Award Ceremonies Roundup 2008

03 January 2009

0Comments | Comment on this Article

Who won big at this year’s award ceremonies?

Last year’s music award ceremonies were a mixed bag of old favourites and impressive newcomers, with artists from rock, pop and R & B all in with the chance of taking home some of the world’s most prestigious awards.

FemaleFirst takes a look at who won big throughout 2008 at the Brits, MOBOs, Grammys and MTV Europe Music Awards, and considers which artists sorely missed out.

Britney Spears made a successful comeback towards the end of the year when she won the MTV Europe Music Award for Act of 2008, in addition to the Album of the Year Award for ‘Blackout’.

But it was Britain’s Amy Winehouse who took home the most Grammy Awards to put on her mantelpiece, including Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album for ‘Back to Black’, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Song Of The Year and Record of the Year for the widely acclaimed ‘Rehab’ with Mark Ronson.

Whether Amy’s music can be described as ‘pop’ is debatable, especially considering her notorious private life and far from ‘clean’ public image, but she was a deserving winner of the five awards none-the-less.

On a similar note, Mark Ronson won the British Male Solo Artist Brit Award, but it could be argued that after leaping to fame as a result of ‘Rehab’, which didn’t even have Amy Winehouse in the music video, his talents should have perhaps been more widely recognised.

Kanye West won the Brit Award for International Male Solo Artist, and the Grammy Awards for Best Rap Song, ‘Can’t Tell Me Nothing’, and Best Rap Album for ‘Graduation’. He also took home the MTV Ultimate Urban Award.

Surprisingly, Kanye personally didn’t win anything at the Music of Black Origin, MOBO Awards. Considering that he is arguably the most successful solo artist in the black music industry at the moment, he was expected the sweep the board, but he unfortunately received no such recognition.

And the MTV Award he did receive in 2008 was alarmingly his first ever, even though he stepped into the limelight around two years ago.

However, Kanye’s collaboration with British artist Estelle, ‘American Boy’ won her the MOBO Award for Best Song, and she also took home the UK Female Artist Award, which was arguably as a result of her success with Kanye.

2008 also saw the rapid rise of singing sensation Leona Lewis. Although she only won two music awards, the MOBO Best Video for ‘Bleeding Love’ and Best Album for ‘Spirit’, Leona’s success is taking the world by storm, and she was the first female artist to have a number one hit single in America in the last twenty years.

Unlike Leona, British artists Take That, The Arctic Monkeys, Kate Nash, Mika and Adele had only the Brit Awards to rely on, as it was predominantly an American affair at the year’s music award ceremonies.

The Foo Fighters won the Brit Award for International Group, and ‘Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace’ won them the International Album Brit Award, as well as the Best Rock Album Grammy Award. Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5, Alicia Keys and The White Stripes all took home Grammy awards too.

In fact, the Grammy Awards was probably the most versatile award ceremony in 2008, taking pop music, rock, rap, R & B and even country music into consideration. With this in mind, Canadian blues and jazz singer Michael Buble won an award, although this came under the Traditional Pop Vocal category, as did country singers Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood for Best Male and Female Country Vocal Performances respectively.

Leona Lewis, Estelle and Chris Brown were the only artists to take home more than one MOBO each, of which the other winners included Dizzee Rascal, Lil Wayne and Motown. Although only recognising black music, the MOBOs include awards for a variety of musical categories, such as reggae, jazz, gospel and hip-hop.

Paul McCartney had a successful professional year, despite his very public break-up and subsequent divorce of Heather Mills, and he was awarded the MTV Europe Music Award for Ultimate Legend, and the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.

While the Americans appear to have stolen the show at last year’s award ceremonies, the break-through of British artists such as Estelle, Leona Lewis and Amy Winehouse demonstrate an influential contribution towards the music industry on the ever-competitive international stage.

By Kay Taylor

0Comments | Be the first to comment!