Brits 2022: Six biggest talking points, from Anne-Marie’s fall to Adele’s triumph

Ceremony attended by stars including Adele, Ed Sheeran, Liam Gallagher and Maya Jama took place at the O2 Arena

Adele wins Album of the Year at the Brit Awards

The annual Brit Awards ceremony took place at the O2 Arena in London tonight (Tuesday 8 February).

Some of the biggest names in music attended, including Ed Sheeran and Adele, who scooped prizes for Songwriter of the Year and Artist of the Year, respectively.

Mo Gilligan served as this year’s host, taking over from Jack Whitehall who presented the awards for the past four consecutive years.

There was drama early on in the night, as pop singer Anne-Marie took a tumble during the first moments of her performance.

Here are the biggest talking points from the night:

Anne-Marie takes a tumble

It didn’t get off to a great start for the “Alarm” singer. Just seconds into her performance of “Don’t Play”, she lost her footing walking down some stairs and twisted awkwardly to the floor to the gasp of the crowd. She never let it phase her and carried on singing throughout the floor and the crowd roared her back to her feet. She later joked on Twitter that she “didn’t need my left ankle anyway”. It wouldn’t be the Brits without something going awry.

Mo Gilligan is a fine if subdued host

Replacing Jack Whitehall, Mo Gilligan was always given a daunting task and struggled to put his own signature stamp on the ceremony. Whereas Whitehall was able to needle the stars with a degree of self-awareness, Gilligan played it safe. He made sure everything ran smoothly at the notoriously boozy do – but a little bit of anarchy wouldn’t have hurt. His high point was a spot-on impression of Liam Gallagher, complete with parka.

Adele is still Queen of the Brits

(ITV)

It’s as though she never went away. Just minutes into the event and Adele picked up the gong for Song of the Year. She kept the speech uncharacteristically short, but did manage to squeeze in a few jokes. “I can’t believe a piano ballad beat all those bangers,” she cracked, as she overcame the likes of Elton John, Dua Lipa and KSI to win the award. She reappeared later in the night for a beautifully heartfelt performance of “I Drink Wine” that brought the crowd to an awed silence, before also going home with Artist of the Year and Album of the Year.

Ed Sheeran collaborates with Bring Me the Horizon

Tasked with opening the show, Sheeran had a trick up his sleeve from the start, performing alongside emo rockers Bring Me the Horizon with frontman Oli Sykes joining him on vocals for a duet of “Bad Habits”. Accompanied by a menagerie of circus performers – including acrobats and trapeze artists – the two acts put a heavier spin on Sheeran’s synth-inspired hit. The collaboration went down pretty well online, with one fan tweeting: “Ed Sheeran and Bring Me the Horizon is a mix I did not know I needed.”

Little Simz triumphs in her Brits debut

(AFP via Getty Images)

Picking up Best New Artist despite releasing her debut album seven years ago, it was a night to remember for Little Simz as she accepted her first Brit award alongside her beaming mother. “Look at what you’ve done, mum,” she says as she holds the award aloft. It was a victory for perseverance and self-belief and remarkable talent. Earlier in the night, Simz ignited the ceremony with a gripping performance of “Introvert”, which included a little help from The Crown star Emma Corrin who narrated a spoken word interlude.

The presenters are an odd bunch

A couple of Cox’s (Brian and Courteney), Mo Farah and Doctor Who herself, Jodie Whittaker all somehow ended up presenting awards at the Brits. Most surprising of all was Logan Roy himself turning up to present Ed Sheeran with his Songwriter of the Year award. The Succession star suavely strut across the stage much to the delight and bewilderment of the audience – the only let down was that he didn’t give Sheeran a hurling of Roy’s famous catchphrase.

Adele is engaged?

While everyone’s attention was focused mostly on the music, fans couldn’t help but spot a new addition to Adele’s jewellery collection. Sporting an impossible to ignore diamond ring on a certain finger, social media quickly went ablaze with speculation that the “Easy on Me” singer had gotten engaged to her boyfriend, sports agent, Rich Paul.

The liveblog is now closed. See the full list of winners here.

Brit Awards 2022 talking points

• Why did the Brits ditch gender-based awards categories this year?
• See the full list of winners as they’re updated live

[8 February 2022 15:25 · Roisin O'Connor]

Brit Awards 2022 – let’s go!

Hello and welcome to The Independent’s liveblog for the Brit Awards 2022!

We’ll be guiding you through tonight’s proceedings, offering live updates, commentary, pictures, video and more as the evening unfolds.

For now, here’s everything you need to know before things kick off at the O2 Arena in London!

[8 February 2022 16:02 · Roisin O'Connor]

Who’s going to win at the Brit Awards 2022?

Of course, we’re all wondering who’s going to walk away with the top prizes at the Brits this year. While we can’t know for sure, I took a stab at guessing the most likely winners.

[8 February 2022 16:22 · Roisin O'Connor]

Mo Gilligan ‘extremely excited’ about Adele’s performance at the Brit Awards tonight

Here’s Mo Gilligan being very excited about Adele performing at the Brit Awards tonight

[8 February 2022 16:30 · Roisin O'Connor]

Watch live as stars arrive at London's O2 ahead of the Brit Awards

[8 February 2022 16:39 · Roisin O'Connor]

Stars are arriving on the red carpet... Maya Jama has come as Cher!

Maya Jama emulates Cher on the Brits red carpet (Getty)

[8 February 2022 16:42 · Roisin O'Connor]

Why isn’t Jack Whitehall hosting the Brits this year?

Jack Whitehall fans might be disappointed to learn that the perennially posh comedian isn’t hosting the Brits this year. But don’t worry! Stepping into his shoes is the brilliant Mo Gilligan, who’s bound to do just as good (maybe even better?!) a job as Whitehall.

Here’s what both comedians had to say about the switcharound:

[8 February 2022 16:49 · Roisin O'Connor]

Ed Sheeran has landed!

(YouTube)

[8 February 2022 17:10 · Roisin O'Connor]

A reminder that this year’s set of nominations includes the biggest number of women or female-fronted acts in over a decade, suggesting that the recent scrapping of gender-based awards categories has not negatively impacted representation.

Among the female and female-fronted acts nominated this year are groups Little Mix, Wolf Alice and London Grammar, rappers Little Simz and Doja Cat, and singers Adele, Dua Lipa, Joy Crookes, Griff and Self Esteem.

Grime, rap and hip-hop artists have also fared well in this year’s set of nominations, with nods for Little Simz, Ghetts, AJ Tracey, Dave and newcomer Central Cee.

Adele, Sheeran, Little Simz and Dave all have four nods apiece, while singer-songwriter Sam Fender, Central Cee and producer David Guetta are up for three awards each.

[8 February 2022 17:23 · Roisin O'Connor]

See the nominations in full here

[8 February 2022 17:28 · Roisin O'Connor]

Maya Jama pays homage to Cher with Brits outfit