Brit awards - as it happened: Pink closes ceremony as The 1975 win Best Album award

Ceremony included performances by The 1975, Dua Lipa, Calvin Harris, Little Mix, Jorja Smith and George Ezra

Brit awards 2019: Hugh jackman performs greatest showman

The Brit Awards began with a mind-boggling performance from Hugh Jackman performing a song from The Greatest Showman and closed with two vibrant shows with The 1975 and Pink.

The 1975 picked up two of the biggest awards of the night, for Best British Group and Best Album, for their latest LP A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships.

Jorja Smith, George Ezra, The 1975, Little Mix and The Carters (Beyonce and Jay Z) all picked up awards, and the audience was been treated to some vibrant, superbly choreographed performances from Little Mix and Ms Banks, Dua Lipa with Calvin Harris, and a stripped-down, moving show from Jorja Smith.

The 1975 made a powerful speech as they accepted the award for Best British Group, quoting Guardian deputy music editor Laura Snapes who wrote in a recent article: "Male misogynist acts are examined for nuance and defended as traits of ‘difficult’ artists, [while] women and those who call them out are treated as hysterics who don’t understand art," in reference to the recent allegations about Ryan Adams.

This year’s set of nominations was largely female-led, with more women acts than men up for awards in the Best Single, Video, Breakthrough and Album categories.

There appeared to be more of an attempt to acknowledge genres other than rock and pop, reflected in nods for rapper Giggs, R&B singers Jorja Smith and Ella Mai, electronic artist Aphex Twin and jazz musician Kamasi Washington.

“I think the Brits are very aware that things needed to improve, and I’ve seen a purposeful change in who’s chucked into the ring [over the past few years],”Amfo told The Independent. “Across genres, across gender lines… clearly it’s a very female-led year, which I’m very happy about.

"Women have been making great music, we’ve been loud, and I’m glad that’s being acknowledged."

The liveblog has now closed

See all of our Brits 2019 coverage here.