Brit Awards 2022: The Unstoppable Adele and other highlights

Ka-blam! Like a massive pop bazooka, Adele has just blown away the competition at the Brit Awards.

The star took home the three top prizes - artist, song and album of the year - giving her a career total of 12 trophies, just one shy of Robbie Williams's record of 13.

It was a display of colossal, overwhelming dominance which, to be fair, is an accurate reflection of her place in the music industry. At a time when album sales are in irreversible decline, Adele can still sell millions. No wonder the Brits handed her all the silverware.

Her victory was so inevitable that organisers had to invent an award, songwriter of the year, to give to poor old Ed Sheeran - who otherwise would have gone home empty-handed, despite having spent a quarter of last year at the top of the singles chart.

Maybe next year they should have a separate "Adele of the year" award to give everyone else a fighting chance - like when they arguably get rid of the best contestant in the semi-finals of Bake Off, just to keep things interesting.

In the end, nobody really went home empty-handed, thanks to the Brits' expanded slate of categories, which saw awards for best pop act and best rap act reinstated after a 16-year absence. In fact, everyone who was nominated alongside Adele for best artist went home with one prize or another.

Ed got his songwriting award, Sam Fender was named best rock act, Dave got the best rap prize and Little Simz won best new artist - bringing her mother onstage alongside her.

"Look at what you've done, Mum," she said, as her Mum buried her head in her hands and shed a few tears. It was a genuinely moving moment - something the ceremony was sorely lacking elsewhere.

While previous Brits have been known for chaos, carnage, stage invasions and just plain weirdness (Geri Halliwell performing between a pair of giant inflatable legs, anyone?) tonight's show was slick and professional, without any real hint of danger.

Liam Gallagher played his better-than-it-needs-to-be new single Everything's Electric while wearing John McCririck's old hat; Ed Sheeran scuzzed up his megahit Bad Habits with a little help from Sheffield rockers Bring Me The Horizons; and Little Simz was effortlessly cool as she performed a medley of Sometimes I Might Be Introvert and Woman, accompanied by actress Emma Corrin, aka Princess Diana in The Crown.

The only drama came at the start of Anne-Marie's set, where she did a Madonna and fell down a set of steps during the opening bars of her hit Kiss My (Uh-Oh),

Ever the professional, she recovered gracefully and threw herself into the choreography with gusto. "Didn't need my left ankle anyway," she tweeted afterwards.

Downing Street must have been on tenterhooks when they heard Dave was performing... His previous performance in 2020 was a powerful political polemic, in which he called Prime Mininster Boris Johnson, "a real racist".

This year, however, he was in a much more celebratory mood, sharing the mic with Fredo, Ghetts, Meekz, Giggs and a gospel choir on In The Fire - a track which celebrates their elevation from the streets to the top of the charts; without flinching from the harder choices life has presented them with.

It was a fitting celebration of UK rap, which is arguably stronger and more compelling than its US counterpart right now.

What's more, most of the scene's biggest stars - including Dave and Little Simz - have eschewed major labels to release music on their own, fuelling a renaissance in deeply personal, uncompromising lyrics; and a willingness for musical experimentation.

The big talking point ahead of the ceremony was the eradication, after 45 years, of the best male and female categories - which were combined into single best artist and best international artist prizes.

All the usual suspects said women would be unfairly sidelined. In the end, female winners outnumbered men by a factor of three to one, with Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo and Holly Humberstone picking up major prizes.

That said, the men still vastly outnumbered women on the longlists from which Brits voters choose the eventual winners (full disclosure, I am one of them) - so the industry still has a lot of work to do in nurturing and sustaining the careers of female artists.

Asked about the change to the awards on the red carpet, best new artist nominee Self Esteem said: "It's crazy to me that it wasn't already the case.

"We're still living in this terribly gendered society, even though everything is like, 'live, laugh, love,' and everyone's fine.

"But I constantly feel second or discriminated against because of being a woman - and isn't that insane?

"So well done Brits for doing it, but I'm not going to be clapping for them."

Adele, who was the first recipient of the new, genderless best artist prize also had something to say.

"I understand why the name of this award has changed - but I really love being a woman and a female artist. I'm really proud of us."

But aside from all the big talking points, there was plenty going on at the show - here are six things we learned:

1. Glass Animals have their singer's mum to thank for their success

UK indie band Glass Animals' dream-pop anthem Heat Waves was unlucky not to win best song, having become a streaming phenomenon worldwide.

First released in October 2020, the track inspired by the loss of a dear friend has spent 61 weeks on the UK charts, eventually climbing into the top five at the end of last year.

But speaking to us on the red carpet before the singer, frontman and chief songwriter Dave Bayley said the secret for its creeping success lay close to home. "It's like a it's like a cockroach," he said. "I think everyone's annoyed but no, honestly, it's just my mum sitting at home streaming."

2. Bree Runway is 'that girl'

Hackney singer Bree Runway, one of the rising star nominees, turned heads when she rocked up at the Brits red carpet in a flowing black Jean Paul Gautier dress. We asked her where it was from, and she had the best response.

The Geordie was joined on-stage by his bandmates when he collected the award for best alternative/rock act. Beforehand though he revealed to the BBC's Colin Paterson that down the years their musical outfit had gone through several incarnations, line-up changes and arguably regrettable monikers.

"There was Elmo and the Cosmic fridge," Fender noted. "Then one that I cannot say on the radio, and... the Purple Turtle.

To think that award presenter Ronnie Wood nearly had to read one of those names out loud.

The Italian rockers and Eurovision winners said it was "heart-breaking" to have to postpone their European tour, including gigs in Brixton and at the Brits, due to Covid rules and regulations.

Vocalist Damiano David told us they were using the time wisely though. "We already have some stuff but we're gonna keep working on it," he explained.

"And now that we have some time we will get the chance to write a proper album that we are happy with and we just can't wait to get to the studio."

We all can't wait for Eurovision to return in Turin in May.

Bedford singer Tom Grennan's track Little Bit of Love was another in the running for best song on the night, and it turns out the track gave him and his team some real food for thought.

"I wrote that song with a few of my friends and we were struggling to get the chorus," he explained. "We went and got a little burger and I started humming, and I was like, to my mate, you know I think I've got the melody.

"And then we kind of worked on it in the burger shop, and we ran back to the studio and then started writing lyrics, and honestly that's how the chorus to A Little Bit of Love came to life - [it was] a magic cheeseburger, my man."

Everyone deserves a bit of love and the occasional burger.

British hip-hop duo A1 & J1's viral hit track Latest Trends also made the best song shortlist.

When asked how it felt to be sharing a red carpet with the likes of eventual-winner Adele, Ed Sheeran, Dave and Little Simz, J1 - aka Joshua Somerkun - said: "At home I have a grey carpet... Here I have a red one."

"It's a moment to take in man," added A1 - aka Phineas Waweru. "And this moment means I'm going to work 10 times harder."

He didn't say what colour his carpet was though. He may have a wooden floor instead, I guess we'll never know.

Additional reporting and research by BBC Culture reporter Paul Glynn.