BRIT Awards 2021: Dua Lipa, Coldplay and Jack Whitehall kick off ceremony at London’s O2 Arena

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The 2021 BRIT Awards marked the long-awaited return of live music on Tuesday night as Dua Lipa called for the UK government to increase salaries for key workers in the wake of the Covid pandemic.

After scooping the award for British Female Solo Artist, the Physical hitmaker demanded that the audience give Prime Minister Boris Johnson ‘a message’ that frontline staff deserved a pay rise before dedicating her prize to Dame Elizabeth Anionwu.

The ceremony, which took place at London’s O2 Arena with a limited audience as part of the government’s Covid pilot scheme, also saw Little Mix make history as the first ever girl band to win Best British Group, with the trio paying tribute to former bandmate Jesy Nelson in their speech.  

Dua certainly proved to be the star of the evening as she took to the stage with an opening medley of her hits, which began as she made her way to the O2 on the Underground at Charing Cross station. 

The hitmaker delivered a medley of her hits Physical, Pretty Please, Hallucinate and Don’t Start Now in a Union Jack inspired ensemble, after channelling Amy Winehouse with her eye-catching look on the red carpet.

It was a night to remember for Dua as she also took to the stage to accept the award for Female Solo Artist, and used the opportunity to share the prize with nurse Dame Elizabeth Anionwu.

She said: ‘This is sick, wow thank you so much, it’s such an honour to be here it’s such an honour to be back on this stage, last time when I was up accepting this award in 2018 I wanted to see more women on these stages, and I’m so proud three years later to be part of this wave of women in music. 

‘To my family and friends for all their support I’m so grateful and I feel so so licky, I think this is such an incredible invite to give another part of your award to someone and I’ve chosen my favourite British female is Dame Elizabeth Anionwu

‘She has spent her stellar nursing career fighting racial injustice she has spent so much time and is a strong advocate for protecting frontline workers, thank you. 

‘She has also sad that there is a massive disparity between love and respect for frontline workers, because we need to clap them but we need to pay them, so I think what we should do is give a massive round of applause and give Boris a message that we all support a pay rise for our frontline!’

Elsewhere, after stunning in their elegant white ensembles, Little Mix took to the stage to accept their prize for Best British Group, with Leigh-Anne Pinnock beginning: ‘We have been together for 10 years it’s been the best years of our life, we’ve had so much fun we’ve made so many memories, we want to thank your incredible fans, Jesy.

‘It’s not easy being a female in the UK pop industry, we’ve seen the misogyny, dominance and lack of diversity, we’re proud of how we’re stuck together and we’re using our voices more than ever.’

Jade added: ‘This award isn’t just for us, it’s for Spice Girls, Sugababes, All Saints, Girls Aloud, all the incredible girls bands we love you.’  

Comedian Jack Whitehall was once again tasked with hosting the awards, and as ever he didn’t disappoint with a slew of jibes and tongue-in-cheek jokes.   

These included a cheeky reference to singer Rita and her London party which breached lockdown rules back in November during a sea shanty with The Wellerman creator Nathan Evans, by singing: ‘It’s a Party Fit for Rita Ora.’

Ahead of Coldplay’s opening performance, host Jack received a grilling from the Line Of Duty duo Vicky McClure and Martin Compston about who would be kicking off the ceremony.

But despite channelling their AC-12 alter-agos, the funnyman failed to spill the beans, meaning the pair had to call in reinforcements – Handforth Parish Council’s Jackie Weaver.

Despite Jack’s insistence she ‘didn’t have the authority,’ Jackie furiously terminated their video chat, before beginning the live awards show. 

Coldplay then kicked off the show with an incredible pre-recorded performance on the River Thames of their single Higher Power from a barge in front of the O2.

Going on all out for the opening act, Coldplay opted for futuristic dancing holograms and sparkling fireworks for the showcase, which was filmed outside the O2 last month.

The performance included the use of jaw-dropping holograms, adding to the sci-fi theme after the band unveiled their new single last week by streaming it on board the Internation Space Station. 

Up first was the award for British Breakthrough Artist, awarded to Arlo Parks, who gushed that ‘dreams do come true’ after thanking her loved ones for helping encourage her to reach the prestigious honour. 

Male Solo Artist was given to J Hus, who was unable to attend to accept the award, with DJ Semtex taking to the stage in his place.

He said: ‘Shout out to AJ Tracey, Headie One, all the artist in the building tonight. I’m gonna take my time and get this right, I don’t wanna end up as a meme tomorrow.

‘I’m here today because J Hus couldn’t make it, I’m here to accept the award on behalf of J Hus. He’s an incredible artist, one of the greatest. He makes music that makes our days that little bit easier, our lives that little bit easier.

‘If he was here tonight, I know he’d want to big up his family, he’d want to big up his friends and his team. All the fans who’ve been with him from day one, I know he’d want to big up militarians worldwide.

‘If he was here tonight, he might say something like, ‘Heavy duty don’t hide the beauty’. If J Hus was here tonight, I know he would definitely say, ‘Are you stronger today than you were yesterday?’. So everybody, wherever you are right now, show some appreciation for J Hus!’ 

