The 2023 BRIT Awards nominations have been revealed with Harry Styles, Dua Lipa and Sam Smith leading the way ahead of the February 11 ceremony.
The stars will battle it out for the coveted awards at a live ceremony next month at London’s O2 Arena, with Harry and Wet Leg leading the pack with four nominations.
But in a surprise snub, female artists were excluded from Entertainer of the Year, which last year introduced a gender-neutral overhaul by removing its male- and female-focused categories.
Big names! The 2023 BRIT Awards nominations have been revealed with Harry Styles (left), Dua Lipa (right) and Sam Smith leading the way ahead of the ceremony on February 11.
Nominated for Artist of the Year are Central Cee, Fred Again, George Ezra, Harry Styles and Stormzy.
The category saw snubs for the likes of Dua Lipa, Charli XCX and Florence & The Machine, despite Adele taking top prize last year, the first time she submitted her gender-neutral revision.
In 2021, the BRIT Awards announced that they would be removing their male and female categories, in a bid to celebrate artists “solely for their music”.
Up for an award: Sam Smith, who led calls for the awards to eliminate its genre-focused categories, has been nominated for Pop/R&B Act and Song of the Year.
Stellar: Stormzy also earned nominations for Album of the Year, Artist of the Year and Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act.
Meanwhile, set to compete for Mastercard’s coveted Album of the Year are The 1975 with Being Funny In A Foreign Language, Wet Leg with their self-titled album and Harry Styles with his hit compilation Harry’s House.
Stormzy is also nominated with his album This is what I mean, and Fred Again, with Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9, 2022).
In the coveted Song of the Year category with Mastercard, meanwhile, are Aitch with Baby Ft Ashanti, Cat Burns with Go, Dave with Starlight and Ed Sheeran and Elton John with his holiday hit Merry Christmas.
Also nominated are Eliza Rose and Interplanetary Criminal with Baddest Of Them All, George Ezra with Green Green Grass and Harry Styles with As It Was.
Closing out the Song of the Year nominations are Lewis Capaldi with Forget Me, Lf System with Afraid To Feel, and Sam Smith and Kim Petras with Unholy.
Speaking after their nods, George said: ‘It’s amazing to be nominated for two BRIT Awards and very flattering. Thanks to everyone involved. The news made me smile and got me excited for the coming year.’
Meanwhile, Lewis added: ‘It’s an honor to be nominated for British Song of the Year. I’m really looking forward to seeing Harry Styles accept the award for As It Was.
Following his meteoric rise to success in 2022 after helping the UK finish second in the Eurovision Song Contest, Sam Ryder has been nominated for Best New Artist.
She will compete against Kojey Radical, Mimi Webb, Rina Sawayama, and Wet Leg.
Sam said, ‘I’m buzzing! I feel like a Golden Retriever that has won a medal. No matter what, just to be recognized alongside so many amazing artists and peers is amazing. To me, this is truly a reflection of what it’s all about: the music.’
Meanwhile, a delight Mimi said: ‘Being nominated for a BRIT Award is something I’ve been dreaming of since I was eight years old and I’m very, very grateful. I can’t wait to attend and see my name along with all the other amazing nominees – it will be a real “pinch me” moment.
“I remember watching Dua Lipa win Best New Artist in 2018 and being in awe of her; that moment really inspired me to work hard and be the artist that i am today. I am so grateful for all the love and support from those who have helped me get here, it feels so much better than I ever imagined.”
Up for Group of the Year are The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, Bad Boy Chiller Crew, Nova Twins and Wet Leg, while International Group of the Year saw nominations for Black Pink, Drake And 21 Savage, First Aid Kit, Fontaines Dc and Gabriels.
Speaking after their four nods, Wet Leg said: ‘Someone hold our horses as we face this wild news, being nominated for a BRIT award is too hard to fathom, we could never have expected our little band to pull this off. ‘
Alt Rock nominees are The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, Nova Twins, Tom Grennan and Wet Leg.
Stormy has scored another node in the Hip Hop/Grime/Rap category, competing against Aitch, Central Cee, Dave and Loyle Carner.
Becky Hill once again earned a nomination in the Dance Act category, having previously garnered the award last year.
She is nominated against Bonobo, Calvin Harris, Eliza Rose and Fred Again.
Speaking after the nod, she said: ‘I’m in awe to be nominated for Best Dance Performance for the second year in a row.
‘I am very honored to be recognized again for my contribution to dance music, which is so close to my heart.
