The biggest talking points from the VO5 NME Awards 2017

Another year, another ceremony. Like any other year, the VO5 NME Awards 2017 were packed with goings-on – and many award winners – but we’ve sifted the night down to the need-to-know essentials. If you didn’t catch our Facebook Live stream, here’s everything you might have missed from last night’s ceremony.

1. Christine And The Queens picked up the most awards

One of the breakout artists of 2016, the French pop star aka Héloïse Letissier beat off competition from big names like Beyoncé and Lady Gaga to pick up Best International Female Artist supported by VO5. Later in the night she scooped another – Best Track supported by Red Stripe, for ‘Tilted’.

2. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan presented Skepta with his award

“Can I tell you what an honour this is?” Khan said as he announced the winner of Best British Male Artist supported by the Pilot Pen Company. “This guy is cool, this guy is talented, this guy is a role model, this guy is a Londoner and it’s Skepta!”

In his acceptance speech, Skepta said ”This is the one I wanted…I love this trophy,” and later told NME: “I’m a fan of Sadiq, we do the same thing – go against the grain.”

3. Josh Franceschi spoke out against secondary ticketing market

“Fuck touts, and fuck bots” said the You Me At Six frontman as he presented the award for Best Festival supported by ID&C to the Eavises. It was Glastonbury’s fourth consecutive win in the category.

4. Skepta was full of praise for Wiley as he presented his award for Outstanding Contribution to Music

“I’m grateful and thankful to present this award. I’ve met a lot of different types of people in this world, and I always thought there were two types: some who lift you up, and some who bring you all the way down so you feel like nothing. When I first met this guy, this was someone who never tried to sign me, never tried to own me, never tried to tell me what to do – he always told me to do what I was doing. I’m eternally forever thankful. He’s one of my favourite people on the planet.”

As he collected his award, Wiley said: “First of all, big up Skepta in the building – thank you for giving me this award… Big up NME and everyone who showed support from the beginning. I appreciate you and I appreciate this award.”

5. Johnny Marr presented Pet Shop Boys with the award for Godlike Genius

Marr paid tribute to the iconic duo, saying: “The winners of this award have changed pop music, over three decades, with hit after hit after hit. They brought romance, glamour, style, high art to the wonderful thing that is pop music.” As they accepted the award, Neil Tennant said: “Our career has been such a huge collaboration with producers, programmers, remixers and I would just like to thank every one of them – and accept this on behalf on electronic music, dance music and shiny pop music. Thank you very much.”

They went on to play a career-spanning set for the audience at O2 Academy Brixton, which included ‘Domino Dancing’, ‘Vocal’, ‘West End Girls’ and ‘Always On My Mind’

Pet Shop Boys NME Awards 2017Andy Ford/NME

6. Indie supergroup Bands 4 Refugees clubbed together to raise money for the charity Help Refugees

As he accepted The 1975’s award for Best Live Band supported by Nikon, Matty Healy made a reference to the speech made by NME editor Mike Williams at the start of the night: “Mike came out this evening and he said if you’re an artist, we have a duty to make pop music didactic. I know this is unfashionable and boring and no-one really gives a fuck, but everything is fucked. And if your music isn’t purposefully informative, then there’s no point to it. So let’s make sure that we do that.”

Following Healy’s speech, Bands 4 Refugees – a supergroup formed by Charli XCX, Pixie Geldof and members of Years & Years, Circa Waves, Swim Deep, Slaves, Black Honey and Peace – played a cover of ‘Gimme Shelter’ to raise money for Help Refugees. As she introduced the band, MIA said of the charity, “It’s really fucking simple. I worked with them last year and I went to Athens, I saw the work they did. It’s also the [charity] that got Lily Allen into loads of shit. They do amazing work.” Donate a fiver to Help Refugees by texting REFU to 70700 NOW! Go on. Do it now.

7. MIA called out the international arms industry

After explaining the work of Help Refugees, MIA turned her attention on the international arms industry. “It really sucks to be talking about people that need help – even though we have to – but it should also be a time that everyone starts looking at the huge weapons arms industry, led by Britain and America. If we address that and talk about them more freely, then we could solve some of this shit. It should go hand in hand.”

8. Matty Healy and Skepta want to collaborate

“Me and Skepta know each other,” Healy told NME. “We tried working with each other recently but it just didn’t work out. Just for loads of reasons –  but we’re going to do something in the future. We’re going to do a tune together. We want to do like a ‘West End Girls’ Pet Shop Boys [kind of thing]. Maybe start a band, just me and Skepta do a band. We’re talking about it, so let’s see what happens.”

9. British talent dominated the Film and TV categories

Oasis’ Supersonic was named Best Music Film, Louis Theroux’s My Scientology Movie won Best Film and Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag won Best TV Series supported by Domino’s, beating off competition from Stranger Things.

10. Nigel Farage was villain of the year

He beat Donald Trump to take the gong. On the flipside, Beyoncé won Hero of the Year.

Getty

11. Wiley’s performance was banging

As you can see on the gram:

View this post on Instagram

Skepta dancing to Wiley @nmemagazine #nmeawards ?

A post shared by Gizzi Erskine (@gizzierskine) on

12. Matty Healy bombed our interview with Skepta

And everyone found it very funny:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQjwYDfF__k

You can watch it actually happen in this clip:

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