Emeli Sandé's unstoppable rise compounded by two Ivor Novello awards

Emeli Sandé was not present at last night's Ivor Novello awards to collect her two prizes (Getty Images)

An invitation from the White House robbed Emeli Sande of the chance to celebrate the latest mark of her success last night in an unstoppable rise to the front ranks of British female singers.

The Scottish singer-songwriter's "Next To Me" single won both the best song and most performed work categories at Britain's 58th Ivor Novello awards for songwriting, putting her on a par with some of Britain's biggest music names.

Her co-writers accepting the award for her said she was in the United States, preparing to perform for President Barack Obama and talent show American Idol, signs she is set for more success in the US market.

"I spoke to Emeli yesterday and she is just preparing herself for performing at the White House," said Anup Paul, one of three co-writers accepting the award at the ceremony in London.

Sande, who performed on a global stage at the opening ceremony of the London 2102 Olympics, tweeted her excitement from the United States.

"Woke up to the best news!!!!! 2 Ivor Novellos!!!!!," she wrote on Twitter. "Wish I could have been there, that would have been one excited speech!"

Gavin Rossdale, frontman of the British band Bush, who won for the Ivor for international achievement, said Sande was on the point of winning the kind of recognition that he and Grammy award-winning British singer Adele already enjoy.

"If anyone is primed for that kind of success it would be her because she's pretty amazing," Rossdale said. "Adele has done such an incredible job to open the doors."

Sande's Our Version Of Events album in February 2012 kicked off a string of successes including her inclusion on the soundtrack for Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, which opened the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday.

Besides that, and her opening and closing Olympic performances last year, Sande won two BRIT awards this year and smashed a chart record held by the Beatles for nearly 50 years.

Oasis founder Noel Gallagher was presented the outstanding song collection by Coldplay singer Chris Martin.

"It's great because it's for the thing that I do by myself," Gallagher said. "It's about the nuts and bolts."

Scottish DJ, singer and songwriter Calvin Harris won the songwriter of the year award that went to Adele last year and to rapper Plan B in 2011.

Other winners included Leeds-based indie rock quartet Alt-J for their album An Awesome Wave; indie rock band The Maccabees won best contemporary song for Pelican; Moody Blues singer Justin Hayward won for outstanding achievement and U.S. singer-songwriter Randy Newman was given a special international award.

The Ivor Novello Awards are presented by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and are regarded as the most important awards for British music writers.

Reuters