“As a lifelong fan of dance music, to be seen in this light is truly moving and this is a truly sobering moment for me. Thank you very much, I can’t wait to return to the BRITs as a nominee for 2023.’
And, following the reissue of her Future Nostalgia album, Dua has been nominated in the Pop/R&B category, alongside Harry, Sam, Charlie XCX and Cat Burns.
On the other hand, in the International Categories, Beyoncé reigns once again with two nominations, along with Taylor Swift and Lizzo.
For International Artist of the Year are Beyonce, Burna Boy, Kendrick Lamar, Lizzo and Taylor Swift.
Many of these nominees are also recognized in the International Song of the Year category, with Beyonce nominated for her viral hit Break My Soul.
Joining her are David Guetta and Bebe Rexa with Aim Good, Fireboy Dml and Ed Sheeran with Peru.
The team behind the hit We Don’t Talk About Bruno from Disney’s animated hit Charm also gets a surprise mention.
In International Song of the Year are Gayle with Abcdefu, Jack Harlow for First Class, Lizzo with About Damn Time and Calum Scott and Lost Frequencies with Where Are You Now.
Completing the nods are One Republic with I Ain’t Worried and Taylor Swift with Antihero.
In December, the BRITs announced the winner of this year’s Rising Star Award supported by BBC Radio 1 as FLO, the first group to win this award.
They join the list of incredible artists who have won the award in previous years, including Adele, Florence + The Machine, Sam Smith, Ellie Goulding, Emeli Sandé, Griff and last year’s winner Holly Humberstone.
The winners of the four genre categories (Rock/Alternative Act, Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act, Dance Act, Pop/R&B Act) will be determined through a public vote via TikTok, opening on Thursday, January 19 at midday.
Vick Hope and Jack Saunders revealed the nominations in a live show hosted on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Vick and Jack enlisted the help of a team of celebrities to help announce this year’s key categories.
Olympian Tom Daley, YouTube’s Yung Filly, Euro 2022 winner Jill Scott and Gogglebox’s Joe and George Baggs were among the names revealing this year’s nominations on their own social channels.
Celebrities were given sealed BRIT boxes for safekeeping before revealing their categories on the day of the live stream.
The 2023 BRIT Awards with Mastercard will take place on Saturday 11 February, the first time the show will take place on a Saturday in its history, and will be broadcast live on ITV1 and ITVX, from The O2 arena.
Mo Gilligan will return as host for the second time.
Judge Mo of Masked Dancer said, “Hosting the BRITs last year was one of the most phenomenal moments of my life.”
“I am so honored to meet the incredible team behind the biggest night in music and so proud to bring our amazing audience even closer to their favorite artists. I promise you, we’re going to be even bigger this year… Let’s go.’
This year’s BRIT Award has been designed by Slawn, the Nigerian-born, London-based artist who follows in the footsteps of an illustrious list of creatives that includes Dame Vivienne Westwood, Sir Peter Blake and Tracey Emin.
Taking the helm: Mo Gilligan to return as presenter for this year’s BRIT Awards
The BRITs have already announced their first winner: R&B girl group FLO are the 2023 Rising Star Award winners.
Adele swept last year’s BRIT Awards by taking home three gongs at the first-ever gender-neutral ceremony.
The singer won the first genderless Artist of the Year gong after the male and female categories were eliminated.
However, she responded at the ‘wake-up’ ceremony, insisting in her acceptance speech that she ‘loves being a female artist’, after bosses bowed to calls to remove gender categories from the awards.
Enchanted: R&B girl group FLO have already been announced as the 2023 Rising Star Award winners, celebrating another future British music star.
The BRIT Awards sparked controversy after ditching the traditional men’s and women’s categories and switching to gender-neutral gongs for the first time in its history, prompting detractors to label the event “woke”.
Opinion was divided by organizers, with some outraged by the decision to switch to gender-neutral gongs for the first time in their history, in calls led by non-binary singer Sam.
The bosses claimed the move was an attempt to “be as inclusive and relevant as possible” and allowed entry of people who do not identify as male or female.
But fans at the time criticized the change as “nonsense” at the time, with many calling for a boycott.
The 2023 BRIT Awards will take place on Saturday, February 11 at the O2 Arena in London. They will be broadcast on ITV1 and ITVX.
Winner Takes All: Adele swept last year’s BRIT Awards by taking home three gongs at the first-ever gender-neutral ceremony.