12,000 feast on the best of British

Radio 1Xtra Live, Sheffield Arena, by Dawn Marsden
IT remains a mystery why Sheffield was chosen to host the biggest RnB event of the year but the lucky 12,000 that managed to get their hands on a ticket didn’t seem to give the venue a second thought.

Music lovers flocked from all four corners of the country to see the likes of Dizzee Rascal, JLS, Tinchy Stryder and Taio Cruz take to the stage.

All acts on the bill are UK born and bred bringing home the fact that our country has a great knack of producing top quality talent.

While some of the performers used their 15 minutes on stage to plug their latest album (Jay Sean and Chipmunk) others simply did what they do best and gave the eager crowd a smattering of their best known tracks.

Famous faces from the Radio 1Xtra studio — such as Trevor Nelson and Tim Westwood — filled in the awkward bits between performances, whipping the audience into a frenzy by telling us what still was to come.

The newest line up of the Sugababes — the only girls on the bill — proved that sometimes, looks can get you much further than talent when they screeched their way through “Get Sexy”.

Chart toppers Tinchy Stryder and Taio Cruz proved that skill wins out by giving blinding performances of their favourite hits.

From audience reaction, it would seem that X Factor finalists JLS were the most popular act on the bill. But it was headliner Dizzee Rascal that really brought the Arena to a standstill.

DM