Adele conquers Brit Awards

I never cease to marvel at singers who can simply stand on stage and sing. No dancers surround them. They wear no flashy, skimpy costumes. No busy screens with assorted videos around. No eye-popping pyrotechnics or whatever gimmick from time to time. But they still manage to hold an audience enthralled by the sheer power of their performance. They just sing and they give an enjoyable, satisfying show. This breed of singers has become a rarity in the charts these days. Really almost a dying breed, until Adele came along. 

It looks like a lot of people have also missed real singing given how AdeIe, who is only 23 years old, is now being celebrated everywhere. Barely a week after she went home with six Grammy Awards including Album of the Year, here she is again, dominating the Brit Music Awards held last Feb. 21 at the 02 Arena in London. Adele won the main prize, the British Album of the Year award for the phenomenal selling 21 and was herself named British Female Solo Artist. She was not qualified for most of the other awards. Had she been, I am sure she would have won more.

Why is fame such as this happening to Adele? She does have a voice of very rare quality. She is a gifted songwriter with a feel for words that flow and melodies that stay in your head. Most of all people like her. I confirmed all these while watching the video release Adele, Live at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The performance, a crowning achievement in Adele’s career, happened last Sept. 22, 2011. The full-length concert is now available on DVD and comes with behind-the-scenes footage and a CD also containing the whole show. The album also comes with a booklet of gorgeous black and white photographs of Adele with a sweet retro feel. Love it.

The blurb on the album cover called the concert, “a dream come true moment and a highlight of her record-breaking year with 21.”And it was indeed. Nobody gets to do a solo show at the Royal Albert unless they have really made it big. Adele has. And how the audience loved her. They were hanging on to her every song, singing along to the familiar melodies, truly enjoying the show. It was almost palpable, the exchange of positive energy between artist and audience. And all that Adele did was sing wearing a black lace, high-neck, long-sleeved party dress that could have come from the ’50s era.  

Her third album release after 19 and 21, Adele Live At The Royal Albert Hall is a real gem and the closest we can come to watching Adele live unless she decides to go on tour again. Big winners of the show are the current hits Someone Like You and Rolling In The Deep. But I also enjoyed rediscovering the older songs and realizing how good they are — Turning Tables, Don’t You Remember, Chasing Pavements and Hometown Glory. It is obvious that Adele wrote these from the heart with no thought about prevailing trends or popular formulae. That is why she smashed through all those other hits and soared to the top.

Also included are I’ll Be Waiting, Set Fire To The Rain, My Same, Take It All, Rumor Has It, Right As Rain and One And Only. And if you have all along been thinking that Adele is only good singing her own compositions, then you should listen to her covers. This girl really has impeccable music tastes. See how varied but also how ideal for her are her choices. The bluesy I Can’t Make You Love Me; a country song If It Hadn’t Been For Love; the Cure’s Lovesong; and Make You Feel My Love by Bob Dylan. Adele’s version of the latter is absolutely to die for.

Speaking of the Brits, here are the other winners of the UK’s most important music awards: British Male Solo Artist, Ed Sheeran; British Breakthrough Act, Ed Sheeran; British Group, Coldplay; British Single, What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction; International Male Solo Artist, Bruno Mars; International Female Solo Artist, Rihanna; International Group, Foo Fighters; International Breakthrough Act, Lana del Rey; and Outstanding Contribution to Music, the rock band Blur.