BRIT Awards hit London
February 21, 2013
Britain's biggest night in music, the annual BRIT Awards, were celebrated in the O2 Arena in London Wednesday evening, hosted by comedian James Corden. This year's colorfully dotted statuette awards, designed by Damien Hirst, were doled out to the best in the business.
Best album winner Emeli Sande, 25, also picked up the best British female artist accolade. International audiences may remember the Scottish singer from her performances during the Olympics opening and closing ceremonies last summer in London.
"I think I'm a very unlikely pop star," Sande told the audience on receiving the best album prize.
"This is an album I wrote because I didn't have the confidence to sing these things in person. This is a dream, really, so thank you for this year and thank you for this award. I'm so grateful."#video#
Sande, who also won Britain's best-selling album in 2012, beat out albums by Mumford & Sons, Alt-J, Paloma Faith and Plan B.
Other multiple winners included singer-songwriter Ben Howard, who took home best British breakthrough act and British male solo.
American R&B singer Frank Ocean took home the international male solo artist prize beating out Bruce Springsteen and Jack White.
Adele won yet another accolade for her James Bond theme song "Skyfall" taking home best single.
American singer Lana Del Rey snagged the international female award, while Coldplay topped The Rolling Stones to win the best live act prize.
Stars take to the stage
The nights live musical acts included a rousing opener from rockers Muse with their song "Supremacy," complete with fireworks and a full orchestra.
British boy band One Direction took to the stage to sing charity single "One Way Or Another," which has reached No. 1 in 60 countries.
In recognition of that international accomplishment, they were honored with the BRITs global success award.
Robbie Williams, who has won a record-breaking 12 BRIT Awards as a solo artist, sang "Candy," and Mumford & Sons, winners of the British group award, performed "I Will Wait."
Despite the glitzy ceremony, overall British album sales fell 11.2 percent to 100.5 million in 2012, despite a rise of nearly 15 percent in digital album sales, according to official figures.
hc/ccp (Reuters, AFP)