Brits go Brat as Charli XCX wins five awards

The Brit Awards belonged to Charli XCX on Saturday night, who completed her transformation from underground hero to bona fide pop star by winning five awards including best artist and song of the year.

Ezra Collective, Sam Fender, Stormzy and The Last Dinner Party were the other big British winners on Saturday night, while Fontaines DC and Chappell Roan bagged the international awards.

The night also included a memorable, blush-inducing performance from US pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter, who was handed the global success award at London’s O2 Arena.

The arena fell silent near the end of the show for a moving video tribute to the late Liam Payne, who died last October.

Despite not performing, Charli XCX stole the show by winning the biggest awards of the night – artist of the year, album of the year for her cultural phenomenon Brat, and song of the year for Guess.

“This is cool, I’m really happy that a song about underwear now has a Brit award, very important stuff”, said Charli, dryly, on stage after collecting her first award.

“I’m sure that that proves something about songwriting but I’m not sure what.”

She went on to thank Eilish – the first non-Brit to appear on a best song-winner – for her guest vocals on Guess which she delivered at just three days notice. “Thank you Billie for running and gunning…”

The 32-year-old from Essex also picked up the best dance act and songwriter of the year awards.