|
 "That
rock 'n' roll it just won't go away. That
rock 'n' roll, it seems like it's fading away sometimes, but it
will never die," Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner said as he
received the band's second gong of the night for the Mastercard
British album of the year.
The best group prize at London's BRIT Awards on Wednesday was
the only head-to-head between Sheffield-born Arctic Monkeys and
One Direction, the five-piece band formed in 2010 on the TV
singing contest The X Factor.
"There's that fifteen quid we put on One Direction to win down
the drain," Turner joked as Arctic Monkeys picked up the BRIT
for best group.
Opening the event with their track "R U Mine", in the shadow of
giant versions of the letters "AM", flaming and suspended in
mid-air, Arctic Monkeys were performing at the BRITs for the
first time despite their multiple successes there over the last
eight years.
In the past, the band had responded frostily to their BRIT wins.
This year, they were odds-on favorites to win both the awards
they were up for, and their BRITs silverware count is now seven.
One Direction, a band targeted at a young audience and whose
fans are mainly teenage girls, did not walk away empty handed,
however.
The group picked up the BRITs global success award, being joined
late on stage by a panting Harry Styles, one of its five
members. He said he was late because he had been off "having a
wee" when the prize was announced.
To particularly noisy screams and cheering at their every
appearance, One Direction also walked away with the best British
video award which was decided by twitter votes cast during the
evening. With 17.8 million followers, dubbed "Directioners", the
band's win never looked in doubt.
"It's the BRITS and it's exciting," Styles said, before the
group got their hands on their two mohawk-inspired black and
white gongs, designed by milliner-to-the-stars Philip Treacy.
STAR COUNT
Excitement was what the organisers of the event were targeting,
after last year's ceremony failed to impress. Labelled by
critics as sensible, sober and dull, even Christian Tattersfield,
current chairman of the BRIT Awards committee, admitted in a
British newspaper recently that the 2013 event "lacked
superstars".
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 He was counting on an attention-grabbing performance by Katy
Perry, arriving in a chariot on stage and clad in a neon
Cleopatra outfit, and Bruno Mars's energetic routine, which
included dancing saxophonists, to breathe new life into the
show.
Wearing a sparkling green floor-length gown, pop queen Beyonce,
also sung her track "XO". Her appearance was not confirmed ahead
of the show but was widely leaked to the press.
The best British male solo artist award category was won by
David Bowie, 67, thirty years after he last held the title. He
beat up and coming names such as Jake Bugg, 19, and Tom Odell,
who is 23.
Absent from the ceremony, veteran artist Bowie nominated British
supermodel Kate Moss to accept the prize on his behalf. Reading
from a script written by Bowie, she finished with the words:
"Scotland stay with us".
Bowie's plea was the evening's only nod to politics. Scotland
will vote on September 18 on whether to become an independent
country, ending a 307-year union with England and splitting from
the rest of the UK.
Ellie Goulding, who three years ago performed at the Duke and
Duchess of Cambridge's wedding reception, won the best British
female solo artist award, before wowing the audience with an
electric performance in a gold bra and white hot pants.
The best British single award went to drum and bass dance collective
Rudimental featuring Ella Eyre for "Waiting All Night", while pop
act Bastille took home the British breakthrough act prize.
For the first time, the BRITs also had a global audience with
YouTube streaming the show live worldwide in addition to the usual
broadcast on Britain's commercial channel ITV.
The BRITs harnessing of social media reflects the growing digital
revenues powering the British music industry. Figures released
earlier on Wednesday show that revenues in the UK recorded music
sector rose 1.9 percent 730.4 million pounds ($1.22 billion) in
2013.
(Editing by Alistair Lyon and Andrew
Hay)
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