Last night, from the comfort of a local bar in Greenwich I watched the Brit Awards 2011 and was frankly, dissapointed.  While I am big Plan B and Adele fan and dont mind a bit of Mumford, or their sons, the awards lacked the grit and determination that made the nineties and even the early naughties feel like a real celebration of British Culture.

Youth culture ruled the ceremony but the performance from Plan B felt like a lackluster copy of Eminem performing with all his slim shady look-alikes so many years ago in the States.  And that is my problem.  The awards felt like they would fit very comfortably in with the overally polished American music awards we have all come to know.  It was just too slick.  Gone are the days of a political motive (Chumba-chuck anyone?), in-fighting between bands (anyone remeber when a certain pop band were booed picking up their award), religous imagery (thanks Michael), or drunken swearing (Robbie-gate) that made it all feel, well... raw

And the performances felt like self-indulgent promotional exercises rather than a celebration of music over the last year (CeeLo and Paloma were the exeption).  I longed for a Robbie and Tom Jones, Dizzy and Florence, or jamiroquai and Diana Ross duet.  Not one artist produced and original mix or new interpritation of their music.  Kylie Minogue's cant get Blue Monday out of my head from years back was inspirational and felt like The Brits really meant something.  It was created for those awards and nothing else.

So was the medicority of the Brits this year a symbol of the times (tighten those purse strings y'all) or simply that a Brit Award doesn't mean what it used to.  For acts like Adele who has already made it in the US and Tinchy, who has the type of world domination plan only big brands dream of, does a Brit really make a difference?  The awards didn't feel any less glamourous than last year and actually, had one of the most impressive stages I've seen.  It is a shame that the young people who attend the awards were relegated to the cheap seats rather than making up the mosh-pit style crowd that they used to but I don't think that this years awards were a reflection of our financial difficulties.  I simply think that it doesn't have the clout it once did.

I think it is also of a reflection of what makes a music star today.  We need a bit more attitude.  From The Spice Girls (Girl Power) to Oasis (Fuck you power), the Brit Awards was a platform for anchory.  Not another tick in the 'I want to sell more and make it big abroad' box

As one blogger put it, 'the awards is like a big corporate circle jerk'

I never thought I would say this but... N Dubz, we need you!

And on a final note, Take That are too old and Corden should only be employed to be funny, not to present a script so tight the auto-cue was two steps ahead at all times