James Corden braves his last Brits

Dubai: There are tough gigs, and there are rough gigs. But according to James Corden, there are few trickier gigs than compering the Brit awards. The comedian and actor is to take on the music industry crowd again at Wednesday’s ceremony in London’s O2 Arena, but he has announced this will be the last time.

Although he is known for his confidence, Corden, 35, admits that hosting the awards night, which he will be doing for a record fifth time, still terrifies him. “I find it really nerve-racking. It’s the most nervous I ever am in my life,” he told Jonathan Ross on a chatshow on Saturday night, adding: “You just think: ‘Don’t ruin your career tonight. Just don’t say something wrong.’”

But is the event now anything but a staged pantomime representation of rebellious youth culture, as its many critics claim? It has certainly tripped up several presenters and created some infamous scenes.

In 1989, Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac and former model Samantha Fox were caught out by a stuttering autocue. In 1996, Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker staged a lewd intervention during Michael Jackson’s performance of Earth Song. In 1998, the jolly anarchist group Chumbawamba went down in the annals of silly antics when one of them poured iced water over the deputy prime minister, John Prescott.

Corden has had his own controversial moments. Most notorious was an unfortunate incident in 2012 when Corden had to interrupt Adele, winner of the best album prize that year, midway through her acceptance speech so that Blur could perform. The next year, Corden referred to the incident in his patter: “There’s a global superstar who was once interrupted at an awards ceremony. Well, let me tell you, that never happens here. Not on my watch — any more.”

Adele treatment

On Saturday night, Ross asked Corden whether he still winced at the thought of his treatment of Adele. “She was incredibly sweet and understanding,” Corden said. “It’s a hard call to make, is the truth. It was just a shame that something like that should happen. For me, it was just horrible.”

Yet, Corden’s view of the event as a potential minefield for even the most experienced presenter is at odds with widespread attitudes to the awards. In recent years, the dominance of established boy bands, female soloists and veteran stars in the nominations has led indie music fans to accuse the Brits of losing contact with its roots.

Whether or not the Brits manages to regain its credibility and edge, there is evidence in the 2014 nominations that the youth may be stirring at last. Not only do British Phonographic Industry figures out this month suggest that rock albums are back — with Bastille, Arctic Monkeys and Jake Bugg all big last year — but younger artists now dominate the nominations.

The shift may be hard to spot, however, because of the presence of David Bowie, who is nominated in two categories, 30 years since his first win and 10 since his last nomination. The 67-year-old is favourite to win the best British male award, despite challenges from Mercury award-winner James Blake, John Newman and singer-songwriters Bugg and Tom Odell.

Since recent hits from former Take That colleagues Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow came too late for the Brits, the only other representatives of the “dinosaur club” are Arctic Monkeys, and they have only been around since 2006.

Katy Perry in the running

Bastille have received four nominations, though admittedly they are far from being a guitar band. Fast-rising electronic duo Disclosure also have four. Soul ensemble Rudimental have three, as does Ellie Goulding, aged 27. Katy Perry, 29, is up for best international female and will be performing on the night.

The youth quotient gets a boost from perhaps the surest bet of the night: One Direction. Thanks to their high sales, the boy band are a shoo-in for the global success award and may win the audience vote awards for best single and best British video.

As with all trends, pop music fashions swing around every few years. But with an audience of fresh-faced youngsters in front of him, it is hard to see why Corden expects to feel so frightened.

Perhaps, as he suggested to Ross, his decision to step down from the show after this year is a response to this new, youthful landscape. “I feel like, as a show, it should always be young and fresh,” he said. “As an event, it doesn’t benefit from someone doing it the same every year. There’s lots of award shows that do, but this isn’t one.”