Harry Styles, Stormzy, Sam Smith, Lizzo and Taylor Swift

The Brit Awards is the biggest event in the UK’s music calendar yet, in the run-up to this year’s ceremony, it has become the subject of a heated debate. 

The Brits’ organisers have come under fire in recent weeks for releasing a nominations list dominated by male artists in the top categories. We already know the Artist of the Year will be a man because no women were included on the five-person shortlist for the gender-neutral award. The Brits scrapped the Best Male and Best Female categories and replaced them with a single prize last year after the Oscar-winning singer Sam Smith, who identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, was automatically excluded from the 2021 nominations. 

In terms of the overall awards race, pop superstar Harry Styles and indie duo Wet Leg lead the pack with four nods each. Both acts are set to showcase their talents on the night and they join a star-studded line-up of confirmed performers including Stormzy, Lizzo, Cat Burns, Sam Smith & Kim Petras, David Guetta, Becky Hill and Ella Henderson. 

Stormzy, The 1975, Cat Burns and Fred again… are vying for three gongs each while Sam Ryder makes history as the first Eurovision act to be nominated for Best New Artist.

Comedian Mo Gilligan will host the awards show for the second year running at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday, February 11 – the first time the event has been held on a weekend in its history. The ceremony will be broadcast live on ITV1 and ITVX from 8pm.

The Brit Award 2023 nominees list in full

Artist of the Year

Central Cee

Fred again…

George Ezra

Harry Styles

Stormzy