The breakdown on the BRIT Awards 2023: nominations, performances, and controversy

The 2023 BRIT Awards are almost upon us with the nominations for all categories announced, as well as some star performances for the ceremony, including Harry Styles.

The highly-sought after music awards are presented by the British Phonographic Industry and are to honor top British and International artists. Performers and nominees were announced in an official ‘Bring on the Brits’ live stream.

Though the awards show has received some backlash — its recent move to drop male and female categories in favor of generalized categories like “Best Artist” resulted in a male-only nominees list — the show will go on.

Globally renowned popstar, Harry Styles, nominated for four BRIT awards this year, is to be the heavy-weight performer for the evening, sharing the stage with Wet Leg, Sam Smith, and Kim Petras.

Styles is up for Mastercard Album of the Year, as well as Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, and Pop/R&B Act of the Year.

The most anticipated awards are the Mastercard Album of the Year Award, with nominees including The 1975, Wet Leg, Harry Styles, Stormzy, and Fred Again, and the Artist of the Year Award, in which there’s a competition between Central Cee, Fred Again, George Ezra, Harry Styles, and Stormzy.

Notable artists in the Song of the Year categories are Aitch/Ashanti, Cat Burns, Ed Sheeran/Elton John, Eliza Rose, and Lewis Capaldi, while the the 2023 Group of the Year nominees are The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, Bad Boy Chiller Crew, Nova Twins, and Wet Leg.

The 2023 winners of the four categories will be determined by popular vote, which means fans can weigh in on the ultimate decisions. The categories open for public vote are Rock/Alternative Act, Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act, Dance Act, and Pop/R&B Act. The BRIT Awards 2023 official website opened voting on January 19th.

Artist of the Year controversy

Amid the celebration of those nominated for Artist of the Year were others who wondered what might have been were it not for the new gender-neutral categorization that was implemented last year — in 2021, the BRITS released a gender-inclusivity statement that they would design the 2022 BRIT Awards categories according to the progressive ideology.

It’s only the second year since the BRIT awards dropped gender categories, and already female representation has disappeared in the Artist of the Year category. Upon announcement of Artist of the Year nominees, the awards show was criticized by fans and music industry professionals alike.

Tim Burgess of The Charlatans tweeted: “So The Brits introduced an Artist Of The Year category as a gender neutral replacement for Best Male and Best Female Artist category - but this year all five nominees are blokes [...]. One step forward, three steps back.”

Meanwhile, up-and-coming singer Mahalia lit a fire on social media by posting her grievances with the awards board. She wrote, “Forget putting us in this category. Give us our own!!!!! How many times do we have to scream at you?”

Upcoming new artists

The Best New Artist Award is not just an opportunity for new artists to get on the scoreboard, but for fans to anticipate what’s new in upcoming music trends.

Contenders for the exciting new-artist award are Kojey Radical, Mimi Webb, Rina Sawayama, Sam Ryder, and Wet Leg. Watch out for some of these new artists to start performing in the big leagues — some of them are even performing at the event, opening for Harry Styles.

All 2023 BRIT Awards nominees

Album of the Year

Artist of the Year

Best group

Song of the Year

Best international artist

Best international group

International song of the Year

Best new artist

Rising Star

Best alternative / rock

Best dance

Best hip-hop / rap / grime

Pop / R&B