LONDON: Pop diva Madonna's gasp-inducing "wardrobe malfunction" at a star-studded London awards ceremony grabbed British headlines on Thursday along with photos of her falling backwards downstairs tangled in a swirling cape.

From the up-market daily Guardian to the mass circulation Sun, Madonna's tumble overshadowed anything else at Wednesday's British music industry annual Brit Awards.

"Ma-gonna!" ran the headline in commuter daily Metro.

The fall came in the midst of her singing 'Living for Love' on Wednesday night when she failed to loosen the cape that was part of a matador costume before her dancers pulled it away.

She looked startled as she fell backwards down stairs but kept going with the performance and later said on her Instagram account that she was fine.

Madonna's plunge provided the most dramatic moment of the show which otherwise produced few surprises.

English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran was the biggest winner of the night, walking away with two of the four Brit Awards he was nominated for.

He was named the best British solo artist and also took home the coveted best album prize for his second studio album, X.

Soul singer Sam Smith, who was nominated for five Brits and competed with Sheeran for the best album, topped off his recent four Grammy wins with a Global Success award and British Breakthrough trophy.

Other winners included Paloma Faith for British female artist and rock duo Royal Blood, who defeated popular boy band One Direction to be named the best British band.

Award for the best international female artist went to Taylor Swift, who opened the show. The pop-heavy ceremony also saw performances from Take That, Kanye West and George Ezra.