BRILLIANT OR BORING? FOR THE BRITS; DUFFY'S LONG AND WINDING ROAD TO 'OVERNIGHT SUCCESS' STORY.

Byline: By Melanie Harvey Features Editor

TAKE THAT on a spaceship looking like sexy school nerds, the divine Duffy giving a breathless rendition of Warwick Avenue and the Pet Shop Boys bringing a finale of pure high camp - for me it was a classic Brits.

Hosts James Cordon and Mathew Horne might have been a bit safe.

But when you saw them bopping at the side of the stage to West End Girls you knew they were having a good time. And so were we the viewers.

Gone was the swearing of the Osbournes, the arrogance of the Arctic Monkeys and the attention seeking of Jarvis Cocker from years gone by.

This was the Brits for the X Factor generation.

Sleek, sexy and accomplished, it featured performances from the two bands battling it out to be the biggest act in the world this year, U2 and Coldplay.

And just in case they got a bit too big for their boots, The Killers' Brandon Flowers was there to keep them on their toes.

The Ting Tings and Estelle were the face of the moment and the old timers got their moment of glory too with Paul Weller being honoured as Best British Male and Elbow being named Best British Band after nearly 20 years in the business.

Pop was also in fine form in the shape of Girls Aloud, whose burlesque performance of The Promise was a high point.

They might not be the best singers in the world but boys want to be with them and girls want to be them.

I saw past the naff festival themed stage because I was trying to work out what Kylie has done to her face and what she would wear next.

With five costume changes during the show and another frock on the red carpet, she showed she can give the young pretenders a run for their money.

She wanted to wear 10 but show bosses thought there wouldn't be time to get the pop pixie back on stage to see Cordon pat another celeb on the bottom.

Ferne Cotton's backstage wittering aside, I think it was one of my favourite Brits.

It had everything except controversy. Personally, that suits me just fine.