Brit Awards 2023
Brit Awards 2023, the 43rd edition of the ceremony, presented by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), was held on 11 February 2023 to recognise the best in British and international music.[1] The ceremony took place at The O2 Arena in London and was hosted by British comedian Mo Gilligan, who returns after hosting the 2022 edition.[2] Coverage of the red carpet was broadcast on ITV2 and presented by Clara Amfo, Maya Jama and Roman Kemp. The 2023 Brit Award trophy was designed by Nigerian-born London-based artist Olaolu Slawn.[3]
Brit Awards 2023
Going into the ceremony, Harry Styles and Wet Leg were the most-nominated artists, with four each. Styles emerged as the night's big winner, winning in all four of the categories he was nominated in, with Wet Leg and Beyoncé also winning multiple awards.[4][5]
The ceremony was screened on ITV to 3.3 million viewers.[6]
Winners and nominees[edit]
Nominees[edit]
The eligibility period for the 2023 Brit Awards ran from 10 December 2021 to 9 December 2022. Nominees for the Rising Star Award were announced on 29 November 2022,[12] and the winner was announced on 8 December 2022.[13] The nominees for the other categories were announced on 12 January 2023 via the BRITs social platforms by Vick Hope alongside Jack Saunders and Tom Daley.[14] British singer Sam Ryder, became the first Eurovision artist to be nominated for Best New Artist and K-pop girl group Blackpink, became the first Kpop girl group to be nominated for International Group.[15]
Controversies[edit]
Upon the announcement of the 2023 nominees, the Brits garnered significant controversy when the Artist of the Year featured exclusively male nominees.[20][21]
Eligibility to be the Best British Artist of the Year is to have released at least one top 40 album or two top 20 singles, released between 10 December 2021 and 9 December 2022.[22] An artist's record company decides whether to propose an eligible artist to be considered by The Brits for nomination. Of the seventy eligible artists, twelve were female. Female artists were significantly represented in other categories, with Wet Leg receiving the joint highest number of nominations for the ceremony along with Harry Styles. A spokesperson for the Brits stated that 2022 saw fewer high profile women artists major releases and would monitor future nomination patterns.[23] When Styles won the category, he dedicated the award to several of the female artists who had not been nominated.[24]
Additional controversy surrounded the Brit Award for Pop/R&B Act category, with critics citing a lack of R&B representation and questioning why the two genres were grouped together in the first place.[25]
Several issues arose throughout the ceremony. During the acceptance speech for British Group, one member of the group Wet Leg shouted an expletive anti-Conservative Party message, which was subsequently censored.[26]
Another incident involved comedian Daisy May Cooper, who seemingly made an inappropriate cocaine joke about the Sugababes. Despite Daisy’s microphone crackling, as she uttered the insensitive joke, it was not bleeped out of the show for people watching at home.[27]
Additionally, production issues concerning the construction of the set for Sam Smith's performance resulted in a pre-recording of Adele performing her song "I Drink Wine" from last year's ceremony, being shown.[28]
Sam Smith and Kim Petras' performance of "Unholy" received backlash's resulting in over 100 Ofcom complaints being made.[29]