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Jessie J is having a baby boy!

The 34-year-old British pop star, who recently surprised fans by announcing that she’s pregnant, took to social media ahead of the 2023 Brit Awards on Saturday (Feb. 11) to sweetly reveal the gender of her unborn child.

“Since I wrote this song every time I play it or sing it he moves like crazy… so I think this song is the one,” she captioned the video on Instagram. “Oh yeah…I’m having a boy.”

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The “Price Tag” singer playfully added, “And I promise I am wearing underwear.”

In the brief clip, Jessie is draped in a silky white robe while rubbing her exposed baby bump and beautifully singing the lyrics to a new song. “Something’s changed that I’ve been waiting for, I feel its weight falling to the floor,” she sings.

The songstress announced in early January that she was expecting a child. “I am so happy and terrified to finally share this… Please be gentle with me,” Jessie wrote on Instagram, sharing clips of her positive pregnancy test and ultrasound. The exciting news arrived more than a year after she suffered a pregnancy loss in November 2021.

While walking the red carpet at the Brits on Saturday, Jessie joked that she could “really do with a snack” and commented on her gender reveal video just hours earlier. “I just literally teased a new song an hour ago,” she said, according to the Daily Mail. “It wasn’t even really a planned thing…You have got to do what you have got to do.’

See Jessie’s sweet video on Instagram below.

LONDON —Throughout its five-decade history, the Brit Awards, the U.K.’s biggest music awards show, have produced many headline-grabbing moments — from Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker wiggling his butt at Michael Jackson in 1996 to Adele flipping the bird at TV executives for cutting off her acceptance speech in 2012 — and featured unforgettable performances from Amy Winehouse, Stormzy, Dave, Kanye West and the Spice Girls.   

But like other entertainment awards shows, such as the Grammys and Academy Awards, the Brits are being forced to radically reinvent themselves to combat falling TV ratings and retain relevance with young music fans. Last year’s ceremony was watched by 2.7 million television viewers in the U.K., down from 2.9 million in 2021 — the Brit’s lowest-ever TV audience, according to industry publication Broadcast.  

To try to arrest that slide, this year’s show at London’s O2 Arena takes place on a Saturday night for the first time in the Brit Awards’ 46-year history.

Organizers are hoping the move will breathe new life into the iconic ceremony, which this year has weathered controversy over a lack of female nominees; it will feature performances by Lizzo, Harry Styles, Lewis Capaldi, Stormzy, Sam Smith and Kim Petras.

“There’s been a desire [within the industry] for the Brits to be on a Saturday night for some time,” says Sophie Jones, chief strategy officer and interim CEO of labels body BPI, which runs the Brit Awards. “This year the pieces of the jigsaw fell into place, and it feels like a very exciting premium place for us to be.” 

As in previous years, the two-hour show will be broadcast live on ITV in the U.K. The U.K. version of The Masked Singer, which is broadcast in the slot that precedes this year’s Brit Awards show, attracted 6.3 million viewers to last year’s season finale, according to ITV.

Outside the U.K., the 43rd edition of the show (The first ceremony took place in 1977, though the Brit Awards didn’t become an annual event until 1982) will be livestreamed internationally on YouTube for the 10th consecutive year, while a 60-minute red carpet show hosted by Nella Rose and Michelle Visage will be streamed on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The Brit Awards’ other digital partners include TikTok, YouTube Kids, Vevo and fan engagement platform Filmily.

Social media and digital platforms have enabled the Brit Awards to reach a far larger and younger global audience than it has ever reached on terrestrial television, says Jones. She points to 44 million views on the Brit Awards’ official YouTube channel for 2022’s performances and highlights, with more than 1 million people watching the accompanying red carpet show — marking a 25% jump from the previous year. Last year also saw 1.6 million visitors to BRITs World on Roblox.  

The show’s continued importance to the U.K. record industry is illustrated by the spike in sales that winning acts and performers often experience. In the four days following 2022’s event, audio streams of songs performed on the night collectively increased 55% with 3.3 million additional streams, according to BPI data tracking. The highest uplift was for Ed Sheeran’s “The Joker and the Queen,” which saw a 699% increase in post-show streams.   

