Amy Winehouse
© AFP/Getty Images/FileLONDON (AFP) - But it was jazz singer Amy Winehouse and rock group Arctic Monkeys who made off with some of the main prizes at the Grosvenor Hotel bash.
Winehouse won the best contemporary song award for her hit "Rehab", while Arctic Monkeys scooped the best album award for "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not".
"Thank you all very much, I didn't even have time to get drunk, I've only been here about 15 minutes," Winehouse joked as she collected her second Ivor.
Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner said it was "much more embarrassing" to be collecting an award without his bandmates.
"Whenever we've won things in the past, we've always just walked up here and mouthed off. We've always neglected to thank anybody so I would like to thank everybody now," he said.
Alex Turner of the band "Arctic Monkeys"
© AFP/Getty Images/FileThe prize for the best song musically and lyrically went to singer Scott Matthews for "Elusive".
US pop diva Madonna, who now lives in London and the southern English countryside, won the International Hit of the Year accolade along with her co-writer Stuart Price for "Sorry".
Veteran showman John scooped the most performed work gong for the camp US group Scissor Sisters' smash hit "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'", which he co-wrote with Jason Sellards (the band's Jake Shears) and Scott Hoffman (Babydaddy).
"Until we wrote this song, I'd never written in the same room as anybody before, it was the first time and it was a great experience," John said.
Soft rock band The Feeling were named song writers of the year.
The outstanding contribution to music award went to disc jockey Norman Cook, otherwise known as Fatboy Slim.
Yusuf Islam
© AFP/DDP/File"I'm not a traditional songwriter, I'm not really a songwriter at all. I take bits of other people's songs and adapt songs," he said.
"To everyone whose songs I've re-mixed, sampled or stolen or been in a band with, I would like to say thank you."
The music for "Ice Age: The Meltdown" was named the best original film score.
Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens, received the award for outstanding song collection; ex-Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel won the lifetime achievement award, while a special international award went to US impresario Quincy Jones.
The Ivors are named after the British entertainer Ivor Novello, who died in 1951 aged 58.
They are presented by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters and are internationally respected as Britains major platform for recognizing its songwriting and composing talents.
©AFP