Dua Lipa, Calvin Harris and the 1975 were among the big winners at Wednesday night’s Brit Awards, taking home the Best British Single (for Harris and Lipa’s “One Kiss”), Album of the Year (for The 1975’s “Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships”) as well as Best British Group (the 1975).
The show that livestreamed from London’s O2 Arena featured plenty of non-English talent. It is basically the U.K.’s version of the Grammys, where Little Mix, the 1975, George Ezra and Tom Walker are superstars and Jay and Beyonce and Drake and Ariana are relegated to the “international” categories.
The evening featured eye-popping performances from Little Mix, Harris — who was joined by both Sam Smith and Lipa — and not least Hugh Jackman, who opened the show with a “Greatest Showman” bit.
There were also comparatively low-key performances from sultry R&B singer Jorja Smith and a duet between Jess Glynne and H.E.R. on Glynne’s song “Thursday” (which revolves around the lyric “I just want to feel beautiful”) that featured dozens of women clad in white removing makeup.
Later in the show, Best British Album winners the 1975 recreated the walking-down-the-street vibe of their video for “Sincerity Is Scary,”
and Pink — winner of the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award, presented by labelmate Khalid — closed the evening with a career-spanning medley of her hits that featured pyrotechnics, waterworks, dozens of dancers and, of course, the singer descending from the arena’s ceiling on a trapeze.
There was also an entertaining pre-recorded acceptance speech from Jay and Beyonce, a loose re-creation of their “Apesh—“ video.