International Female Artist was presented to Billie Eilish, who lamented being unable to attend the occasion after her stellar performance of No Time To Die at last year’s ceremony.

She said: ‘I love you so much this is an honour, the BRITs were so magical for me last year, I can’t wait to come back, thank you.’ 

International Male Artist saw a surprise appearance from former First Lady Michelle Obama, who presented the prize to The Weeknd, just minutes after he appeared to take inspiration from the UK’s recent weather by performing in the pouring rain.

He said: ‘Thank you BRIT Awards I wish I was there to accept the award, I want to give a shout out to UK fans, if it wasn’t for them I wasn’t be standig here right now, for the people in Ethiopia who are suffering, you are in my heart.’

International Group was given to Haim, who attended the ceremony in person after spending 10 days in quarantine to accept their award.

Taking to the stage they gushed: ‘Oh my god sisters! This is incredible, this is INCREDIBLE, well I mean first ofall, let me get my bearings, firs tof allthe UK was the first place to ever embrace us. In the entire world, and for that honestly we will be forever grateful this is craz. I’m like shaking wow and usually I’m so composed.’

Also taking to the stage on the night were Elton John and Years & Years, who teamed up to perform the Pet Shop Boys classic It’s A Sin, after teasing the surprise collaboration on social media ahead of the show.

The Rocket Man hitmaker, 74, took to the stage with Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander, 30, after becoming a huge fan of Olly’s performance as Ritchie Tozer in Channel 4 drama It’s A Sin. 

And the joint performance was heavily hinted at on social media, with Elton, Years and Years and The Brit Awards’ Instagram accounts all sharing words that spell out ‘It’s Sin.’

Sir Elton got the rumour mill going on Monday night by posting the word ‘It’s’ on a brightly coloured background, before Years & Years dropped the word ‘A’ in an identical font.

Fuelling the speculation further, the official Brit Awards page then posted the word ‘Sin’, getting fans excited for what will no doubt be an epic performance.

Their cover of It’s A Sin was a fitting choice, as, it shares its name with the critically acclaimed series which starred Olly.  

Elton was a huge fan of It’s A Sin when it aired on TV earlier this year and even shared his appreciation on social media.

Olly starred alongside a cast of rising stars and celebrated favourites including Keeley Hawes, Stephen Fry and Neil Patrick Harris and It’s a Sin has been universally praised by fans.  

The 2021 Brit Awards marked the first major indoor music event in over a year as bosses released 2,500 free tickets to key workers. 

The Brit Awards took place in front of a live audience of 4,000 people at London‘s The O2 six days before the next phase of lockdown lifts. 

The ceremony broadcast live on ITV, celebrated the return to live music and nominee Dua Lipa promised those attending that it would ‘be a night to remember’.  

The indoor ceremony and live show formed part of the Government’s scientific Events Research Programme, and will use enhanced testing approaches to examine how events can take place without the need for social distancing after all restrictions are lifted on June 21. 

Working closely with the Government to adhere to safety guidelines, this means The BRITs, was the first live music show at The O2 in over a year, with 4,000 tickets being up for grabs- just one fifth of the venue’s 20,000 capacity. 

The BRITs will play an important role in paving the way for the return of live music at scale as the UK emerges from the past year’s restrictions. 

Audience members were not socially distanced or required to wear face coverings in the arena, but were required to follow existing Government guidance when travelling to the venue and adhere to rules set out by the event organisers.

Among the rules, attendees had to provide proof of a negative lateral flow test result to enter the venue. 

As part of the wider scientific research on the trial events, attendees were also be asked to take a test after the event to gather further evidence on the safety of indoor settings, reduced social distancing and the removal of non-pharmaceutical interventions like face coverings. 

The show awarded Taylor Swift – who made history as the first ever female to be given BRITs Global Icon Award at the ceremony. 

The 11-time Grammy Award winner, 31, joined former winners Elton John, Robbie Williams and David Bowie in being given the award in recognition of her impact on music across the world and incredible repertoire and achievements to date. 

In numbers provided by Official Charts Company, Taylor is the UK’s biggest selling artist of the year to date in 2021 and has sold over 114m albums worldwide with total global audio + video streams reaching 78b. 

Taylor is the only artist in history to have four consecutive albums – Speak Now, RED, 1989 and reputation – sell over one million copies in their week of release.   

She is also the only artist to have nine albums each sell at least half a million copies in a single week, with Fearless, Speak Now, RED, 1989, reputation, Lover, folklore, evermore, Fearless (Taylor’s Version).

Taylor was also nominated for a second BRIT award this year for International Female Solo Artist, her sixth BRIT nomination to date.  

The Icon gong is the highest accolade given and is reserved for truly exceptional artists – following on from Elton, Robbie and David. 

Nominations were unveiled in March, with Celeste, Dua Lipa, Joel Corry and Young T & Bugsey joining Arlo Parks in receiving three nominations each, and Jessie Ware, J Hus, Bicep, AJ Tracey up for two awards as with Headie One.