Evening Standard

The Brits bash is always on song

- ITV, 7.30pm

Can it compare to the Grammys? In terms of sheer star power, probably not, but there’s alwyas something unpredicta­ble about the British music scene. That’s what makes The Brits the one awards show worth watching.

This year’s festivitie­s are broadcast live, so we can’t yet say for sure whether there’ll be any stunts to join Jarvis Cocker’s 1996 midriff-flashing protest against Michael Jackson in the history books. We do know, however, that The Voice’s Emma Willis and

The X Factor’s Dermot O’Leary are united on presenting duties. O’Leary has a well-documented talent for fancy footwork and he’ll have a hard job to keep his toes from tapping with this line-up: Katy Perry and Bruno Mars are booked to perform, as well as home-grown talent Skepta and Little Mix. Word to the wise: the really off-the-wall celebrity titbits are likely to be found over on ITV2, where Clara Amfo, Laura Jackson and Alice Levine are hosting the red carpet coverage.

Meanwhile, this year’s Icon award goes to Robbie Williams. Brit historians will remember the Angels singer challengin­g his then nemesis Liam Gallagher to a punch-up while collecting an award back in 2000. Presumably such rambunctio­us behaviour is behind Robbie now, but — and this is the great thing about The Brits — you never can tell.

 ??  ?? Hosts with the most: Dermot O’Leary (above) and Emma Willis are the comperes
Hosts with the most: Dermot O’Leary (above) and Emma Willis are the comperes

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