Irish boy band, Westlife, triumphed at the Brit Awards last night when they collected their second successive "Best Pop Act" gong.
The annual music awards ceremony, often criticised for artists' bad behaviour and swearing, honoured Westlife for another successful year in the charts, beating off competition from boy/girl band, S Club 7; Hear'Say and Kylie Minogue.
Among the other winners on the night there were few surprises. The former Take That singer, Robbie Williams, added to his record-breaking 12 Brit awards by winning Best British Male. Dido, who was relatively unknown in Britain before Eminem sampled one of her songs, finished off a hugely successful year by winning Best British Female and Best British Album for No Angel.
And 15 years after she entered the British charts, Kylie Minogue won International Female Solo Artist and International Album for Is This It. Boy band, Blue, won British Newcomer and S Club 7 won Best British Single for Don't Stop Movin' and Best International Group went to US girl band, Destiny's Child, who sang the theme song for last year's nostalgia hit at the cinema, Charlie's Angels.
For the first time this year, the Brits were "carbon neutral" - which means that trees will be planted by the charity Future Forests to offset the carbon dioxide created by the show's broadcast.
The awards crown a successful year for the boys from Westlife both in their personal lives and in the charts. After winning Best Pop Act award last year, Westlife recorded several hits, embarked on a UK tour and last month Ireland hosted the celebrity wedding of Bryan McFadden and Kerry Katona at Slane Castle.
Success at the Brit Awards means groups and singers can more than double sales of records and albums as fans rush to record shops. One observer of trends in the British charts, Mr Gennaro Castaldo, of HMV says the Brits "seem to have a great effect as the TV audience grows and coverage expands," he says.
"The most significant growth is for the artists who haven't yet had mainstream success but are bubbling under and the Brits will give them that all important exposure, whether they are winners or steal the show."
The absence of some famous names from the list of nominees has sparked criticism from music commentators.
Singers Britney Spears and Madonna have been overlooked in the international category, as have U2, who won two awards last year. U2 were recently named front-runners for this year's Grammy Awards.
Despite the increasing popularity of the awards, it is often the stunts, antics and occasional mayhem which live on in the memory rather than the awards themselves. In 2000, it was Robbie Williams and Liam Gallagher's ongoing spat that stole the show. Williams challenged Gallagher to a fight as he picked up a prize.
One of the most notorious Brits stunts involved a soaking after Deputy Prime Minister, Mr John Prescott, was showered with a bucket of water by Chumbawamba's Danbert Nobacon in 1998.
The awards date back to 1977 when they were originally known as the British Record Industry Awards. The name Brits was adopted in 1989 and comes from the British Record Industry Trust.
The least successful act at the awards has been Jamiroquai. Until this year the band had been nominated 13 times but every time has gone away empty-handed.