There was a lot of love in the air this year at the BRIT Awards. Not between the artists and the hosts, God no!–there was hardly any of that going on between all the cracking, bitchy commentary–but rather for the audience. There was Cheryl Cole fighting for our love as only she knows how, Florence Welch delivering hers to us with the help of an unfortunate rap interlude, and yes–even Courtney Love herself.

Let us now cycle through some the best, worst, and weirdest moments of the night. Love to love you, baby!

10. In A UK State of Mind

Nothing is as epic sounding as when Jay-Z and Alicia Keys perform “Empire State of Mind” together, but watching one of the greatest modern celebrations of New York go down in Londontown felt a bit, err..off.

Then again, this may be due to Lil Mama‘s absence–you were truly missed tonight.

9. Doing it For The Adults

Host: “You’re performing a medley…doing some oldies?”

Robbie Williams: “Yeah, mostly oldies, because the new stuff’s shit.”

8. Over-saturated with Spice

At first came euphoria. Then nostalgia. Then, way too much of a good thing. It was wonderful seeing (two fifths) of the Spice Girls win their award for the “Best Performance in 30 Years” category, but it soon became clear that the producers of the show had few celebrities to help buy time between the performances aside from Mel B and Geri. Again and again, the cameras cut to one of the two, and each time, it got a bit more painful: Awkward banter about living in L.A.! Geri wishing she knew the words to a Lady Gaga song! Next time, just cut to a still frame of Victoria Beckham frowning for two minutes. Our lives would be better, I assure you.

7. JLS Wins

Twice. And no one cares (aside from the audible boos.)

6. Whoa-oh-oh, I’m on a Rocket (And Drugs!)

Lily Allen, who opted for the “Joan Collins on crack” look came in on a sadly sinking rocket while performing “The Fear,” and then it all just sort of fell to pieces from there. Dancers! And colors! And baby carriages! And now we’re stage left! And now over to the right! I don’t know what just happened, Lily’s got no clue where she is, and I think I just saw Lady Gaga and Courtney Love making out in the audience.

5. Can’t Read My Telephone Face

Looking a bit like the Bridge of Frankenstein twice dabbled in cocaine dreams, Mademoiselle Gaga indulged the audience in an acoustic version of “Telephone” (the song about getting drunk in the club was performed in tribute to Lee McQueen, interesting choice), before launching into an all-too anticipation ridden, fragmented rendition of “Dance in the Dark.”

Sadly, by the time the singer collapsed in vogue following the song’s, well, “Vogue”-esque breakdown, so too did the performance, effectively blue balling the entirety of Britain and cutting short what could have been an outrageously epic performance. Still, I loved the use of the free-standing keytar…and the towering statue of the pop star herself, of course.

Subtle, as per usual.

4. Everybody’s Starry Eyed

Ellie Goulding wins the Critic’s Choice Award! (Pictured here with producer and friend, Starsmith).

3. Lily Alkie

Lily Allen, now opting for the “Joan Collins on crack in an orange wig” look, came bumbling on stage to accept her award for British Female Solo Act. After accepting the award on stage came this moment of brilliance backstage:

Host: “How are you going to celebrate Lily?”
Lily: “I’m…uh…I don’t know. Drink, maybe.”

2. You’ve (Almost) Got the Love

Everything about Florence’s performance tonight was lovely and almost perfect: The flowing gown and fiery red hair, the spot-on vocals, the fluttering hearts that cascaded at the song’s finale. So why almost The daft choice to add Dizzee Rascal into the mix, resulting in what felt like long bursts of static disrupting a listening session of “You’ve Got The Love.” If only Dizzee wasn’t so busy buzzing around the stage like an overgrown gnat, this would have truly been the most lover-ly performance of the night.

All of my love to Florence for nabbing the most absolutely deserved “Album of the Year” award at the end of the night. I couldn’t be prouder!

1. Show Me The Love!

We’ve got the love, right here: Cheryl Cole’s showstopping performance of “Fight For This Love” was hands down the performance of the night. By the time the opening notes of Robin S‘s “Show Me Love” came sizzling in for a surprise remix (quickly followed by a flock of shirtless men) I was growing faint and Cheryl was growing even fiercer by the second. Shaking and crying, etc. etc. etc. AMAZING.

And now, the MuuMuse tweet of the night:

I don’t know who this Lady Gaga person is but he is on a ROLL tonight. #britawards

There’s more where that came from. Follow me on Twitter, Muusers!

Photos courtesy of LadyGaga.com.

Here now are the freshly posted teaser shots from Lady Gaga‘s upcoming music video for “Telephone,” featuring Beyonce.

It’s funny that Gaga has managed to come so far in establishing herself as a ‘zany’ artiste‘s pop artist that the fact that she has a bunch of telephones strapped to her head and/or created from her own hair can almost be considered a safe, if not predictable move on her part.

BASICALLY I’M SAYING I DON’T THINK IT’S KOOKY ENOUGH. She should really consider eating her own foot for this video.

I kid, I kid. An incredible production awaits us. The anticipation is building up–I can feel it. Or is that acid reflux? I can’t tell the difference anymore.

