In the run-up to the awards ceremony, Raye had already been named songwriter of the year – the first woman in the history of the awards. She also entered the race with seven nominations – more than any other solo artist before her.
By Niko Kappel
At her sixth Brit Award of the evening she can no longer hold on. The singer Raye cries uncontrollably on stage, tears streaming from her eyes. Her grandmother, who had been sitting next to her all evening, took her onto the stage. The people in the O2 Arena in London stand and clap until the 26-year-old singer catches herself: Until three years ago, no label wanted her music. Now she’s standing here. “I’m embarrassingly crying on national television here,” she said, “but all I ever wanted to be was an artist.”
There were a total of six awards for Raye. She won song, artist, album and songwriter of the year, as well as R’n’B act and best new artist. She broke the record of Adele, Harry Styles and Blur, who each took home four awards.
Raye’s victory at the Brit Awards
Before Raye’s victory, everyone on the red carpet is screaming for Dua Lipa. All the hoopla surrounding her new album was worth it. She’s been avoiding the question of the title and release date for months, the tension in the pop world couldn’t be higher, the first two singles “Training Season” and “Houdini” are already hits. As she walks down the red carpet in a simple black dress, people scream “iconic” and “Dua is mother.”
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Meanwhile, Tate McRae gets her lip liner reapplied and her hair combed, so you don’t want anything flying around in the photo. The rapper Aitch somehow wears something like a fleece sweater with a tiger pattern and shows that experiments at classic evening wear events often go wrong.
Look out for Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Boygenius or Billie Eilish. They are all nominated, but which of them will come to London? They can’t be seen on the red carpet. Or the Rolling Stones? You are nominated, for the first time in ten years. Then, another big red carpet moment, Kylie Minogue walks in. Nice dress. Tight at the top, kind of frilly at the bottom. She will receive the “Global Icon Award” and perform a medley of her greatest hits.
One of the biggest pop stars on the planet
Dua Lipa opens the show with a performance of her song “Training Season.” Dancers hang from the ceiling, everything is overloaded, you can hardly recognize Dua Lipa in the crowd around her. She dances, whirls around, sings live and hits every note. It’s a production by one of the biggest pop stars on the planet.
The first awards are presented, including by Green Day, whose drummer Tré Cool says it’s nice to be in London again and that he has high hopes for the after parties. Raye wins her first Brit Award for Song of the Year, with “Escapism”. Then come Jungle as band of the year and Raye again as R&B act of the year.
The Rolling Stones aren’t there and they’re not winning anything. Bring Me The Horizon from Sheffield win the Rock Award. Singer Oli Sykes looks clean and fit, wearing a great cropped leather outfit. In the 20 seconds of his acceptance speech he manages to curse five times until his bandmate lovingly but firmly takes the microphone away from him and tells him that he’s not allowed to do that on national TV.
Girl power at the Brit Awards 2024
The Brit Awards 2024 is an evening for women. The show has been repeatedly criticized in recent years for being too masculine. But in the past year there has been so much good music from female artists and bands that even a long-established institution like the Brits could no longer ignore it. Overall, over 70 percent of the awards this evening will go to women and non-binary people.
The show is hosted by radio and television presenters Clara Amfo, Maya Jama and Roman Kemp. He gets the two biggest laughs in the arena. He drinks champagne from her high heels with Kylie Minogue and a so-called mocktail with Calvin Harris because he has sworn off alcohol. As Harris puts the glass down, Kemp shows him the bottle the drink came from: “Harry Styles bath water” is written on it. A nod to the streaming film of the moment, Saltburn, starring Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan.
What the Brits always suffer from, in contrast to their big American brother, the Grammys, is that London is somehow always too far away for the winners of the international categories. Miley Cyrus wins Best Song, Boygenius wins Best Band and SZA wins Best Artist. None of them collect the award in person. There is always that moment when the envelope is opened, the name is announced, people cheer and then say: “Unfortunately, she can’t be here tonight…” Video messages are then shown, always a short moment of booing in the now drunk audience, But when it comes to Miley Cyrus, everyone laughs: she apologizes for the fact that her video is so short. But she just wanted it to match her dress.
Then another big appearance by Dua Lipa. The evening was long, she now wears her hair up and has sunglasses on, this moment is something very special for her. She announces “The queen of the Brits”: Kylie Minogue. In the meantime, the O2 Arena has already emptied out a little, the paying guests and the music label people no longer want to have to behave in front of the television cameras and instead want to go to the after parties.
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You miss Dua Lipa and Kylie Minogue hugging, it feels like a passing of the baton, in the sense of “you have to fix it now” and Kylie Minogue fixes it. She sings a medley of her biggest hits “Padam Padam”, “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” and “Love At First Site”. Meanwhile, the camera is again filming the winner of the evening, Raye. She dances blissfully at the table with her grandma.