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.
Jack Whitehall says he’s been the victim of “outrageous shading” after the Prince of Wales described his jokes as “dad-like”.
The next in line to the throne was asked by a group of school kids to tell a “dad joke” – and responded by saying he was “channelling” the 35-year-old comedian.
On X, Whitehall quipped: “There goes my knighthood.”
In a light-hearted, split-screen video, Whitehall reacted to the prince’s comments – but flattery after being name dropped turned to mock offence after William critiqued his jokes.
“Rinsed by the future King,” the comic said.
William made a surprise visit to a school in the West Midlands yesterday after a pupil requested he come and learn about their mental health campaign.
During the trip, William was asked to join children from St Michael’s Church of England School in Sandwell for the “dad joke” segment of their radio show.
He said: “I’m trying to channel Jack Whitehall, because most of his jokes are pretty dad-like.
“I think what I’ll do is I’ll say a joke which is Charlotte’s favourite joke at the moment, she keeps telling me.”
The Prince of Wales visits a school in Sandwell. Pic: Kensington Palace
The royal began with “knock knock” – and when pupils replied “who’s there”, William said “interrupting cow”.
As the kids tried to ask “interrupting cow who?” he made them laugh by saying “moooooo” before they could finish the sentence.
Whitehall shook his head with disapproval while listening to the joke – but then picked up a notebook and scribbled it down, as if he planned to use it in a future set.
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Whitehall – who welcomed his first child with his partner Roxy Horner last year – has written a Netflix special called Settle Down about becoming a father.
He is known for his sarcastic and self-deprecating stand-up comedy, starring in the sitcom Bad Education, and his long-running travel show with his father Michael.
Hilary Swank says playing roles based on real stories have made her a “better person”.
The 49-year-old has portrayed a real-life single mother, a lawyer and a high-school dropout – and won her first Academy Award in 2000 for Boys Don’t Cry, a story based on the life of Brandon Teena, a trans man who was murdered in 1993.
She tells Sky News: “Each character that I’ve ever played is in my heart, and I am so grateful for that because it just made me, I think, a better person and certainly helped me challenge myself as an artist”.
Hilary Swank as Sharon in Ordinary Angels. Pic: Sony Pictures/Allen Fraser
Swank says she never thought her acting choices would have such an impact on others and finds it “so beautiful to have those conversations” with people who relate to the roles she has played.
“[My filmography] touches not only different, genders, which is so unique, but different races and, and different classes of people and that is so beautiful because I then get to connect with people who have gone through something similar.
“Whether it’s people with addiction, people who are having a sexual identity crisis, people who are clear on their sexuality but had struggled in the past, people who were not seen in high school and dropped out because they didn’t matter and then that went on to graduating high school and college because they saw a movie that I was in”.
Her latest film, Ordinary Angels, is also non-fiction and she plays a woman who goes out of her way to help strangers at their time of need.
It’s based on the true story of a recently widowed father of two daughters, one of whom is in need of an organ transplant.
(R-L) Skywalker Hughes and Alan Ritchson in Ordinary Angels. Pic: Sony Pictures/Allen Fraser
Losing her father
The story has a real connection with Swank, whose father was an organ transplant recipient before his death in 2021.
In 2014, the two-time Oscar winner took a three-year break from acting to be the sole caretaker of her father and says it allowed them to grow closer “deepening our relationship and savouring every moment we had together”.
She was offered the role in Ordinary Angels just months after his death in 2021.
“When people are losing their lives it’s hard and it’s a reminder of the lives that are lost in our own lives as we play them”.
Swank describes playing real people as “an honour,” explaining: “It allows us, as actors and storytellers, to break the blinders of how we walk in the world and see the world and it reminds us that people are going through things that we have no idea about. So, to be a little kinder walk, tread a little gentler, give people more grace.”
She adds: “Each character that I’ve ever played is in my heart, and I am so grateful for that because it just made me, I think, a better person. And, certainly helped me challenge me as an artist”.
(R-L) Tamala Jones and Swank in Ordinary Angels. Pic: Sony Pictures/Allen Fraser
The real ‘snow baby’
Ordinary Angels centres on a struggling hairdresser Sharon who finds a new sense of purpose after reading about a tragic story in a Kentucky newspaper.
Ed, played by Reacher’s Alan Ritchson, is a recently widowed father of two daughters – one of whom is waiting for an organ transplant.
The film is based on real events that occurred in Kentucky in the early 1990s that saw a local hairdresser step in and launch fundraisers to help the family with their medical debt and organise the child’s journey via private plane whenever a donated liver became available.
Locally named the “snow baby”, Michelle Schmitt and her father were helped by a stranger, Sharon Stevens and their community, to get from Louisville to Nebraska for an organ transplant during a historic snowstorm.
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The tagline of Ordinary Angels is simple – “Find your purpose. Make a difference”.
Swank agrees and says it’s important to remember that we are not always aware of what others are going through.
“We have a choice in how we want to step into our lives every single day. That means helping others and helping ourselves to be a better person.”
Ordinary Angels is in UK cinemas now.
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