Kasabian, Muse and ... Catchphrase?

Kasabian win best album and Muse are named best British band but Jarvis Cocker steals the show hosting the NME awards

Rock\'n\'roll awards shows are known for many things: drinking, swearing and stray bass players vomiting over their own shoes to name just three. But until now they haven\'t predominantly been known for impromptu games of 80s TV quiz show Catchphrase.

That all changed at the NME awards tonight when host Jarvis Cocker decided to open the ceremony with his own DIY version of the game, set up using Photoshop and a laptop. The crowd at Brixton Academy might have been a bit confused but that didn\'t stop them playing along, especially as Jarvis gave proceedings a rock\'n\'roll spin. A picture of Paul McCartney and some bees? That\'ll be the Maccabees! An arctic scene and some monkeys? Well, you get the picture.

The former Pulp singer certainly brought some shambolic charm to proceedings (not to mention credibility, one past host in recent years was Vernon Kay!). Still, nobody\'s pretending the NME awards still represent an anti-awards event these days. You could have spent the night visiting every hair salon in Britain and you still wouldn\'t hear Shockwaves mentioned as often.

Anyway, on to the awards. Whereas 2009 was all about the old guard, with a Blur reunion on stage and Oasis winning best British band, this year it was the Gallagher brothers\' proteges who captured the limelight.

Kasabian and Muse were the two big winners, with the Devon sci-fi rockers triumphing in the best British band category, after a year that saw them top the charts in 19 countries with their album The Resistance – they also took the best website prize. However, the best album prize, and that for best album artwork, went to Kasabian for their third LP, West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, which was also a UK No 1.

Before collecting their prize Kasabian had performed with Mighty Boosh star Noel Fielding, the first of several collaborations on the night. Lily Allen teamed up with the Big Pink to sing their track Dominos, while Biffy Clyro were joined by the hotly tipped Marina and the Diamonds, whose debut album The Family Jewels is set to chart highly on Sunday. Other performances of note included a couple of tunes from the Specials, who were honoured for their outstanding contribution to music, and the return of Courtney Love and Hole.

Of course, no awards ceremony in 2010 would be complete without a dash of Lady Gaga. The pop sensation managed the bizarre achievement of winning the awards for best-dressed and worst-dressed pop star for outfits that included red PVC dresses and garments made entirely out of Kermit the Frog dolls. It seems such attire is still an acquired taste for the magazine\'s readers.

Other awards went to La Roux\'s In for the Kill (Skream remix) for best dancefloor filler and Paramore for best international band while Blur won best live event for their Hyde Park show. Arctic Monkeys were named best live act and Lily Allen became the inaugural winner of the giving it back award after staging treasure hunts for lucky fans to find free tickets to her world tour.

Bombay Bicycle Club were named best new band, Glastonbury received the best festival gong and the Specials collected the outstanding contribution award before performing Too Much Too Young and Gangsters.

Rage Against The Machine, who kept X Factor winner Joe McElderry off the Christmas No 1 spot, were hailed heroes of the year, while Kanye West was named villain of the year.

The Jonas brothers received a double whammy by being named worst band and having the worst album, according to voters.

Paul Weller closed the evening with a greatest-hits set after picking up the godlike genius award, presented to him by Bobby Gillespie and Mick Jones.

And if this all seemed a bit too, well, mainstream at least another old icon was on hand to shake things up some more. Shane McGowan\'s charity song for Haiti was given an exclusive premiere, prompting half the crowd to turn round to the person next to them and utter the immortal words: "Did he just say Shane McGowan\'s charity single for Haiti?!?"