Britpop revival at NME awards

Members of Blur took to the stage at the Shockwaves NME Awards for a historic reunion - on the same night their old Britpop rivals Oasis were crowned Best Band.

Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon took to the stage last night for a surprise performance of 'This Is A Low' from their acclaimed album 'Parklife'.

The pair received huge applause for their low-key performance.

Other Blur members Alex James and Dave Rowntree presented the Solo Artist award to Pete Doherty.

Oasis had led the award battle with seven nominations, and walked off with two gongs - the other being Best Band Blog for Noel Gallagher.

Gallagher lost out to President of the United States Barack Obama who was named Hero of the Year.

Blur recently announced that they were getting back together and will be appearing on the festival circuit this summer.

Meanwhile the mighty Muse received a hat-trick of wins. They saw off competition from Oasis and Kings Of Leon to take Best Live Band for the second year in a row.

The trio also won Best Album Art Work for Haart and singer Matt Bellamy scooped Sexiest Male.

Elbow, who won the Nationwide Mercury Prize last year, won the Outstanding Contribution to British Music.

The Godlike Genius Award went to Goth stalwarts The Cure.

Conor McNicholas, NME editor, said of the event in London: "Yet again NME readers have spoken in their thousands - their votes crowing the very brightest stars of the current rock scene.

"Oasis have proved yet again... that our love affair with them simply has no sign of ending."

The band, who were not at the ceremony to accept their accolades, received resounding boos when the Best Band announcement was made.

When it was announced that they could not be present there were cheers from the audience, who were shown a video of comedian Russell Brand presenting the award to Noel Gallagher.

Brand said in the video: "We're the best at producing bands, we know this already."

Rapper Dizzee Rascal's catchy 'Dance Wiv Me' was named Best Dancefloor Filler. The artist was so pleased with his win that he proclaimed: "Catch me, catch me," before launching himself into the crowd.

Entertainment for the night also included Elbow, while Franz Ferdinand performed a version of Blondie's 'Call Me'.

Grace Jones presented the Best Live Band award dressed in all black, with a typically flamboyant hat covering half of her face.

Success was not just confined to British bands, with the United States also flying the flag.

One of the most prestigious awards of the night - Best International Band, went to The Killers - for the third time in a row.

The big US win continued with New York duo MGMT taking home Best New Band and Best Track for 'Time To Pretend'.

Grammy and Brit Awards winner Kings Of Leon cemented their positions as rock royalty by taking Best Album for 'Only By The Night'.

President Obama's predecessor George W Bush had the dubious honour of being named by NME readers Villain Of The Year at the awards for a record-breaking sixth time.

Arctic Monkeys won the Best DVD award, while front man Alex Turner also scooped Best Video with his side project The Last Shadow Puppet.

Turner's girlfriend Alexa Chung walked off with the Best Dressed award and lead singer of indie band Paramore, Hayley Williams, was named Sexiest Female.

Amy Winehouse, who swapped her beehive for a shorter curly hairstyle was named Worst Dressed.

'The Mighty Boosh' won the Best TV award, beating 'Skins', 'Gavin and Stacey', 'Never Mind The Buzzcocks' and 'The IT Crowd'.

The Cure received a standing ovation as they received the Godlike Genius Award.

The band went on to treat the crowd to 10 of their greatest hits, rounding off the night.