As you may have already heard (given I have been shouting about it enough!) I was lucky enough to attend the BBC Music Awards on Monday night. I have mentioned on previous posts how much I absolutely love music, especially live music. I adore going to gigs. Usually I have a definite soft spot for more intimate venues, but going to a music awards show is pretty exciting to say the least!
I was running late, as always – this has become abit of a theme lately- hazard of juggling parenthood and nights out! (One day I might make it with time to spare and shock everyone, you never know!) Unfortunately traffic was bad too, but we listened to the pre-show excitement on BBC radio and did our own version of carpool karaoke to pass the time. But I digress…
We arrived at London Excel with very little time to spare but thankfully parking was easy (carpark costs £15 flat rate for 24 hours) and I picked up our tickets from the box office with no problem. With about two minutes to spare before BBC One began filming live, I skipped getting a drink from the crowded bar and headed inside to find the perfect spot to stand. For those who don’t know, there were multiple stages to allow set-up time for each act whilst maintaining a seamless transition for live tv. I decided it would be better to pick a side stage and get a great close-up view of some of the performances, rather than aim for the middle but be further back in the thick of the crowd. This turned out to be the best decision in my opinion!
The awards were hosted by Fearne Cotton, Claudia Winkleman and Gemma Cairney, who I felt made a good trio and complimented each other well, with live performances by The 1975, Lukas Graham, Emilie Sande, Izzy Bizu, John Legend, Kaiser Chiefs, Craig David, Zara Larsson and Robbie Williams. There were also appearances from Rick Astley, Lulu, Gerry Horner, Matt Goss, Pixie Lott, Adam Lambert and Rebecca Ferguson to present awards; shame they weren’t singing too, I would have loved to see all of them perform live! Hopefully I didn’t miss anyone there.
I have read some very negative reviews of the awards, including comments along the lines that the audience was static and unimpressed, but I totally disagree. There was a great atmosphere live at the event and, certainly near the front where I was, everyone was getting into it and enjoying themselves! (I didn’t spend much time looking at the crowd behind me to see what they were doing of course!)
Atmosphere. #BBCMusicAwards 🎶🙌😊 pic.twitter.com/QgKixypDJZ
— Katie Desborough (@K_Desborough) December 13, 2016
I admit I was abit underwhelmed by Robbie‘s new single and his performance to be honest, and I would consider myself a fan of his music generally. However, his backstage interview was quite entertaining and his short speech on behalf of Adele while accepting an award on her behalf was really sweet. I really enjoyed Izzy Bizu‘s performance of White Tiger, she has such an amazing voice. Craig David went down surprisingly well with the older crowd in particular (and who can blame them!) But the biggest highlights for me personally were the performances by Zara Larsson and Kaiser Chiefs.
Ricky Wilson going undercover as alter-ego Sandi Branchline to interview fellow stars of the awards was amusing in a somewhat silly but fun way, and reactions were entertaining, especially John Legend‘s mixed expression as he sussed it out. All part of the fun from an award show that clearly doesn’t take itself too seriously. And quite frankly I find that refreshing. Was it perfect? No. There were numerous hiccups and flaws throughout. But that’s real life. Personally I’d take the down to earth vibe over perfection any day. Of course, if someone wants to invite me to the Brits to compare, I’ll very happily oblige… Until then, would I recommend something like this if you ever get a chance? Absolutely!
I’ll leave you with a compilation of my video clip highlights from the night…
https://youtu.be/lGTBYllsZIk
The five awards presented at the BBC Music Awards 2016 are as follows (winners in brackets):
Song of the Year (Adele)
BBC Music British Artist of the Year (Coldplay)
BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year (Izzy Bizu)
BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Performance of the Year (The 1975)
BBC Radio 2 Album of the Year (Adele)