“The shared experience moments that awards shows create are really special and the Brits still does that,” says Jones. “It’s a really important calling card for how much talent there is in the U.K.”  

Lack Of Female Artists Sparks Backlash

In addition to battling falling TV viewership, the Brit Awards have increasingly found themselves caught up in controversies of their own making. This year’s nominations provoked a fierce backlash from artists and fans when they were announced on Jan. 12 because no female artists were named in the gender-neutral best artist category.  

BPI says the lack of female nominations is a result of the strict eligibility criteria and relative shortage of high-profile British female stars putting out new music in 2022. The Brit Awards scrapped best male and best female awards last year in favor of gender-neutral prizes.  

To be eligible for the best artist prize, an artist must have achieved at least one top 40 album or two top 20 singles in the U.K. over a 12-month period. Out of the 71 U.K. stars eligible for the award, only 12 were women — a list that includes Charli XCX and Florence + the Machine.                    

From that 71, a panel of around 1,200 voters — made up of artists, industry executives, journalists and retailers — pick their top five in order of preference. This year’s five nominees are Harry Styles, George Ezra, Stormzy, Central Cee and Fred Again.   

“Clearly, it’s disappointing not to see any women nominated in the new gender-neutral category [but] it’s important we recognize the process by which those decisions are made,” Jones tells Billboard. She says that compared to 2022, when Adele won best artist and women or female-fronted acts won 10 out of 15 awards, the past 12 months have “seen fewer high-profile female artists within the release cycle and that has played itself through in the qualification list.”  

In the wake of this year’s backlash, Jones says BPI will conduct a post-show review of its nominations criteria, eligibility thresholds and voting processes “looking at different potential approaches… to make sure that the awards are fully representative and celebrate success.” She says there are no plans to return to male and female categories for the best artist award but adds that nothing is “off the table.”     

“Everything is in the mix, and it would be right and proper of us to think about this from all angles and make sure that we are making the right decision, whatever that might be,” says Jones.   

Despite the all-male best artist list, organizers point to the high number of female artists in the running for other prizes on Saturday night. They include alternative rock band Wet Leg, who received four nominations; Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, both nominated in the international artist and international song categories; and Nova Twins, who are competing against Arctic Monkeys, The 1975, Bad Boy Chiller Crew and Wet Leg for best group. In total, 42% of this year’s nominations went to female artists or female-fronted bands, compared to 46% last year, says BPI.    

The London-based organization previously became embroiled in controversy in 2016 when no Black artists were nominated in any major categories, provoking the viral hashtag #BritsSoWhite. Since then, BPI says there have been widespread changes to its voting academy, which this year was made up of 52% women and 31% from Black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds.  

A nine-person Brits Committee — made up of two-thirds women, highlights BPI — oversees the Brit Awards. This year, Damian Christian, managing director of Atlantic Records U.K., makes his bow as committee chair, replacing Polydor’s Tom March who held the role in 2022. (Each of the three major labels takes turns leading the committee, rotating every three years.)      

Those structural reforms have helped make the event far more representative of the U.K. music scene, say organizers, with recent editions seeing hip-hop stars Stormzy, Dave and Little Simz take home major prizes and deliver some of the event’s most-talked-about live performances.

The Brit Awards are returning to London’s The O2 arena on Saturday (Feb. 11), with Mo Gilligan hosting the prestigious ceremony across the pond.

While the ceremony will air on ITV at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT, if you’re not in England and are still hoping to catch the Brit Awards live, you’re going to need access to a VPN like ExpressVPN, which you can sign up for here. A live stream will also be hosted on the BRIT Awards’ official YouTube channel.

“Hosting the BRITs last year was one of the most phenomenal moments of my life,” Mo Gilligan previously said in a press statement of his upcoming hosting gig. “I’ve been so honoured to get to know the incredible team behind the biggest night in music and so proud to bring our amazing audiences even closer to their favourite artists. I promise you, we’re going to go even bigger this year… Let’s go!”

