You know that small low key music awards ceremony? Well I got to go!

So yesterday was the day when I, ‘Tracey ‘I never win anything’ Cooper collected my tickets to the hottest show in town that I had won in conjunction with my lovely local station Midwest Radio. Understandably this was very exciting for an extreme fan of all things music. I am an avid Brits follower, every year I watch from the sofa, not always in agreement with the industry’s decisions but equally keen to see who they feel deserves the silver statuette to sit pride of place on their mantelpiece. So, after many wardrobe changes and with crucial killer heel decisions made (a girl never knows who she might meet in a strange town) we were whisked away, chauffeur driven no less, to Earls Court, home for the night of the Brit awards 2010.

For once, the pouring rain didn’t phase me (okay okay I might have complained once or twice but this is at least 122 times less than I would’ve normally done so) & once inside we loitered in the foyer to do some celeb spotting as they arrived coming in off the red carpet, all looking ultra glamorous and making my hours of deciding what to wear seem slightly insignificant - although I spied Alicia Keys has a make up lady in her shadow to touch her up every 30 seconds it seems, don’t worry Alicia your secret’s safe!

Now to the good bit, the reason you’ve all stuck with me and my ramblings so far, my review of the show…. and my alternative awards:

'Underwhelming opening of the show' award goes to…… Lily Allen. Not convinced, it certainly wasn’t showstopping. She had also clearly been on the grape juice so I’ll mark her down for that, how unprofessional ;) and not because I had wine slurping envy obviously). And Best British Female….. hmmm me thinks Florence & the Machine was robbed.

The ‘I thought this show was sponsored by Mastercard but clearly not’ award goes to –The Spice Girls well the ginger & scary one, I was beginning to panic that they were the only guests booked for the evening, phew they weren’t.

The ‘I wish they had put fewer clothes on’ award goes to …..JLS who put on a great performance. It was fantastic to see them be accepted at the Brits only some 18 months after winning a rather contrived reality show and even though their two awards (best British single & British breakthrough act) were public voted rather than industry awarded, you cannot take that away from them and I am sure that won’t take any of the shine off of winning at all.

Brings me nicely on to the ‘I wish they had put more clothes on but only because I am jealous of the body’ award which goes to…. Lady Gaga. Now, this creature can do no wrong in my eyes. I am in the ‘yes she may be slightly bonkers but heck she is fantastic at what she does’ camp and I was thrilled to see her pick up three hugely deserved awards (international female, international album & international breakthrough) My only criticism, and I use the term loosely because its only a small flaw, is that she should have sung one of her hits, but hey that’s why she is so successful, she does her own thing and is proud of it.

Award for ‘Most courageous performance I’ll even let you off the lip synching’ goes to Cheryl Cole. I was excited about seeing her perform, she is one of my guilty pleasures. The irony of singing ‘fight for this love’ to 10 million people it even brought a lump to my throat. Enough said.

The ‘I’m so far up my own **** even though I wasn’t the real talent in the band’ award goes to Mr Gallagher. Whilst I am in total agreement with the award going to Oasis for best album of last 30 years, I am not in agreement with Liam. That Brit award will be on eBay before the day is out I am sure……..

All joking aside, my personal highlights of the evening were Florence & the Machine picking up the best British album award. For those that don’t know, I am a MASSIVE fan and this was most deserved of the night. If you don’t own a copy of Lungs, firstly get your head read and then go and purchase a copy, you won’t regret it. Also, aside from Robbie, my favourite performance was Alicia Keys and Jay Z – she looked gorgeous & has the best voice I have heard live in a long time, whilst he is so cool it’s unreal. Everyone was out of their seats, even the industry big wigs were indulging in a spot of dad dancing.

Now, Robbie Williams. Ironically, the last time I was in that very arena was in 1994 watching Take That minus 1 as Robbie had decided to jump ship 4 weeks earlier leaving me a heartbroken 15 year old. Forgetting all about my 16 year grudge, I let myself be truly entertained by this born to do it performer. He flawlessly jumped from one Robbie classic to another, (even throwing a Take That song in for good measure) which I hope will silence any critics still unsure over his live performing ability of late, there were certainly no sign of nerves on his part, it was a well polished, humbled performance. Not surprisingly he welled up at the whole of Earls Court singing Angels back at him – it was a real special moment and one I am so glad I was there to see.

So that’s a wrap, I was thrilled to be at the Brits during a time when British music seems genuinely exciting. This is a happy if a little hoarse Tracey Cooper signing off. Thank you Midwest!