Event PR: Elbow Celebrate Double Win At The Ivors.

LONDON: Friday 22nd May 2009: Indie band Elbow are celebrating a double win at the Ivor Novello awards, including the main award for best song.

The event, promoted by Taylor Herring PR, was held at London’s Grosvenor House on Park Lane.

The group, who claimed last year’s Mercury Prize, triumphed with One Day Like This while Grounds For Divorce won best contemporary song.

The Ting Tings and Duffy also picked up Ivor Novello awards, which honour excellence in music writing.

Winners of special achievement awards included electro pioneer Vince Clarke and Motown legend Smokey Robinson.

Picking up Elbow’s first award for best contemporary song – beating songs by Dizzee Rascal with Calvin Harris, and The Ting Tings – lead singer Guy Garvey said: “It’s a great honour against fierce opposition with some great songs.”

Picking up her award for most performed work Mercy alongside co-writer Steve Booker, Duffy thanked those who had helped shape her career.

“I was a girl from Wales, I did not know what music was. I knew I had a set of pipes and that would get me a frigging long way.”

Eg White, who co-wrote hits including Adele’s Chasing Pavements and Warwick Avenue by Duffy, said it was “very exciting” to win the award for the “fun, fast, quite scary” art of songwriting.

Smokey Robinson, 69, told the audience he had flown to the UK for one day to pick up his special international award.

Meanwhile, Vince Clarke, who has had hits with acts including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, The Assembly and Erasure, simply said it was “a real honour to get this award”.

Organisers said it was the first time in his 30-year career that Clarke, 48, who won the outstanding song collection gong, had turned up to pick up an award.

The biggest applause of the ceremony was reserved for Edwyn Collins, 49, formerly of 1980s Glaswegian band Orange Juice and best known for 1994 hit A Girl Like You. Collins, who walked to the stage with a walking stick to pick up the inspiration award, suffered two brain haemorrhages in 2005 before spending a further six months in hospital after a surgical scar became infected with the MRSA bug.

Bristol dance music collective Massive Attack won the outstanding contribution to British music award. (source: BBC)