Adele: Queen of Brit Awards 2012

The Brit Awards celebrated the best and biggest music stars from the UK and beyond at a ceremony at the London O2 on Tuesday night.

Adele took away the best Female Solo Artist and British Album of the Year, while Ed Sheeran – who led the nominations – was awarded Best British Male and the British Breakthrough Act.

Coldplay were crowned best British Group, as voted for by the listeners of BBC Radio 2, and One Direction won best single for What Makes You Beautiful.

US pop star Bruno Mars picked up best International Male, while Rihanna was awarded best International Female and the Foo Fighters won best International Group.

The awards in Greenwich will be remembered also for Adele giving organisers the finger, after host James Corden cut short her acceptance speech without letting her saying thank you to her fans.

The singer from Tottenham had just said: “Nothing makes me prouder than coming here with six Grammys… I’m so proud to be British and flying the flag”, when Corden cut her off mid-flow to introduce Blur’s performance.

Adele responded by sticking her middle finger up at the crowd, but later apologised. Corden admitted to being “upset” by what happened and speaking after the show said: “I don’t understand quite why I was made to [cut her short].”

ITV issued a statement, saying: “The Brits is a live event. Unfortunately the programme was over-running and we had to move on. We would like to apologise to Adele for the interruption.”

Apart from that incident, Adele’s triumphant return after a delicate operation celebrates an incredible year. The singer’s global success has been generated by a break-up album that runs through all five stages of grief, from the fist-thumping fury of Rolling In The Deep to the agonised acceptance of Someone Like You.

Her voice, a powerhouse of sheer conviction that rips up the ground like a hurricane, managed to beat Jessie J, Florence & The Machine, Kate Bush and last year’s winner Laura Marling.

Adele’s 21 also beat Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto, Florence & The Machine’s Ceremonials, PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake and Ed Sheeran’s + to the best British Album award.

Annalisa Ratti

Watch the amazing opening performance from Coldplay here: