Rosalia and Björk Deliver an All-Time Great Brit Awards Performance
rosalia dominated the Brit Awards stage with a theatrical performance of Lux’s lead single Berghain, and the night grew even bigger when she won the International Artist Of The Year prize.
Rosalía brought elaborate sets and a live orchestra to the Brits, finishing a show that also featured Harry Styles, Raye and the evening’s top winner Olivia Dean. Her Lux-era melding of classical and operatic influences with hip-hop and Spanish-inflected sounds was the backbone of the performance, and it culminated in a guest turn by Björk, who delivered her Berghain verse live in an unbilled appearance and marked her first performance on the Brits stage in more than 30 years.
The award round capped the night: Rosalía received International Artist Of The Year, beating nominees Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan, Bad Bunny, Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga. Onstage she said, “I was so grateful just to be here tonight, just to perform, so this is insane, ” and added, “Let’s keep celebrating the ‘other’-ness. Let’s keep celebrating different music, different cultures and different languages. ” Jack Whitehall later heaped praise on her during a segment.
Rosalia’s Berghain staging and the Lux era
Rosalía staged Berghain with a full orchestra and elaborate production elements that emphasized the theatrical direction of Lux, the album released last year that merges operatic and classical touches with her existing sound. The single’s live arrangement put her vocals at the center of a large-scale set and drew praise from presenters and fellow performers.
Björk’s unexpected return to the Brits stage
Björk’s unbilled appearance to sing her Berghain verse was notable for being her first time on the Brits stage in more than three decades, and the collaboration with Rosalía was a late surprise in an evening already stacked with major names.
GNTM episode six: angel wings, confused contestants and weak ratings
Germany’s Next Topmodel staged an angel-wing shoot in episode six that most contestants welcomed, though some did not understand the task. The outfits—black or white wings—were meant to evoke iconic fashion imagery; Vanessa, 18, opened the episode with the line, “Ich freue mich auf das Shooting, weil ich da Face serven kann!” but appeared confused about the concept and asked, in effect, whether they were about to learn piano when handed white wings.
The season’s early ratings have been poor after three weeks, with the companion series "On & Off the Catwalk by Heidi Klum" failing to lift numbers. Heidi Klum’s family reunion segment with Leni and Henry Samuel drew 590, 000 viewers, placing the broadcast behind RTL 2; even a long-running repeat of the comedy film Wir sind die Millers outdrew the patchwork format. The show also referenced past controversial makeovers: Zoe Saip, who appeared in 2018 as a young version of Abbey Lee, was later given a forced makeover into a Dolly-Buster look and subsequently eliminated.
Nadja Auermann, Armin Morbach and the Lindbergh homage
Producers brought in Nadja Auermann and Armin Morbach as guest icons and Auermann announced, “Heute geht es um eine Hommage an Peter Lindbergh. ” Only two contestants—47-year-old Bianca and 54-year-old Ursula—recognized Lindbergh; Vanessa did not fully understand who was in front of her and summarized the concept clumsily: “Einer davon war ein Fotograf und eine ein Model, und die haben darüber gesprochen, dass ein anderer Fotograf gestorben ist und wir jetzt ein Shooting in seinem Stil machen!” Morbach took the photos while Auermann and Klum observed, and Morbach delivered a first “Jahrhunderttipp” to Bianca in the sequence.
Male models face an early restyling and tough shoots on the Spree
Heidi Klum announced an early GNTM restyling and focused on the male models in a retro-bademoden shoot on a boat on the Spree. “Ich werde heute schon mal auf das komplette Paket achten, ” she said as the male contestants posed in shorts for photographer Andreas Ortner, who worked the 1950s swimwear concept.
