The Brit Awards

The Brit Awards were on television this evening and I watched them. So, the Brit Awards are the English equivalent of the Grammys. It's a two-hour live show where they give a bunch of rock stars a lot of liquor and hope something goes awry, interspersed with live performances. Categories include 'best international male' (aka, non-British male) and 'best British single', and more things along that line.

Miraculously, I recognized the host of the show, having come across him on a silly question-asking show back in December, so I knew that despite looking like a rocker-type, he was really a comedian. I cannot tell you his name, but I can tell you that he wasn't particularly funny and many of his jokes fell flat. The winners of the first few awards were all obviously drunk, which was not as amusing as one could hope. Live performers included Amy Winehouse (that Rehab song is way popular), the Killers, Oasis (they got the lifetime achievement type award so they actually closed the show with a 4-song set), Take That (90s boy band that Robbie Williams used to be in, went away for a while, but are back now and very popular), the Scissor Sisters, and Corinne Bailey Rae. Awards were won by the Killers, the Arctic Monkeys, the Fratellis (I don't think there stuff has really been released in the US), Justin Timberlake, Amy Winehouse, and some other people. I suppose one could look these things up if they were curious.

The real point of interest is that people are allowed to curse more on British television. Someone slipped in the s-word, for example. This is apparently okay. You can also say the f-word if there is a warning before the show. One can also show more nudity. However, they don't like it when people shoot each other. The English seem a little wary of guns.

And there is a second soap opera in this country. There is the Aussie-imported Neighbours, and the local Hollyoaks. Can I tell the difference? Not really. Is there a difference? Yes, the money looks really funny on Neighbours because it's Australian.