Season 29
The BRIT Awards, often simply called The BRITs, are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of British or Britannia, but has subsequently become a "backronym" for British Record Industry Trust.
The 29th annual BRIT Awards aired on M-Net on Thursday 19 February 2009, at 21h00. They were hosted by James Corden, Mathew Horne and Kylie Minogue.
Overview
The awards began in 1977 under the auspices of the BPI, the British record industry's trade association. The last BPI Awards show took place at the Albert Hall and was the first prime-time TV event.
In 1989 they were renamed the Britannia Awards, or BRIT Awards.
BRIT is also an acronym for the British Record Industry Trust Show - the Trust supports youngsters in the arts and education mainly at The BRIT School in London.
Strong music industry sponsorship and involvement mean that awards are given without much democratic process and, many suspect, for strongly commercial reasons. These are awards given by the music industry to the music industry. Robbie Williams pointed this out accepting an award a few years back.
More recently, the awards have more reflected the tastes of the record-buying public, with an artist needing to prove popular and chart-topping before they are rewarded.
The BRIT Awards used to be broadcast live until 1989, when Samantha Fox and Mick Fleetwood hosted a shambolic show in which just about everything went wrong - lines were fluffed, bands mis-cued, and airtime filled with embarrassing silence.
After this the show was recorded, and broadcast the following night, part of a revamp by Jonathan King for 1990 whose actions also included naming them the BRITs, hosting the show in 1987 - the most successful previous show - and releasing a megamix of British dance acts including S'Express and A Guy Called Gerald called BRITs 1990.
He also managed to get Margaret Thatcher to croon How Much Is That Doggy In The Window?
King subsequently went on to revamp A Song for Europe and won the Eurovision Song Contest for the UK in 1997, in which year the BPI awarded him their Man of the Year accolade.
Pre-recording proved to be a good idea when, during a Michael Jackson performance in 1996, Jarvis Cocker from the band Pulp invaded the stage in an impromptu protest at Jackson's 'messianic' performance.
There have been many such notable instances, including several UK politicians presenting awards and being heckled (and, in the case of John Prescott, having water thrown over him, at the 1998 awards, by Chumbawamba vocalist Danbert Nobacon) and a remarkable performance by The KLF in 1992.
2009 Winners
British Breakthrough Act
Winner - Duffy
Nominee - Adele
Nominee - Duffy
Nominee - Scouting For Girls
Nominee - The Last Shadow Puppets
Nominee - The Ting Tings
British Female Solo Artist
Winner - Duffy
Nominee - Adele
Nominee - Beth Rowley
Nominee - Duffy
Nominee - Estelle
Nominee - M.I.A.
MasterCard British Album
Winner - Duffy
Nominee - Coldplay
Nominee - Duffy
Nominee - Elbow
Nominee - Radiohead
Nominee - The Ting Tings
British Group
Winner - Elbow
Nominee - Coldplay
Nominee - Elbow
Nominee - Girls Aloud
Nominee - Radiohead
Nominee - Take That
Critic's Choice Award
Winner - Florence and The Machine
British Single
Winner - Girls Aloud
Nominee - Adele
Nominee - Alexandra Burke
Nominee - Coldplay
Nominee - Dizzee Rascal
Nominee - Duffy
Nominee - Estelle
Nominee - Girls Aloud
Nominee - Leona Lewis
Nominee - Scouting For Girls
Nominee - The X Factor Finalists
British Live Act
Winner - Iron Maiden
Nominee - Coldplay
Nominee - Elbow
Nominee - Iron Maiden
Nominee - Scouting For Girls
Nominee - The Verve
International Male Solo Artist
Winner - Kanye West
Nominee - Beck
Nominee - Jay-Z
Nominee - Kanye West
Nominee - Neil Diamond
Nominee - Seasick Steve
International Female Solo Artist
Winner - Katy Perry
Nominee - Beyonce
Nominee - Gabriella Cilmi
Nominee - Katy Perry
Nominee - Pink
Nominee - Santogold
International Album
Winner - Kings Of Leon
Nominee - AC/DC
Nominee - Fleet Foxes
Nominee - Kings Of Leon
Nominee - MGMT
Nominee - The Killers
International Group
Winner - Kings Of Leon
Nominee - AC/DC
Nominee - Fleet Foxes
Nominee - Kings Of Leon
Nominee - MGMT
Nominee - The Killers
British Male Solo Artist
Winner - Paul Weller
Nominee - Ian Brown
Nominee - James Morrison
Nominee - Paul Weller
Nominee - The Streets
Nominee - Will Young
Outstanding Contribution
Winner - Pet Shop Boys
Critics Choice
Nominee - Florence and The Machine
Nominee - Little Boots
Nominee - White Lies
Outstanding Contribution To Music
Nominee - Pet Shop Boys