The Brit Awards

The Brit Awards are the UK's premier awards event, honouring musicians who have made achievements in the world of music and entertainment.

The ceremony is held in London every February, this year at the Earl's Court venue, and a panel of Industry professionals, including agents, record label executives and producers, all vote in a series of categories.

The event is filmed in front of a live audience, and the stars perform some of their current hits, with continuity provided by a guest celebrity as the evening's compere. Each year's award ceremony is eagerly awaited by music fans of all ages, and the stars themselves, in anticipation of who has won an award for their contribution to the British music scene and Industry over the past year.

Of particular importance every year is the winner of the 'outstanding lifetime achievement' award, usually given to an elder statesman or woman of the British music scene.

This year's awards: some of the categories and the winners

• Best British Male singer and performer: Mark Ronson Also nominated were Jamie T, Mika, Newton Faulkner, Richard Hawley
• Best British female singer and performer: Kate Nash Also nominated were bat For Lashes, KT Tunstall, Pj Harvey
• Best British new album: The Arctic Monkeys - 'favourite worst nightmare' Also nominated were: Leona Lewis - 'spirit', Mark Ronson - 'version', Mika - 'my life in cartoon motion', Take That - 'beautiful world'
• Best British group: The Arctic Monkeys Also nominated were: Editors, girls Aloud, The Kaiser Chiefs, Take That
• Best British breakthrough act of the year (this award was chosen by BBC Radio 1 listeners in a special poll): Mika
• Also nominated were: Bat For Lashes, Kate Nash, Klaxons, and Leona Lewis Best British live act of the year (this award was chosen by a special poll of BBC Radio 2 listeners): Take That Also nominated were: The Arctic Monkeys, The Kaiser Chiefs, Klaxons, and Muse
• Best British single of the year (the winner was chosen by a live public vote on the night of the ceremony): Take That - 'shine' Also nominated were: Leona Lewis - 'bleeding love', Mika - 'grace kelly', Amy Winehouse - 'valerie', The Hoosiers - 'worried by ray'
• This year, the lifetime achievement award went to Sir Paul McCartney.

Brit Awards: Controversy and Relevance

Every so often, the Brit Awards somehow stirs up some kind of controversy. Often it is a media spin, or perhaps a record company PR ploy, to focus attention on one singer or other, in the hope of boosting their sales and ratings. The media conducts straw polls to see if the record buying public agree that such and such a performer won this award, and newspapers have their favourite performers, and also those they dislike.

Last year the singer Craig David was nominated in 6 of the categories, and won none of them. He gave an aggrieved interview, which got a lot of media coverage, and raised he question again of how staged the awards are. Many in the music press say that the Brit Awards these days, if ever, are of little relevance, but for 1 night a year a glitzy event occurs and some enjoy it. Maybe it sells more records, and maybe it gives the music industry a little winter lift. It is firmly established as a music Industry celebratory night, take it or leave it.