Backstage at the BRITs
Scott presented an extended backstage programme from the 2009 BRIT Awards, with Edith Bowman reporting from the red carpet and guests moving through a small interview area before the ceremony.
Rather than a single studio interview, the archive contains a sequence of short conversations capturing what artists were wearing, who they wanted to meet, how nervous they felt and what they expected from the show.
Alan Carr
Alan Carr said he looked like “a geography teacher on acid” in his outfit and complained that the material was itchy.
He was presenting Best British Single, a live public vote, and said he liked The Ting Tings. Listener questions included his favourite childhood toy; he chose Hungry Hungry Hippos and KerPlunk and admitted admiring a neighbour’s Girls World styling head.
Alesha Dixon
Alesha Dixon said she had already watched rehearsals for two days and believed the line-up could produce one of the best BRIT ceremonies.
She praised Take That’s futuristic staging, Girls Aloud’s appearance and Coldplay’s set. She said even major acts remained nervous and humble before performing.
Alesha was also preparing for the Comic Relief Kilimanjaro climb, which would involve Gary Barlow, Cheryl Cole, Kimberley Walsh, Chris Moyles, Fearne Cotton, Denise van Outen, Ben Shephard and Ronan Keating.
Alexandra Burke
Alexandra Burke said attending the BRITs had been a long-held dream and that she was on “cloud nine” after winning The X Factor.
She wanted to meet Kings of Leon and support Girls Aloud. The next day she was leaving for Aberdeen to begin The X Factor tour, followed by work on her debut album for release later in the year.
Duffy
Duffy described the red carpet as hectic and compared entering it with diving into a swimming pool.
She said she was wearing shoes too high to risk “working the room” and had not prepared an acceptance speech.
When asked what colour her imaginary air guitar would be, she chose red.
Estelle, Lady Gaga and The Ting Tings
Estelle discussed the event and her nominations while responding to deliberately random listener questions.
Lady Gaga appeared during the early stage of her British success and spoke about the scale of the ceremony and her involvement in the evening.
The Ting Tings discussed their nominations and a planned collaboration with Estelle. They said the performance had been properly mixed together rather than consisting of two unrelated songs. Asked which biscuit they would be, the answer was recorded as part of the red-carpet questioning.
David Hasselhoff
David Hasselhoff arrived in typically expansive form and moved between discussing the event, his television work and the people around him.
Scott treated the appearance as another instalment in the programme’s long-running relationship with “the Hoff”.
Scouting for Girls
Scouting for Girls were attending their first BRIT Awards and had become lost while trying to find the correct entrance.
They were nominated for British Single, Breakthrough Act and British Live Act but tried to appear realistic about their chances.
They were more interested in the free bar, the cheese board and seeing U2 perform.
Pet Shop Boys
Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe were receiving the Outstanding Contribution to Music award, 25 years after the first version of West End Girls.
They had prepared a medley containing 14 songs and two surprise guest performers, one male and one female.
The pair recalled previous BRITs appearances with Dusty Springfield, choirs and David Bowie. They also joked about seeing Jason Orange backstage and described him as extremely orange.
Other guests
The archive also includes interviews with Jason Orange, Joe Calzaghe, Greg James, Matt James, Will Young and others.
Will Young discussed his Best British Male nomination before the conversation was disrupted by David Hasselhoff, who became interested in writing songs for his daughters.
The handovers and links show Scott and Edith moving between the ceremony, red carpet and backstage area throughout the broadcast.
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