Brit Awards 2023 rising star: Cat Burns, FLO and Nia Archives all up for prize previously won by Adele, Sam Smith and Celeste
The Brit Awards rising star nominees for 2023 have been revealed.
Previously called the critics’ choice award, artists including Adele, Ellie Goulding, Florence & The Machine, Sam Smith, Celeste and Sam Fender all won in previous years before going on to become household names.
The award aims to identify future stars of the UK music scene and is open to British artists who, as of 31 October 2022, had not achieved an album chart top 20 placing or more than one top 20 single.
Cat Burns, FLO and Nia Archives are the three artists up for the award at next year’s Brit Awards ceremony, which takes place on a Saturday evening for the first time. Find out more about them below.
Cat Burns: ‘A major thing on my bucket list’
The 22-year-old from Streatham, in south London, is a Brit School alumnus and already a platinum-selling singer-songwriter, whose debut EP Adolescent, released in 2016, climbed to number 11 on the singer-songwriter charts in just 24 hours.
Debut single Sober was released in 2018, and in 2021 her hit track Go went viral on TikTok and peaked at number two on the UK singles chart.
In May 2022, Burns released the six-track EP emotionally unavailable and went on to supported Ed Sheeran on the European leg of his Mathematics tour.
She has already picked up several awards and accolades, including Attitude’s music award and the Gay Times Honours’ rising star in music gong. She was also named as a Spotify Global RADAR artist earlier in 2022.
Next on the list is a support slot for Sam Smith on their UK and Ireland headline tour, Gloria, in 2023.
On her Brits rising star nomination, Burns said: “A Brits Rising Star nomination was a major thing on my bucket list for me this year, so to have achieved that honestly means the world to me.
“I’m super grateful for the year I’ve had and am so honoured to have been chosen!”
FLO: ‘Girl groups are back’
R’n’B girl group FLO – featuring Renee, Jorja and Stella, all 20 – released debut single Cardboard Box earlier in 2022. The single won them some high-profile fans, including Missy Elliott, Kelly Rowland and Sugababes, and led to performances on Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show in the US, as well as Later… with Jools Holland in the UK.
They have also performed at the Glamour Women Of The Year Awards and The BET Soul Train Awards, and are up for the best newcomer award at the MOBOs.
Debut EP The Lead was released in the summer to critical acclaim, and has since amassed more than 70 million global streams.
Critics from i-D, Dazed, NME, Complex and Pitchfork have all tipped the group for success.
On their Brits rising star nomination, they said: “It’s a dream come true to receive a Brit nomination less than a year after dropping our first single. We all grew up watching the Brits with our mums, and have been inspired by the girl groups and powerful female artists who have performed on that stage.
“We’re grateful to everyone who has believed in our vision so far and can’t wait to share more music with the world. Girl groups are back and we want to pave the way for more artists to achieve their dreams. We hope that this is the first of many Brit nominations for FLO.”
Nia Archives: ‘Words won’t describe how I’m feeling’
Nia Archives is making “soft-hearted lo-fi jungle for introverted extroverts” and says her first memories of music are deeply rooted in her Jamaican heritage – reggae and lovers’ rock were always played around her childhood home in Leeds, and she also listened to gospel as an attendee of a Pentecostal church.
After moving out at 16, Nia relocated to Manchester where she was a regular at raves and house parties, where she eventually felt emboldened to take the mic to sing and freestyle.
She self-taught herself production at the age of 16 and is currently studying music business and production at university in London. Her first EP Headz Gone West was made mainly in the early hours of the morning in a cramped bedroom studio in August.
On her Brits rising star nomination, she said: “Words won’t describe how I’m feeling about being nominated for the Brits rising star. Growing up and watching it on TV, I really never thought it could happen to someone like me. I’m just so overwhelmed and happy right now.”
The Brits rising star winner will be announced on 8 December, ahead of the ceremony in February. The 2023 show takes place on Saturday 11 February at the O2 Arena.
Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.
Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.
Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.
Tom Cruise said ‘I wish you well on the next journey’. Pic: AP
Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP
His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.
“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.
“I wish you well on the next journey.”
The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.
Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.
Tom Cruise at Caesars Palace on Thursday. Pic: AP
Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.
He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.
Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.
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He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.
In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.
The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.
Bruce Springsteen is to release seven albums of mostly unheard material this summer.