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Harry Styles and Wet Leg, who are also performing at the 2023 Brit Awards, are the leading nominees with four nods each. Other artists vying for multiple awards include Aitch, Arctic Monkeys, Beyoncé, Cat Burns, Dave, Ed Sheeran, Eliza Rose, Lizzo, Nova Twins, Sam Smith, Stormzy and Taylor Swift.

The nominees for Mastercard album of the year are The 1975’s Being Funny in a Foreign Language, Wet Leg’s Wet Leg, Styles’ Harry’s House, Stormzy’s This Is What I Mean and Fred again…’s Actual Life 3 (January 1- September 9 2022).

R&B girl group FLO have already been announced as winners of the 2023 Rising Star award. See Billboard‘s full list of Brits nominations here.

Harry Styles, Lizzo and Sam Smith & Kim Petras, who all performed on the Grammy telecast on Feb. 5 (and also all walked off with awards), are scheduled to perform again on Saturday Feb. 11 at the Brit Awards, which will be held at the O2 arena in London.
They’ll barely have time to get over their jet lag before they’re in front of another arena filled with screaming fans (in the cheap seats) and more reserved industry types (closer to the stage).

Wet Leg, which won two Grammys in the alternative music field, but did not snag a performance slot on Sunday’s telecast, will perform on the Brits.

The Brits have not revealed which songs these stars will sing. Styles performed his megahit “As It Was” on the Grammys. Lizzo sang “About Damn Time” and “Special.” Smith and Petras performed “Unholy.” Smith and Petras are expected to perform that smash again. David Guetta, Becky Hill and Ella Henderson are expected to perform “Crazy What Love Can Do.”

The final performer announced for the Brits was Lewis Capaldi – who last performed at the Brits in 2020, when he sang his breakthrough smash “Someone You Loved.” Capaldi was characteristically self-effacing in a statement: “Last time I played The BRIT Awards I was so scared that I had a panic attack before I went on, and then got hammered afterwards. Looking forward to more of the same this year x.”

Comedian Mo Gilligan will host the BRIT Awards 2023 with Mastercard – the show’s official name – for the second year in a row.

For American fans accustomed to Grammy and Oscar telecasts that often drag on past 3-1/2 hours, the Brit Awards, which stick pretty close to their two-hour scheduled runtime, may seem positively fast-paced. (It’s worth noting that the Grammys were a two-hour show until the 25th anniversary edition on Feb. 23, 1983 when it expanded to three hours for the first time. It never went back.)

Styles and Wet Leg are the leading nominees for the 2023 Brit Awards, with four nods each. Other artists vying for multiple awards include Aitch, Arctic Monkeys, Beyoncé, Cat Burns, Dave, Ed Sheeran, Eliza Rose, Lizzo, Nova Twins, Sam Smith, Stormzy and Taylor Swift.

R&B girl group FLO have already been announced as winners of the 2023 Rising Star award.

This marks the first time the Brits have aired on a Saturday. The show will be broadcast exclusively on ITV1 and ITVX from 8.30pm GMT. Outside of the U.K., it’s available globally at youtube.com/BRITs 

Clara Amfo, Maya Jama and Roman Kemp will return to host the BRIT Awards 2023: Red Carpet show on ITV2 and ITVX, which begins at 7.30pm GMT.

2023 will mark 30 years of ITV as the Brits’ broadcast partner, 25 years of Mastercard as headline sponsor and 13 years with the show at The O2.

Here’s the full list of performers for the 2023 Brit Awards:

Cat BurnsDavid Guetta & Becky Hill & Ella HendersonHarry StylesLewis CapaldiLizzoSam Smith & Kim PetrasStormzyWet Leg

Harry Styles has been added to the performer lineup for next month’s 2023 BRIT Awards. On Tuesday morning (Jan. 17) the singer was added to the roster for the broadcast where he is up for four awards; album of the year (Harry’s House), artist of the year, pop/R&B act and song of the year for his smash single “As It Was.”

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Styles joins previously announced performers Wet Leg and Sam Smith with Kim Petras at the show slated to take place on Feb. 11 at the O2 Arena in London. It will be Styles’ second solo performance at the BRIT’s, following his run through “Falling” at the 2020 awards. Slated for broadcast on ITV1 and ITVX, the show will be hosted by British comedian Mo Gilligan.

