On Sunday I accompanied my daughter to the Children's Baftas. We were expecting a jolly children's event but it was a very odd evening, and one that had most definitely not been devised for children. There were no games, no toys - and few children. The champagne-fuelled crowd was a peculiar mixture of middle-aged executives, harried creatives and young - in some cases very young - girls.

The amount of dewy, barely pubescent flesh on display was striking. Poured into tiny dresses, adorned with sequins, coiffed, buffed and made-up to perfection, they twinkled for cameras and guests alike, their unlined faces a marked contrast to the craggy majority.

It was one of the most disturbing events I have attended (and I've seen a few, believe me). From Keith Chegwin's inappropriate jokes to the breathless gyrations of the “hot” new girl band, the Saturdays, there was an unmistakable whiff of sleaze.

The scene was especially telling as I had also watched Britney Spears on The X Factor. Here is a woman, only 27, who in the past year suffered a public mental breakdown. Yet there she was, in hotpants and fishnets, on stage in front of screaming fans. It was intended as a PR triumph; but the cracks showed. Her dance routine was perfunctory, her eyes dead, her lyrics mimed.

There is no reason why Spears should be on stage - except that an industry grown fat on her work is unwilling to tighten its belt. She ought to be lying in a darkened room, or at least enjoying the money she's danced so hard to earn; instead, she's being wheeled around Europe like an organ-grinder's monkey.

Clearly, Britney's “people” (who include her father) think there's life in the old girl yet; but what will be left when she finally grinds to a halt?

At the Baftas, I sat next to a very beautiful, very sweet and very young girl: Selina Gomez, the 16-year-old star of the Disney Channel's The Wizards of Waverley Place. She, too, has musical ambitions - or at least those around her do. In the video for her song Tell Me Something she wears what can only be described as a fantasy French maid's outfit, dancing provocatively around a broom.

It recalls another video from ten years ago, in which a fresh-faced girl strutted for the cameras. She was older - 17 - and the get-up slightly different (fantasy schoolwear not fantasy maidwear), but the aim was the same: to employ an explosive combination of sex and extreme female youth to sell records.

I am no puritan. But as I watched Ms Gomez sashay on stage in heels and cocktail frock, I couldn't help wondering where she will be in ten years. I hope for her sake that she is not half as “successful” as Britney.

Times Recommends

• Nerdy cafés no longer maid in heaven
• Cameron will not break marriage vow
• Avatar will make the case on climate