The US singer said the songs, written and re-recorded between 1983 and 2018, were being made public after he began completing “everything I had in my vault” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a short video posted on Instagram, Springsteen said the albums were “records that were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released”.
The 83-song collection is being released in a box set called Tracks II: The Lost Albums and goes on sale on 27 June.
Some 74 of the tracks have never been heard before.
Springsteen first teased the release on Wednesday morning with a short social media video accompanied by text which said: “What was lost has been found”.
Tracks II is the follow-up to the star’s first Tracks volume, a four-CD collection of 66 unreleased songs, released in 1998.
Bruce Springsteen at New York’s Carnegie Hall at a tribute to Patti Smith last month. Pic: PA
The New Jersey-born rocker, nicknamed The Boss, last released a studio album in 2022.
Only the Strong Survive was a collection of covers, including songs by Motown and soul artists, such as the Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Frankie Wilson and Jimmy Ruffin.
The late soul legend Sam Moore, who died in January and was a frequent Springsteen collaborator, sang on two of the tracks.
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Springsteen is coming to the UK in May to launch a two-month tour of Europe with his E Street Band.
The shows will include performances at the Co-op Live in Manchester and Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.
The singer-songwriter has sold more than 140 million records since his debut on the music scene in 1973, according to his website.
Entertainment
Stalker who believed Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas was his aunt avoids jail
A man who stalked Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas for six years has avoided jail.
Kyle Shaw, 37, got a 20-month suspended sentence and a lifetime restraining order on contacting Ballas, her mother, niece, and former partner.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that he thought Ballas was his aunt and “began a persistent campaign of contact”.
“He believed, and it’s evident from what he was told by his mother, that her late brother was his father,” said prosecutor Nicola Daley.
The court heard there was no evidence he was wrong, and “limited evidence” he was correct.
Ms Daley said Shaw’s messages had accused Ballas of being to blame for the death of her brother, who took his own life in 2003 aged 44.
He also set up social media accounts in his name.
Shaw had pleaded guilty to stalking the former dancer between August 2017 and November 2023 at a hearing in February.
Incidents included following Ballas’s 86-year-old mother, Audrey Rich, while she was shopping and telling her she was his grandmother.
The court heard in messages to Mrs Rich, Shaw had asked: “Where’s my dad?”
Ballas was so worried for her mother’s safety that she moved her from Merseyside to London.
Kyle Shaw outside court on the day of his sentencing. Pic: PA
In October 2020, Ballas called police after Shaw messaged her and said: “Do you want me to kill myself, Shirley?”
Posts on X included one alongside an image of her home address that warned: “You ruined my life, I’ll ruin yours and everyone’s around you.”
Another referenced a book signing and said: “I can’t wait to meet you for the first time Aunty Shirley. Hopefully I can get an autograph.”
The court was told Ballas’s niece Mary Assall, former partner Daniel Taylor and colleagues from Strictly Come Dancing and ITV’s Loose Women were also sent messages.
‘I know where you live’
On one occasion in late 2023, Shaw called Mr Taylor and told him he knew where the couple lived and described Ballas’s movements.
The court heard the 64-year-old TV star become wary of socialising and stopped using public transport.
Prosecutor Ms Daley said: “She described having sleepless nights worrying about herself and her family’s safety and being particularly distressed when suggestions were made to her that she and her mother were responsible for her brother taking his own life.”
Ballas has been head judge on Strictly Come Dancing since 2017. Pic: PA
Shaw cried and wiped away tears as he was sentenced on Tuesday.
The judge said the stalking stemmed from his mother telling him Ballas’s brother, David Rich, was his biological father.
“I’m satisfied that your motive for this offending was a desire to seek contact with people you genuinely believed were your family,” he said.
“Whether in fact there’s any truth in that belief is difficult, if not impossible, to determine.”
Shaw pictured at court in February. Pic: PA
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Defence lawyer John Weate said Shaw had been told the story by his mother “in his mid to late teens” and had suffered “complex mental health issues” since he was a child.
He added: “He now accepts that Miss Ballas and her family don’t wish to have any contact with him and, importantly, he volunteered the information that he has no intention of contacting them again.”
Shaw, of Whetstone Lane in Birkenhead, also admitted possessing cannabis and was ordered to undertake a rehab programme.
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