After a ceremony in which the highlight was an 80s pop star falling over, Zaina Alibhai asks if the Brit Awards are still relevant.

Taylor Swift, One Direction and Sam Smith were just a handful of the lucky artists to bag a prestigious Brit Award – but after the ceremony wrapped up for another year, we couldn’t help but wonder what the little statue was really worth.

Ed Sheeran at the Brit Awards
(Yui Mok/PA)

For over 40 years the Brit Awards have been celebrating the best of the nation’s musical talent which have seen the likes of The Beatles, Queen and Elton John all walk away with the coveted little statues.

While the contemporary artists of the 21st century can undoubtedly entertain, are they really up there with the previous generations of Brit Award winners?

Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen at the Brits
(AAD/Empics Entertainment)

It’s hard to admit but the annual music awards have seemingly gone from being a ceremony in which accolades are handed out to influential music artists to a televised ego-massage of internationally-established and ridiculously-successful stars.

In other words, if you’re not signed to Simon Cowell’s record label, you’ll be walking home empty-handed.

Simon Cowell and One Direction
(Ian West/PA)

“In the guise of serving the public, the Brit Awards have hi-jacked modern music in order to kill off the heritage that produced so many interesting people, to such a degree that we could not imagine anyone who has ever truly affected the course of British music to be on stage at the 02 collecting a deserved award,” the legendary Morrissey ranted ahead of this year’s ceremony.

The Smiths’ frontman only highlighted the sad truth many viewers wondered on the night – are the Brit Awards are just a popularity contest dressed in a glamourous disguise?

While Ed Sheeran’s success in the past year certainly deserves acknowledgement, does he really need an award to certify his ongoing prosperity? Sam Smith’s records sales are equally as impressive as Ed’s but would it hurt his millions to show some appreciation to bright up-and-comers?

Admittedly, this year the Brits bestowed appreciation upon a few lesser-known artists in the music scene but why are talents like FKA Twigs and Hozier only ever acknowledged in nominations and never celebrated with an award?

Because aptitude like theirs stands no chance against the man who’s BFFs with Kim Kardashian, that’s why.

Which then poses the question – why was Kim Kardashian even there?

The socialite was unveiled as the night’s secret star guest to present the award for the Breakthrough of the Year (coincidentally to her “good friend” Sam Smith).

Since she poses no relevance to the music industry (apart from that abysmal track ‘Jam’ she unleashed a few years ago) how did Kimmy end up on stage at the O2?

Last night’s Brits did take an interesting turn of events however, as we watched Led Zepellin’s Jimmy Page slowly open the envelope to reveal the winners of Best British Group, Royal Blood.

Surely the statue should’ve gone to five-time Brit Award-winners and collective apple of the world’s eye One Direction?

Royal Blood at the Brits
(Dominic Lipinski/PA)

“This is a huge surprise for us – it’s probably more of a surprise for people here as you probably don’t know who we are,” the band’s Mike Kerr said on stage.

And he was right, most of us had never heard of the Brighton duo despite them performing at the Radio 1′s Big Weekend, Glastonbury Festival and T in the Park last year.

If the Brit Awards are meant to nurture the blossoming British talent there could’ve been no better way than with this unexpected gesture.

While the biggest talking point of the night was undoubtedly the Queen of Pop being dragged to the floor by her giant glitzy matador cape, Kanye West made sure his few minutes in the spotlight were ones to remember.

After being introduced to the stage by his darling wife, the rapper stomped on stage to perform his new track ‘All Day’, in what was possibly the most exciting yet frightful performance in Brit Awards history (it’s definitely up there with KLF’s horrifying stint on stage in the 90s).

Kanye West performs at the Brits
(Yui Mok/PA)

Joined by a sinister looking gang in balaclavas, Ye rapped his way through a furious performance which, incidentally, was heavily censored.

Nothing less could’ve been expected from the egocentric star and while we watched the scary spectacle of frenzied gesticulation, sizzling pyrotechnics and verbal diarrhoea, it was hard to ignore the underlying statement concealed in The Kanye Show – his backing crew.

At first, we dismissed Yeezy’s hooded crowd of followers but slowly but surely we began recognising faces amidst all the flame throwing.

Kanye had called upon a bunch of London’s grime artists, Skepta, Shorty and Krept and Konan among them, to send an unprecedented message to the music industry – we deserve recognition too.

Beneath the mainstream surface of the music world there is a whole team of grafting musicians who are desperately trying to break into the industry – and if high-profile events such as the Brits found a moment to give them recognition, they might just be able to do that.