Duffy and Kings of Leon were the big winners at the 2009 Brit Awards which were held at Earls Court in London, England last night bringing home a total of five awards between them. Coldplay, who were nominated for 4 awards, were the Brangelina of the awards show as they went home empty-handed. Sad. In happy news, Kylie Minogue played host to the Brits last night and, I understand, managed to do a pretty nice job … and also managed to show off 6 different outfits thruout the night … as should be expected from any respectable fashionista. Here are a few pics of some of the Brit award winners last night and some info on what went down last night:

Soul singer Duffy and US rockers King of Leon have triumphed at the Brit awards in London, taking five prizes between them in the biggest night of the year for British music. Elbow were named best British group, beating Coldplay whom they will support during a North American tour this year, while former The Jam front man Paul Weller was crowned best male solo artist. Rapper Kanye West was named best international male solo artist, Katy Perry won best international female solo artist and Iron Maiden — currently on a world tour — were crowned best British live act. Welsh singer-songwriter Duffy was close to tears as she accepted the award for best British album for “Rockferry”, the biggest selling debut album in the world last year and the winner of a Grammy earlier this month. “I can’t tell you what this means after five years, thank you so much,” the 24-year-old said. She was also named best British female solo artist and British breakthrough act, while Bernard Butler won the award for best British producer of the year for his work on “Rockferry”. Kings of Lean frontman Caleb Followill paid tribute to his British following as he received gongs for best international album for “Only by the Night” and best international group. The singer, whose band has enjoyed much greater success in Europe and Australia than in their native United States, said: “If it were not for England, Kings of Leon would not be a band… You created Kings of Leon, so good luck getting rid of us” … Pop group Girls Aloud won the award for best British single for “The Promise”, which was chosen by a live public vote on the night, prompting delighted bandmember Sarah Harding to exclaim: “It’s about time!” Girls Aloud, Duffy, Kings of Leon and boy band Take That all performed live, with Take That descending on the stage in a cloud of smoke and green lights to screams from adoring fans in the audience. Also on stage were the Pet Shop Boys, who won the Brit for outstanding contribution to music. Joined by Lady GaGa and Brandon Flowers from the Killers, they performed a medley of their best-known hits from “West End Girls” to “Always on My Mind”. Coldplay left empty-handed despite being nominated for four awards, apparently cold-shouldered by their home fans despite winning three Grammys this year.

HMMM … a shut-out for Coldplay. Could this be the beginning of the end for them? I am glad to hear that Duffy won so many awards. She is such a talent, I’m really pleased to know that real musicianship still matters at these award shows. I have yet to jump on the Kings of Leon bandwagon but I understand they are very popular with the kids these days. I might have to get their album to see what all the hubbub is about. While I wasn’t able to watch the Brit Awards myself, I did manage to watch a few of the live performances online. The Pet Shop Boys/Lady Gaga/Killers collabo was really very fun. After the jump, check out the mash-up performance of all of their biggest hits …

So cool. That was a pretty fun performance. Getting back to Kylie Minogue for a second, here is a quick look at all 6 of her outfits from last night:


And here is a clip from the opening of the awards show last night … Kylie and some friends performed a short, cheeky version of her megahit Can’t Get You Out Of My Head:


I just love her. Congrats goes out to all the Brit Award winners last night.

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]