Bravo to Bravo!

Happy days might be here again, boys and girls, for, finally, after years and years of award shows (including my beloved Oscars presentation) horrendously ruined by misplaced priorities, which resulted in sad, shortened acceptance speeches and dreaded get-off-the-stage-already music, Bravo has given us a genuinely FUN affair, made even more fun by the perfect casting of Kathy Griffin as host. Yes, the first-ever A-List Awards took place last night on my new favorite network, and it was a pleasure from beginning to end.

Griffin started the proceedings off with a hilariously arch musical number, befitting her take-no-prisoners style, in the middle of which she stopped the pianist who was accompanying her, walked closer to the stage lip and delivered some delightfully caustic observations, before going back and finishing the song - which featured a prolific and brilliant use of the B-word - to wild applause. She then treated us to an onstage costume change, which was very funny and perfectly timed.

The Awards themselves were creative and fun; a lot of them were based on the network's most successful reality-type shows - Project Runway and Top Chef, my personal favorites, were brilliantly featured, to my delight, the high point for me being a fashion show near the end, where some of the previous contestants from Project Runway had designed an outfit for several celebrities, including Griffin, who looked gorgeous in her gown. This feature rocked, it was carried off with breezy panache and style (no pun intended), just like the rest of the show. Can't wait for next year's.