Proud to be Brit-ish?
Last night I watched the Brit Awards. For those of you who don’t know what they are, they are the British music industry’s equivalent of a Grammy or an Oscar. The show was presented by the Osbourne family who shot to fame on a US reality TV show. They looked like the Adams family and behaved like yobs.
It was led by the matriarch, Sharon. Every other word was “pissed” or “piss off”. Her behaviour would have got me expelled from school but here she was on live TV, being paid thousands no doubt, to screech like a fish-wife and show off her limited vocabulary. She made the so-called really bad girl of rock, Amy Winehouse, look angelic.
Someone should tell Mrs Osbourne that there is nothing amusing about a fifty-something woman dressed in a curtain swearing and flirting with a series of drunk men whom I had never heard of.
I sat and cringed for the two hours of the show. All I could think was, ‘what will the rest of the world think of us?’ Is this really the best person we have for the job? Her daughter showed more decorum but was about as elegant as a squashed snail. As for Ozzy himself, I don’t even want to go there. The son had the sense to keep quiet.
The rare highlights when Mrs Osbourne shut her foul mouth were Amy (a little wobbly but what a voice), Mika (cute as anything and extremely polite) and of course Take That, which was the main reason I was watching. They were lovely, and briefly restored my pride in the British, if not the British music industry.
Meanwhile there has been an alleged sighting of Madeleine close to us, at a service station near Montpellier. A Dutch student claims to have seen the little girl and says she reacted when she called her name. I really want to believe she is still alive, I had given up all hope, reluctantly taking down the picture of her from my blog. But if anyone else should spot a little girl they think is her, for heaven’s sake just grab her and call the police immediately - no one will hold it against you.
Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2008
21 Feb 2008 helena
Uh, Helena, that’s kidnapping! Calling the police might be a better solution. It will give them something to do instead of harrassing Wolfie, the canine criminal suspect!
Helena, don’t worry about what the rest of the world will think of the British: at least in France, where very few people have ever heard of the Brit awards and even fewer would sit through the 2 hours of the show, unless they were expecting to see Carla Bruni fail miserably on it.
Don’t worry Helena. The rest of the world is behaving badly also. American music shows are presented by rappers who act and look like pimps and cannot string two intellingible words together. These twits usually have a Paris look alike bimbette not chosen for her wit but her inflatable body bits!
And…unfortunately, people ARE fascinated by outrageous behaviour. I mean, they don’t make reality shows about accountants and their home life….actually, I have next door neighbours who behave more than a bit like the Osbournes…the wife thinks it’s hilarious to have a bumper sticker which proclaims she is a “Mean Bitch”! Did I miss something or when did that insult become a compliment?
Maria
I completely agree it was a shambles and whatever planet Amy had transported herself to (what is the “I’m about to pee” prancing all about? The girl can sing but she can hardly stand) we all yearned to go there too.
Re Madeleine. Every time I hear of a sighting I want to scream at the people Why didn’t you go over to her? Create a diversion? Look her in the EYES? Follow the car? Too little info too late or mis-identification once again probably. Only one certainty - more heartache for the parents.
Re Yoga. When I had very young children I too took up yoga see my blog http://julesritter.com/?p=169
I’ve been very active on your blog this week, tear yourself away from the tree position and get yourself over to mine.
Jules.
I totally agree about the Brits. Once upon a time they were worth watching, and you would see great live performances and collaborations by people who knew what they were up to. Tom Jones and Robbie Williams singing together springs to mind.
Now it is hosted by the Osbourne family (who’s daft idea was that?) and apart from Macca the live acts were as undistinguished as their so called music.
I don’t get Amy Winehouse at all. She really isn’t that good a singer, and I’m really not interested in hearing her bleat on yet again about her ‘Blakey’ being in prison. She wants to be Dusty Springfield - but she’s a million light years away from being as talented a singer as Dusty.
The Arctic Monkeys - best British Group - when we have truly great new bands like The Feeling and Keane. C’mon!
I turned it off after about half an hour.
Maybe I’m just getting old.