Madonna 'fine' after Brit Awards stage fall in London
'My beautiful cape was tied too tight,' the 56-year-old performer says on Instagram
Madonna is brushing herself off after taking a hard tumble at Wednesday's Brit Awards in London.
The Material Girl was closing the show with her new single Living For Love at the O2 Arena when a backup dancer yanked her cape, pulling her backward down a flight of stairs.
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After an awkward landing, the veteran performer got back up and kept singing the song with the strangely fitting lyrics: "Took me to heaven and let me fall down / Now that it’s over, I’m gonna carry on."
The 56-year-old pop legend took to social media after the show to put the blame on her poorly tied Armani cape.
"My beautiful cape was tied too tight," Madonna wrote on Instagram with a picture of the offending accessory. "But nothing can stop me and love really lifted me up! Thanks for your good wishes! I'm fine!"
The fall drew an instant, and mostly sympathetic, reaction from ceremony attendees and television viewers.
"I feel for her," singer Ashley Roberts told ITV news. "She's a pro, though, and she kept going."
Kanye West gives raw performance
Kanye West and Taylor Swift also performed at the Brit Awards, the U.K. equivalent of the Grammys.
Tousle-haired singer Ed Sheeran won for best British male solo artist and British album of the year, for X. Soulful crooner Sam Smith won for British breakthrough act and global success.
"Since I was a little kid, I dreamed of people all over the world singing my songs," Smith said. "This shows I'm stepping in the right direction."
The 22-year-old Smith won four Grammys earlier this month, including record of the year for Stay With Me.
Smith was sultry and Sheeran was sensible, but West provided a dose of raw energy. He performed his raw, grime-influenced new song All Day. The lyrics, peppered with expletives and the N-word, were muted for the show's live TV broadcast.
It has been a big year for British music, with Smith storming the Grammys and artists like Sheeran, baby-faced singer-songwriter George Ezra and the still-ubiquitous One Direction making waves.
The Brits were once renowned for chaos, enlivened by incidents including a 1992 stunt in which British band the KLF left a dead sheep at the after-show dinner. But the ceremony has been transformed in recent years into a slick talent showcase.
West aside, the tone of the evening was accomplished but not edgy, opening with a sleekly saucy performance of Blank Space by a black-clad Swift.
Swift and Pharrell awarded
Swift was named best international female artist, while Happy hit-maker Pharrell Williams was named best international male act, and Foo Fighters won for international group. Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk took the prize for best British single.
Royal Blood singer Mike Kerr said the award was a surprise to the band, and possibly to the audience, "as you may not even know who we are."
The prize for best British female artist went to retro-loving singer Paloma Faith, who dedicated her award to "all the underdogs and all the grafters" who struggle to succeed.
Clutching a curvy white Brits statuette designed by artist Tracey Emin, Faith recalled how in her early days she had been arrested for putting up posters for her gigs. Now, she said, "my pictures are all over Greenwich Tube station legally, and that's an amazing feeling."
Winners in most categories are decided by a ballot of music-industry members, with some chosen by public vote, including a best British video award selected by online ballot during the ceremony. It was won by One Direction — just like last year.
With files from CBC