BRITs Blogger - Part 2 - It’s All Change for the BRIT Awards in 2011
‘Change’ was definitely the main focus of last week's press release as it was revealed that The BRITs 2011 will mark the dawning of an exciting new era for the UK’s biggest music event with a number of high profile changes to make the legendary Awards more iconic and relevant than ever before.
There has been particular excitement surrounding the release of Vivienne Westwood’s rough sketch of the new, re-vamped statuette...as our Chairman says “Vivienne stands for all the things we want to inspire in tomorrow’s generation of artists.”
Next on the list of big changes is the big move to The O2, the world’s most popular music venue! In addition to show-stopping performances on the main stage there will be a supplementary central circular platform. This will be surrounded by tables filled to the brim with celebrities, nominees and performers and allow for some more intimate performances - letting the audience get even closer to the action! What I love the sound of, is although artists will be surrounding the middle performance area every seat in the house is going to feel really special.
It has also been announced that we will be resting the OCA this year which means the biggest names in British music will battle it out for the MasterCard British Album of the Year Award, which will now be the most coveted award of the show and the climax to the whole event. Although some may mourn the absence of the OCA next year think of the positives. This means more performance time which is fairly important seeing as it is a music show!!! In addition, throughout the night there will be showcase videos about each of the five nominated albums featuring celebrity interviews and ‘the making of’ featurettes to build anticipation towards the announcement of the winner.
Another BRITs first has been the inviting of last year’s nominees and winners to the Voting Academy. We are so excited about this – our Chairman noted that “artists are the single most valuable part of our industry and so inviting them to join the Voting Academy is an obvious step to make.” We also think that it’s quite nice for the winners to know that their music is appreciated by their peers and not just the usual suspects that make up all the different sectors of the BRITs Voting Academy or BRITs public votes.
Wow....its been a busy week as you can see! But don’t forget – you don’t have to wait till February to get your BRITs action. The Launch Party will take place Thursday 13th January 2011 at IndigO2 where the 2011 nominees will be revealed. This is a show in itself with performances from big acts including the winner of the Critics’ Choice. Never before has the show been on a Thursday but we thought we’d kick-start everyone’s weekends a little early!
So with ALL this excitement to look forward to you can forget any countdowns to Christmas or New Year and start crossing off the days till the BRITs now!
