Simon Cowell given special award as Brits fly flag at Emmys

Special award: Simon Cowell with his Emmy
11 April 2012
The Weekender

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British TV talent walked off with half the main awards at the International Emmys at the New York Hilton.

In a clean sweep for the BBC, Bob Hoskins and Helena Bonham Carter won the top acting prizes, while Jimmy McGovern's The Street, drama Small Island and a children's animation also came out on top.

Hoskins took the best actor award for his role in last year's series of The Street, when he played a recovering alcoholic pub owner who stands up to the local gangster.

The series itself was also named best drama. Bonham Carter, currently starring in the latest Harry Potter film, carried off the best actress prize for the biopic about Enid Blyton. The corporation's Small Island, based on Andrea Levy's novel about the lives of Jamaican immigrants in London during and after the Second World War, was named best TV movie/mini-series.

Small Island star Ruth Wilson collected the award with BBC drama commissioner Ben Stephenson.

He said: "I'm incredibly pleased that every award that BBC drama has been nominated for tonight they've won, in challenging times for the BBC."

The other British winner last night was CBBC animation Shaun The Sheep, in the children and young people category.

Former Beverly Hills 90210 star Jason Priestley hosted the ceremony last night which honours excellence in TV programming outside the US.
There was a special honorary award for X Factor supremo Simon Cowell who was recognised for his talent show creations and charity work.

Cowell received the International Emmy Founders Award for "significant achievements in television that cross cultural boundaries and contribute to our common humanity".

He posed for photographs with his arm around his fiancée, 37-year-old make-up artist Mezhgan Hussainy, confounding rumours of a split. At the weekend Ms Hussainy insisted they were "still in love" and planned to marry. "I still love him and he says he still loves me," she said. "We are still engaged, as far as I know."

Cowell, 51, has been working in London while Ms Hussainy has remained at their £4 million home in Beverly Hills.

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