers such as Bryan Adams and R-Kelly. The band’s later performance was suitably stunning, reiterating that male creative success does not have to be synonymous with sleazy and manipulative behaviour.

Worst Moment:Every single nominee presentation. The Brits is a big deal but somehow this came off seeming horrifically unrehearsed, the presenting pairs didn’t seem to know who should speak when. This resulted in an awkward, bumbling mess where their attempts to speak continuously overlapped.

Best Dressed:Maya Jama. From Bristol to the Brits, Maya always looks incredible and I applaud her stylist for always dressing her figure so impeccably and taking risks that somehow ALWAYS pay off (probably because she is so gorgeous).

Could-be-better-dressed:Leigh-Anne- Little Mix. I am a big fan of Little Mix and their efforts to encourage women to embrace their bodies. This being said, showing a lot of skin doesn’t automatically translate to looking good. The dress itself seemed a lazy effort to look good.

Best Performance:Jorja Smith never fails to stun me, how one can look so blissfully unaware of her own transcendent beauty having just sung like a genuine angel? I had Goosebumps throughout her entire performance and was eternally jealous of the entire live performance.

Worst performance: Little Mix are undoubtedly a sensory dream to watch, creating a spectacle that is near exhausting to watch let alone perform. That being said, this often takes away from their singing. It seemed likely the girl group were miming so as to keep up with the demands of the performance, which unfortunately was irritatingly obvious.

Best Joke:Jack Whitehall managed to comment on everything from Prince Phillip to Naomi Campbell and Liam Payne’s new relationship. My favourite, however, was fittingly about Brexit: “This year was all about reunions. First the Spice Girls, then Bros, and finally Westlife announced that they were back in the studio. Suddenly a hard border with Ireland doesn’t sound quite as bad.”

Worst Joke: Whitehall did his best but many celebrities seemed unable to take the banter in their stride. That being said, referencing the smuggled erections of Dads at home after Little Mix’s performance rightfully enraged Twitter, undermining a performance all about female empowerment by reducing them to essentially a sex show.

Special Mention: The Carter’s won best international group and sent a pre-recorded video from LA. The couple addressed the audience with a framed painting of Megan Markle looking especially regal behind them. The painting referenced their celebrations of Black History month and commended the Duchess and actress as a successful, influential and admirable black woman. Artistic and poignant.