Brit Awards 2023: Harry Styles and Wet Leg lead the nominations with Stormzy, The 1975 and Fred Again not far behind
Ex-boybander Harry Styles and Isle of Wight indie rock band Wet Leg lead this year’s Brit Awards race, with four nods each.
Pop megastar Styles played a large part in boosting music industry sales last year, with his smash hit As It Was, spending 10 consecutive weeks at number one on the Official Singles Chart and becoming the only track to surpass 180 million streams during 2022, according to analysis of Official Charts data by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
Styles played a big part in boosting the music industry last year
Wet Leg – Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers. Pic: Hollie Fernando
Styles was also behind 2022’s top album with his Grammy and Mercury shortlisted Harry’s House.
Isle of Wight duo Wet Leg – Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers – have had massive critical and commercial success since signing with their record label in 2021, with their debut single Chaise Longue going viral.
They were shortlisted for last year’s Mercury Prize, nabbed five nominations at this year’s Grammys, and count Barack Obama and Iggy Pop as fans.
South London singer Cat Burns, whose song Go went viral on TikTok last year and was the fourth most streamed single of the year, received three nominations.
Stormzy, Fred Again and The 1975 also got three nods.
Central Cee, George Ezra, Arctic Monkeys, Nova Twins, Aitch, Dave, Eliza Rose, Beyonce, Lizzo, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith all received two nods each.
The nominations were announced online by presenters Vick Hope and Jack Saunders.
South London singer Cat Burns
There are a host of first-time nominees in the mix, including four-piece K-Pop girl group Blackpink, Cat Buns, Eliza Rose, Nova Twins, Sam Ryder, Jack Harlow and Kojey Radical.
Speaking in a pre-recorded video during the nomination reveal, best new artist nominee Rina Sawayama – who was born in Japan but moved to the UK with her parents aged five – admitted she hadn’t initially been eligible to be part of the awards because she didn’t have a British passport, but said that after campaigning the rules were changed to allow her to take part.
R&B girl group FLO – featuring Renee, Jorja and Stella – had already been announced as the winner of the highly coveted rising star award, following in the footsteps of the likes of Adele, Sam Smith and Celeste.
The Brits announced that they would be scrapping their male and female award categories in 2021, going gender-neutral in an attempt to make their music prize more inclusive.
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Four public voted genre awards introduced last year – Alternative/Rock, Dance, Hip Hop/Grime/Rap and Pop/R&B – will also be continuing this year.
Mo Gilligan will be hosting the Brits, after making his debut last year, which he called “one of he most phenomenal moments of my life”.
The first acts who will perform on the night were also announced, with Wet Leg on the bill as well as a duet from Sam Smith and Kim Petras.
For the first time the ceremony will take place on a Saturday, in a bid to reach a wider audience.
Blackpink, from left, Lisa, Jisoo, Jennie, and Rose
The awards follows a stellar performance from British music in 2022, with last year’s UK recorded music consumption increasing for the eighth consecutive year.
The 2023 BRIT Awards takes place on Saturday 11 February at the O2 Arena and will be broadcast live on ITV and ITVX.
Entertainment
Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it’s ‘an underdog just like me’
Police are taking no further action over Kneecap’s performance at Glastonbury.
Officers said they had investigated “comments about a forthcoming court case made during Kneecap’s performance” at the festival on 28 June.
However, after Crown Prosecution Service advice, they decided there is not enough evidence “to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence”.
The Avon & Somerset force started investigating the Irish group’s show last month, as well as comments by punk-rap duo Bob Vylan.
It said they were looking at a possible public order incident.
Police said on Friday that the investigation into Bob Vylan’s performance was ongoing.
The London duo were widely criticised – and caused a BBC crisis – after leading on-stage chants of “death to the IDF” (Israel Defence Forces).
Kneecap’s Liam Og O Hannaidh appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in June. Pic: PA
Kneecap posted a photograph on Instagram, which the group said was an email from police announcing the case was being dropped.
They said their packed Glastonbury gig was a “celebration of love and solidarity” and reporting used “wildly misleading headlines”.
Fears over what Kneecap might do or say during the performance had prompted the BBC not to show it live.
The group said: “Every single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close… yet the police saw fit to publicly announce they were opening an investigation.”
“There is no public apology, they don’t send this to media or post it on police accounts,” they added.
The police statement on Friday said they had informed Kneecap of their decision to drop the case.
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One of the group’s members appeared in court in June charged with a terror offence.
Liam Og O hAnnaidh is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation in the UK, at a gig last year.
He was released on unconditional bail ahead of a second court appearance in August.
Entertainment
Tomorrowland: ‘Devastating’ blaze destroys main stage at major festival – two days before it was due to begin
A huge fire has destroyed the main stage of a major festival in Belgium – two days before it was due to begin.
Tomorrowland is a dance music event as big as Glastonbury – and David Guetta was due to perform.
Footage showed flames and thick plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday.
The fire gutted the main stage
Fire crews attempt to bring the blaze under control
The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is one of the biggest in Europe and attracts about 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends.
It is famous for its immersive and elaborate designs and attracts big names within dance music – including Guetta, best known for tracks When Love Takes Over and Titanium.
Dutch DJs Martin Garrix and Charlotte de Witte were also due to perform, along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz and Alok.
Black smoke could be seen rising into the sky
The festival’s website described the creative elements which went into the elaborate main stage.
The theme, described as Orbyz, was “set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice” and “full of mythical creatures”.
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Organisers said no one was injured in the blaze but confirmed “our beloved main stage has been severely damaged”, adding they were “devastated”.
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen added: “We received some truly terrible news today. A fire broke out on the Tomorrowland site … and our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful.
“That’s a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated.”
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen told reporters ‘a lot of people are devastated’
Despite the fire, Tomorrowland organisers said they were still expecting 38,000 festivalgoers at DreamVille, the event’s campsite.
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