Emeli Sandé scoops three Mobo awards

Ceremony honours singer Dionne Warwick with special accolade to mark 50 years at the top

Emeli Sandé was the star of last night's Mobo Awards, scooping three top titles at the ceremony in Liverpool. The 25-year-old singer-songwriter won Best Female, Best Album for her number one-selling Our Version of Events, and Best R&B/Soul.

Emeli, the Scottish rapper who first featured at the Mobo (Music of Black Origin) Awards in 2010, had got the night off to a spectacular start with a specially-crafted rendition of "My Kind of Love". But perhaps the most moving moment was when the guest of honour, Dionne Warwick, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award to celebrate half a century in the business.

London hip-hop artist Plan B snapped up Best Male Act and Best Hip Hop/Grime, which he collected from the rising global star, Rita Ora; TLC's Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas collected this year's Mobo Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. Members of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes's family flew to the UK to celebrate the honour on her behalf. The singer died in a car accident 10 years ago.

Rita Ora broke off from the US leg of her tour to collect the Best Newcomer. Tim McKenzie, the Hackney singer known as Labrinth, who was a major hit with fans lining the red carpet, was awarded Best Song in association with PRS for "Earthquake", and treated the room to a musical montage of his hits. He has spent the past year taking on the charts with his own take on urban pop.

Chart toppers JLS arrived on a specially-chartered plane to collect the gong for Best Video for "Do You Feel What I Feel" and got the crowd on their feet with a performance of their newest single, "Hottest Girl in the World". Misha B presented Rachel Kerr with Best Gospel for her soulful vocals and D'Banj was awarded Best African Act. Best Jazz went to Zoe Rahman, who collected the accolade from Delilah and previous double Mobo Award winner, YolanDa Brown. And after an outstanding year, Nicki Minaj beat off stiff competition for Best International Act. Sean Paul was awarded Best Reggae.

The event – now in its 17th year – was interspersed with a series of performances from special guests, including rapper Wiley, who shared the stage with Skepta and Ms D to perform his new release "Can You Hear Me" and number one single, "Heatwave". Misha B treated crowds to a version of her debut single "Home Run", and Angel delighted the crowd with his single, "Wonderful". Stooshe performed their cover of TLC's "Waterfalls" on stage, as introduced by T-Boz and Chilli.

Mobo founder Kanya King MBE said: "Each year we're staggered by the calibre of the talent on display at the Mobo Awards. This year has been outstanding and we're honoured to showcase the best of the best on the night. Tonight has been a night for not only homegrown talent such as Emeli Sandé and Plan B, who we've championed from the beginning, but also less represented genres of music such as gospel, jazz and African, which are equally important for Mobo."