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U.S. singer Taylor Swift performs during the BRIT Awards, celebrating British pop music, at the O2 Arena in London February 20, 2013
U.S. singer Taylor Swift performs during the BRIT Awards, celebrating British pop music, at the O2 Arena in London February 20, 2013 Reuters

Taylor Swift wowed the crowd at the Brit Awards with a sexy and outlandish set, finishing in a jaw-dropping lace outfit.

Swift began her fire-and-ice-themed performance in a white wedding dress, before stripping down to a black playsuit, to the delight of the men in the audience.

The American country singer performed her hit single I Knew You Were Trouble, which reached No 2 in the UK charts last week.

Swift's former boyfriend Harry Styles and his One Direction groupmates performed their new charity single One Way or Another, while the star of a much older boyband, Robbie Williams, showed he could still cut it with an equally energetic display.

Muse, Mumford & Sons and Justin Timberlake all gave rousing performances, yet the biggest applause was reserved for Emile Sande and Ben Howard, who celebrated their awards with headline-grabbing sets.

Sande and Howard both spoke of their delight after each claiming two awards at the glittering ceremony, which was hosted by former Gavin and Stacey star James Corden.

Scottish singer-songwriter Sande, who brought the ceremony to a stirring close with a piano-led rendition of her latest single Clown, said it was a "dream" to win the awards for British Female Solo Artist and British Album of the Year.

She added: "I think I'm a very unlikely pop star. This is an album I wrote because I didn't have the confidence to sing these things in person.

"This is a dream, really, so thank you for this year and thank you for this award. I'm so grateful."

Howard also picked up two top awards - British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act.

"It's pretty cool to hold that title for a year. I'm proud," Howard said.

"It's a good room of music in there tonight. I was pretty ominous about the Brits. When we got told we were nominated I was intrigued to see what it would be like," he later said, adding: "There's some great music in there and some really cool people. You are really amongst your peers so it was amazing to walk away with that one."

Click on the start button to take a look at the performances at the 2013 Brit awards...

READ: Brit Awards 2013: Adele, Emile Sande and One Direction Among Big Winners [SLIDESHOW]