It was quite clearly the night of the solo artist at the 33rd annual BRIT awards held at the O2 arena in London Wednesday night. Amidst many a wonderful performance, including Taylor Swift performing I Knew You Were Trouble whilst staring down ex Harry Styles and Styles joining his fellow One Direction bandmates for their rendition of The Undertones’ classic Teenage Kicks came standout performances from both Ben Howard and Emeli Sande. Both Howard and Sande rightly so picked up the awards for Best British Solo Artist in their respective Male and Female categories. Howard was also recognised as the Best Breakthrough Act with Sande going on to receive the coveted Mastercard Best British Album of the Year.

Fan favourites, Mumford and Sons performed their hit I Will Wait as they beat off stiff competition from both supergroup Muse as well as boyband of the hour One Direction, to be awarded the gong for Best British Group. Although nominated for the most awards, they later lost out to Coldplay in the category of Best British Live Act.

Receiving her award for Best British Single for Skyfall, via videolink from Los Angeles, was Adele who is currently preparing for her upcoming performance at the Academy Awards on Sunday where she is hotly tipped to pick up the Oscar for Best Original Song.

However it was the night for Ben Howard and Emeli Sande to truly shine. Known for a while throughout his native Westcountry, Howard, the Devon local, performed his hit Only Love. Considered to many a loyal fan of his as being a “secret” for quite a while now, his two BRIT awards of the night show he’s clearly a secret no more and with upcoming gigs such as the Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California in April, he is surely a force to be reckoned with.

A mesmerizing performance showcasing her haunting vocals, Emeli Sande closed the night which saw Howard and herself triumph above all others.