MUMBAI: After going home empty handed from the Grammy awards earlier this month, Ed Sheeran finally took home two coveted awards at this year’s BRIT Awards. The 24 year old singer songwriter won the British Male Solo Artist after facing stiff competition from George Ezra, Paolo Nutini, Damon Albarn and four-time Grammy winner Sam Smith.
Sheeran also won Best British Album for the chart topping 2014 release ‘X’. He beat out competition from Sam Smith’s ‘In the Lonely Hour’ George Ezra’s ‘Wanted on Voyage’, Alt-J’s ‘This is All Your’ and Royal Blood’s debut self titled release. In his acceptance speech, Sheeran stated that he was worried about the album, which took a long time to make. “It’s been a very good year for British music. It’s not the statue that gives us credit, it’s the sales and the tickets,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sam Smith won two awards out of his five nominations for Best Breakthrough Artist and Global Success Award. This gives him a total of three BRIT awards, considering he won the Critics’ Choice award last year.
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Paloma Faith took the award for British Female Solo Artist, winning against Lily Allen, FKA Twigs, Ella Henderson and Jessie Ware. Newcomers Royal Blood won for British Group, beating out competition from Coldplay, One Direction, Clean Bandit and Alt-J. However, teen pop sensation- One Direction did manage to take home one award on the night. The five-piece won British Video for their track ‘You and I’, but unfortunately were not around to collect it. In their stead, music mogul, Simon Cowell accepted the gong.
Other winners on the night were Mark Ronson whose ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars won Best Single, while James Bay took the Critics’ Choice Award and Paul Epworth won for British Producer.
The BRIT Awards also handed out gongs to artists from the other side of the Atlantic. Taylor Swift, who opened the show with a performance of her hit track ‘Blank Space’, won for International Female Solo Artist. It was her first BRIT, despite playing in the UK for the last eight years; something she highlighted in her acceptance speech. Pharrell Williams was named International Male Solo Artist and rock band the Foo Fighters won International Group, but both were absent from the award ceremony.
Apart from Swift, there were also performances by a number of artists including Take That, George Ezra, Kanye West, Ed Sheeran and Madonna, who took a fall during the show’s closing number. However, in true diva fashion, the 56 year old picked herself right back up and continued the performance of her latest track ‘Living For Love’. She later addressed the mishap saying she was fine.
