Brit awards - as it happened: Pink closes ceremony as The 1975 win Best Album award
Ceremony included performances by The 1975, Dua Lipa, Calvin Harris, Little Mix, Jorja Smith and George Ezra
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Your support makes all the difference.The Brit Awards began with a mind-boggling performance from Hugh Jackman performing a song from The Greatest Showman and closed with two vibrant shows with The 1975 and Pink.
The 1975 picked up two of the biggest awards of the night, for Best British Group and Best Album, for their latest LP A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships.
Jorja Smith, George Ezra, The 1975, Little Mix and The Carters (Beyonce and Jay Z) all picked up awards, and the audience was been treated to some vibrant, superbly choreographed performances from Little Mix and Ms Banks, Dua Lipa with Calvin Harris, and a stripped-down, moving show from Jorja Smith.
The 1975 made a powerful speech as they accepted the award for Best British Group, quoting Guardian deputy music editor Laura Snapes who wrote in a recent article: "Male misogynist acts are examined for nuance and defended as traits of ‘difficult’ artists, [while] women and those who call them out are treated as hysterics who don’t understand art," in reference to the recent allegations about Ryan Adams.
This year’s set of nominations was largely female-led, with more women acts than men up for awards in the Best Single, Video, Breakthrough and Album categories.
There appeared to be more of an attempt to acknowledge genres other than rock and pop, reflected in nods for rapper Giggs, R&B singers Jorja Smith and Ella Mai, electronic artist Aphex Twin and jazz musician Kamasi Washington.
“I think the Brits are very aware that things needed to improve, and I’ve seen a purposeful change in who’s chucked into the ring [over the past few years],”Amfo told The Independent. “Across genres, across gender lines… clearly it’s a very female-led year, which I’m very happy about.
"Women have been making great music, we’ve been loud, and I’m glad that’s being acknowledged."
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See all of our Brits 2019 coverage here.
We're up to the award for Best British Video, which goes to....
LITTLE MIX! For "Woman Like Me"
This one was fan voted so it's not really a surprise that the biggest girl group on the planet won. But they are great.
Here's a reminder of that ridiculous acceptance speech from Jay Z and Beyonce
Right, we're onto the nominations for Best British Single, which has quite a few bops on it.
But there can only be one winner, and that is...
CALVIN HARRIS with DUA LIPA on "ONE KISS".
Like I said, song of the summer, song of the year.
Jack Whitehall just did the best rip of Piers Morgan and I'm still reeling.
For the uninitiated, Piers Morgan is not a fan of Little Mix, being that he is a dinosaur who thinks that feminism still means burning your bra and hating ALL MEN. So when Little Mix did their video for "Strip" where they wrote all the abuse they get as female pop artists on their bodies, he wasn't happy.
"Voluptuous breasts, four chins, must have been like looking in a mirror."
Standing ovation for Jack Whitehall, please.
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