2011 Brit Awards
| 31st Brit Awards | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date | 15 February 2011 |
| Venue | The O2 |
| Hosted by | James Corden |
| Most awards | Tinie Tempah and Arcade Fire |
| Television/Radio coverage | |
| Network | ITV |
The 2011 Brit Awards was held on Tuesday 15 February 2011.[1] It was the 31st edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The award ceremony was held at The O2 in London for the first time in its history, moving from the original venue of Earls Court, also in London.[2] The ceremony was hosted by James Corden.[3][4] Leading the nominations was Tinie Tempah with four nominations. The artists with the most awards won were Tinie Tempah and Arcade Fire, with two wins each.[5][6][7] The 2011 awards were billed as a reboot of the Brit Awards format featuring a different venue, a new award statuette designed by Vivienne Westwood and a greater emphasis placed on music, particularly live performances. Whilst the re-working of the show was generally well received,[8] the TV audience was the lowest for five years,[9] with an average viewership of 4.8 million viewers peaking at 5.9 million. Comparatively, the final episode of Channel 4's Big Fat Gypsy Weddings was watched by 8.05 million viewers.
Performers
| Artist(s) | Song(s) | UK Singles Chart Reaction | UK Albums Chart Reaction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Take That | "Kidz" | 31 (+168) | Progress – 10 (non-mover) |
| Adele | "Someone Like You" | 1 (+46) | 21 – 1 (non-mover) 19 – 4 (+2) |
| Rihanna | "Only Girl (In the World)" "S&M" "What's My Name" |
25 (+5) 19 (−1) 6 (+5) |
Loud – 3 (non-mover) |
| Mumford & Sons | "Timshel" | did not chart | Sigh No More – 2 (+13) |
| Plan B | "She Said" "Prayin'" |
72 (debut)[A] | The Defamation of Strickland Banks – 7 (+17) |
| Arcade Fire | "Ready to Start" | did not chart | The Suburbs – 14 (+38) |
| Tinie Tempah Eric Turner Labrinth |
"Written in the Stars" "Miami 2 Ibiza" "Pass Out" |
40 (debut)[A] | Disc-Overy – 6 (+19) |
| Justin Bieber David Jensen |
"Baby" | 12 (re-entry)[A] | My World 2.0 - 15 (re-entry) |
| Terry Wogan | "The Floral Dance" | 24 (re-entry)[A] | did not chart |
| Cee Lo Green Paloma Faith |
"Forget You" | 19 (+16) | The Lady Killer – 11 (+7) |
Nominees and Winners
| MasterCard British Album of the Year (presented by Roger Daltrey) | British Single (presented by Alan Carr) | |
|---|---|---|
| ||
| British Male Solo Artist (presented by Dizzee Rascal) | British Female Solo Artist (presented by Boy George) | |
| British Group (presented by Dermot O'Leary) | British Breakthrough Act (presented by Fearne Cotton) | Critics' Choice (presented by Mark Ronson and Ellie Goulding) |
| International Album (presented by Boris Becker) | ||
| International Male Solo Artist (presented by Lewis Hamilton) | International Female Solo Artist (presented by Cheryl Cole) | |
| International Group (presented by Simon Le Bon and John Taylor) | International Breakthrough Act (presented by David Jensen and Avril Lavigne) | Special Recognition (presented by James Corden) |
Moments
Adele's performance of "Someone Like You"
Adele performed her song "Someone Like You" at the ceremony with only a piano accompanying her. Her emotional performance was received with a standing ovation at the O2 Arena and the video received millions of hits on YouTube within days. The performance launched "Someone Like You" 46 spots up the UK charts to number one, and in the process, made Adele the first artist in the UK since The Beatles to have two top five singles and two top five albums at the same time.
James Corden, Justin Bieber and Plan B
James Corden made jokes throughout the ceremony which drew criticism on social networking site Twitter. A targeted example was talking to acts in between awards when he came across Justin Bieber. In his trademark humour, Corden said to Bieber "You smell amazing! How old are you?". A bemused Bieber replied "thanks". Similarly, after Plan B's performance of his hit "Prayin'" finished with a man on fire, Corden described it as a really violent episode of Porridge and remarked "is Justin Bieber OK? The amount of hair products that boy uses. He could have gone up in flames." As the man on fire took to the stage during Plan B's performance, some of the crowd showed their disapproval and booed.
Notes
- A ^ These were released on iTunes as live performances
References
- ↑ "Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, The xx up for Brit Awards". NME. 13 January 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
- ↑ Topping, Alexandra (13 January 2011). "Brit awards: Tinie Tempah shines with four nominations". Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 20 January 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
- ↑ "Tinie Tempah nominated for four Brit Awards". BBC News. 13 January 2011. Archived from the original on 14 January 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
- ↑ "Tinie Tempah Reacts To BRIT Award Nominations". MTV.co.uk. 14 January 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
- ↑ "Tinie Tempah wins British Single gong at Brit Awards 2011". NME.com. 15 February 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
- ↑ Topping, Alexandra (15 February 2011). "Brit awards 2011: Take That win best British group 21 years after their debut". Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
- ↑ "Best group Brit goes to Take That". BBC News. 15 February 2011. Archived from the original on 16 February 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
- ↑ "Brit awards: Verdict on the 'new' show". BBC News. 16 February 2011. Archived from the original on 16 February 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
- ↑ "Brit awards hit by ratings slump". BBC News. 16 February 2011. Archived from the original on 16 February 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2011.