Lowdown on The BRITs 2010

The organisers behind last year's anniversary BRIT Awards were so excited for it to be reaching 30 that they almost forgot to put on much of a show. Mind you, unlike most 30th parties, it was unclear if The BRITs actually WERE 30 - starting as they did in 1977, before a hiatus until 1982.

If only we could all be so lucky. But The BRITs Team did not allow this to get in the way of a good night, even if it failed to supply as much music as previous years.

Peter Kay presented and could not have been more pleased with himself than if he'd written a gag about inventing garlic bread. The Spice Girls won Best BRITs Performance of the past 30 years, which probably had other contenders crying into their hands. The Girls' wheeled out Wannabe and Who Do You Think You Are, but you could hear the clanking.

Lending a more contemporary edge, JLS, the boy-band Peter Andre wants to be, justified buying a trophy cabinet by winning British Breakthrough Act and Best British Single, although were beaten to Best British Album by Florence and the Machine.

Dizzee Rascal capped off his impressive run of three consecutive number ones in 2010 with the Best British Male award. Meanwhile Lily Allen caught her breath following an impressive bowler-hatted celebration of England, illustrating her hit The Fear, to accept Best British Female. This was without seemingly having released much recently, although she immediately justified the award by telling Peter Kay to "F- off".

Kasabian arrived to set fire to the place during, well, Fire. The now traditional BRITs medley, kicked off by the Kylie/New Order mash up of 2000, was Dizzee and Florence's version of her earlier b-side cover of Candi Staton's You Got the Love, which subsequently sound-tracked the year.

This year's 2011 Critics Choice award was won by Jessie J, with the equally exciting Vaccines and James Blake in 2nd and 3rd place. Last year that award prize went to Ellie Golding who was presented with the award by Courtney Love without any mishap. Encouragingly, Ellie Goulding came good on this, and capped off 2010 with her biggest hit yet; a cover of Elton John's Your Song. Jessie J looks likely to follow in her footsteps.

But it was the International winners who arguably stole the live show of 2010's BRITs. Jay Z and his all-conquering Empire State of Mind celebrated his winning of Best International Male. Pop's introverted Lady GaGa (who else?) also tottered on apparently having won a fight with 1700s Paris and accepted her Best International Female after a brilliantly subdued piano rendition of Telephone to commemorate the death of her friend Alexander McQueen.

Robbie Williams closed the show to celebrate his Outstanding Contribution award, and despite appearing like a man fearing he may have left the gas on, he belted out a medley including a now prescient rendition of Take That's Everything Changes.