Saturday 24 May 2008

Winehouse to perform at tonight's Brit Awards

The stars have been getting ready for tonight's Brit Awards, the biggest night in the UK music calendar.
Paul McCartney, Amy Winehouse, Kylie Minogue, Leona Lewis and Mark Ronson will all perform at the Earls Court event, which will be televised live.
McCartney, who will receive an Outstanding Contribution to Music Award, rehearsed his set yesterday.
Take That are expected to seal their triumphant comeback with a gong after scooping four nominations. 'X Factor' winner Lewis and flamboyant singer-songwriter Mika are up for the same number of awards.
Arctic Monkeys, uber-producer and performer Ronson, Kaiser Chiefs and Kate Nash are up for three awards each.
The show will be hosed by Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne and will go out live on UTV. The couple will sit on thrones surrounded by two giant sculptures of dogs and a totem pole featuring a skull and gigantic bat, a reminder of Ozzy's infamous bat-eating incident.
This year's Brits will feature a "glam" stage with gold drapes and a punk stage adorned with a ripped Union Jack.
'Doctor Who' star David Tennant, actor Ian McKellen, Gossip singer Beth Ditto, and 'Bionic Woman' star Michelle Ryan are among the guest presenters.
Five times Grammy award-winner Winehouse is preparing to perform two numbers following her latest stay in rehab.
One of the songs will be 'Valerie', as part of a medley with Ronson, Adele and Daniel Merriweather.
But Winehouse has only one nomination - for her cover of The Zutons' 'Valerie' with Ronson - which is in the running for Best British Single.
'Back to Black', the biggest selling album of 2007, does not qualify because it was released in 2006.
Minogue is hoping to win Best International Female and Best International Album.
Arctic Monkeys are up for Best British Group and Best British Album.
Lewis will do battle for the Best British Female crown with Kate Nash, KT Tunstall, PJ Harvey and Bat for Lashes.
With Girls Aloud up for Best British Group, Cheryl Cole is set to make her first public appearance on home soil since travelling to Thailand to reportedly consider the future of her marriage to Ashley Cole.
Minogue is to present ex-Beatle McCartney with his special award, before he performs a medley of hits at the ceremony which is expected to be broadcast with a 30-second time delay.