Above is Riri‘s pre-taped performance of “Rude Boy” on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the latest single off of Rated R and MuuMuse’s unofficial anthem.

Notice that with a live band, “Rude Boy” is arguably EVEN RUDER THAN THE ORIGINAL. Rihanna works the stage like it isn’t even an issue, gyrating against the nasty guitar licks and slamming drum noise like a good girl gone bad rightly should.

Even while rocking a visor, Rihanna still looks fresh to death. AMAZING.

Love this performance, love this song, love my Riri.

It’s been nearly fourteen years since she released “Un-Break My Heart,” and Toni Braxton is still searching for someone to mend her damaged organ. (No, but really, she’s a heart disease survivor. How’s that for irony?)

Above, check out Braxton’s performance of her new single, “Make My Heart” on The Wendy Williams Show. It’s not nearly in the same league as her older work, but hey…I’m just plain rooting for her.

Very high energy, very solid. Is she lip-syncing? This appears to be the case, but I don’t care. She looks great, and she’s working the stage something fierce.

Pulse will be released on May 4, though you can preview and purchase two tracks–”Make My Heart” and “Hands Tied”–off of Braxton’s official website now.

Look: I’m not an asshole. Not a heartless one anyway. If you can, I believe you should donate to the Haiti crisis, a disaster of the most immense and terrifying proportions.

That being said, so is the superstar remake of “We Are The World,” recorded as a charity single for Haiti.

I mean, for the love of GOD…to start off the track with Justin Beebop? The Jonas Brothers? Miley Cyrus?! What is this, J-14 and Friends?

I’m surprised K$$$ didn’t come swinging in with a bottle of jack to spit up a few lines before returning to her (RECORD LABEL MANUFACTURED AND ENDORSED) whimsical lifestyle of coke and excess.

Thanks be to Barbra Streisand for providing the hands-down LOLZ of the Century Award with her hilariously over-the-top emoting at the microphone (and uncanny resemblance to my 12th grade English teacher).

Shockingly, Celine manages to bottle up her crazy to a respectable degree for this video, though I suspect it has more to do with her lack of screen-time than her actual ability to subdue the inner dancing panda bear in her ear tempting her to break into the funky chicken at any moment.

As the song goes on it becomes even harder to swallow, as with the directorial decision to crop an awkward looking Janet Jackson next to her late brother as she sadly (and/or weirdly) mouths along to the chorus. Tacky? Why, that would be far too kind of a description.

Oh, and then the rapping. Dear God, the RAPPING.

Also, I love the fact that during Kanye West‘s 15 seconds of fame in the song, it looks as though Nicole Scherzinger keeps trying to sing her line, only to be repeatedly interrupted by the ego himself time and time again. LITERALLY PRICELESS.

Extra credit and love goes out to Pink, M.J. Blige and Jennifer Hudson for maintaining the natural class and dignity that this project really needed.

In the aftermath of this video, only one question remains: What would Michael say?

It seems like it’s been eons since her fabulous EP debut, but Janelle Monáe‘s debut is finally bracing for landing: The ArchAndroid, Janelle’s first full-length LP, will be released on May 18, 2010.

In honor of the announcement, Monae is releasing two new tracks for world consumption right now: “Tightrope (ft. Big Boi)” and “Cold War,” both of which can be found for download and full stream on her official website now.

While “Tightrope” is nice and all, “Cold War” is where it’s truly at. The song is an absolute killer!

In the meantime, the funky fresh cyborg princess will be embarking on a US tour in March and April. Check below to see if Janelle’s coming through your area!

MARCH
15 Washington, DC Black Cat
17 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s
18 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s
21 San Francisco, CA Café Du Nord
22 San Francisco, CA Café Du Nord
23 Los Angeles, CA The Viper Room
24 Los Angeles, CA The Viper Room
29 Chicago, IL Schubas Tavern
30 Chicago, IL Schubas Tavern
31 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater

APRIL
2 St. Andrews Detroit, MI
5 Smith’s Olde Bar Atlanta, GA
6 Smith’s Olde Bar Atlanta, GA
9 Joe’s Pub New York, NY
10 Joe’s Pub New York, NY

No more Miss Pumpkin Soup!

It sounds as though Kate Nash has let loose from her foundations to find herself an entirely new sound for her upcoming record.

“I Just Love You More” is a brand new track from the UK singer, which offers a sharp detour away from the Lily Allen-esque array of quirky pop singer/songwriting and into the rocky, rawrrring terrain of something off a Yeah Yeah Yeahs record…or even Bikini Kill.

The crashing drums, the carnal screams…why, it just makes me love her more than ever!

To hear Nash’s new sound, click here for a free download of the track. Hurry, though–it’s only available until Monday.

Nash’s sophomore effort will be released on April 16.

Photo by Sophie Muller.

Okay, Muusers. Who’s looking for a belated Valentine’s Day gift from me to you?

You’ve read the review, now make up your own mind.

MuuMuse is proud to be giving away SIX COPIES of Sade’s new album, Soldier of Love. To enter to win, drop me an e-mail at muumuse@gmail.com with the subject line “SADE” telling me your favorite Sade track.

Six entrants will be selected and notified on February 19 at 12 p.m. EST.

Good luck!