After recently wrapping the North American run for his massive Love on Tour outing, last week Styles announced a few more chances for fans to catch the show. After completing three rescheduled shows at the Forum in Los Angeles Jan. 26, 27 and 29, Styles announced on Friday (Jan. 13) that he will play two final nights at Acrisure Arena, Southern California’s newest 11,000-capacity world-class venue in Greater Palm Springs, on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. Madi Diaz will serve as a special guest for the two dates.

Since launching Sept. 4, 2021, Styles has netted $338.9 million and sold 2.6 million tickets for the Live Nation produced, 120 show tour according to Billboard Boxscore. Love on Tour made many stops around the globe including North America, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

Kojey Radical, Mimi Webb, Rina Sawayama, Sam Ryder and Wet Leg got the thrill of a lifetime on Thursday when they received 2023 Brit Awards nominations for best new artist.

Several of the nominees expressed their joy on hearing the news. Wet Leg exclaimed, “Somebody hold our horses while we get to grips with this wild news, being nominated for a BRIT award is too hard to comprehend, we never could have expected for our wee band to achieve this.”

Webb gave a shout-out to a previous winner in the category. “I remember seeing 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 I am today.”

Ryder expressed his joy in a most vivid way: “I’m buzzing! I feel like a Golden Retriever that’s won a medal.”

Wet Leg, the female indie rock duo that tied Harry Styles for the most nominations by any artist this year (four), is the clear front-runner here, but the other four acts should not lose heart. Many future superstars have lost this award and gone on to do very well. The gifted singer whose photo accompanies this story is one of them.

It’s not that the Brits don’t know a talented new artist when they see one. The roster of winners in this category includes such heavyweights as Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Dua Lipa and Lewis Capaldi. It’s just that it’s not always easy to envision how an artist will develop and grow based on just their first year – and sometimes, less than a year – of success.

Note: The category has undergone several name changes over the years. When the Brits originated in 1977, they presented separate awards for British female newcomer and British male newcomer. When the show resumed in 1982 following a four-year hiatus, the Brits made the category gender-neutral and called it the Brit Award for British newcomer. In 2003, they changed it to the Brit Award for British breakthrough act. In 2020, they changed it again to the Brit Award for best new artist – mirroring the language the Grammys had used since they introduced the award in 1959.

Here are 10 artists who lost the award for best new artist, but (thankfully) didn’t let that stop them.

Want to be among the first to know just how many Brit Awards nominations Harry Styles receives for his hit album Harry’s House and his global smash “As It Was”? You can tune into a livestream on Thursday (Jan. 12) at 11 a.m. ET during which the nominations will be announced.
The 30-minute livestream, titled “Bring on The Brits With Mastercard: The 2023 Nominations,” will stream on the official Brits channels on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. In the livestream, viewers will see reactions from artists as they learn the happy news and get the latest updates on the 2023 Brit Awards. The show is set for Saturday, Feb. 11, at the O2 arena in London, with comedian Mo Gilligan hosting for the second year in a row.

Broadcaster Vick Hope will host the livestream. He will be joined by radio broadcaster Jack Saunders as well as various celebrities who will reveal the nominations across their own social media channels. They include Olympian Tom Daley, YouTube’s Yung Filly, World Cup winner Jill Scott and Gogglebox’s Joe and George Baggs.

Styles has won two Brit Awards as a solo artist – British single of the year two years ago for “Watermelon Sugar” and British video of the year five years ago for “Sign of the Times.” At the upcoming Grammy Awards, Styles is nominated for six awards – including album, record and song of the year.

Adele is nominated for seven Grammys – including album, record and song of the year – but don’t look for her in the marquee categories at the Brits. She won last year for British album of the year, British artist of the year and best British single. (The Brits and the Grammys have different eligibility periods.)

Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres, which is also Grammy-nominated for album of the year, will likewise not be a factor in the Brit nods. It was released in October 2021, a month before Adele’s album. Coldplay was nominated for Brits last year for best British group and best rock/alternative artist.

But British indie rock band Wet Leg, which is Grammy-nominated for best new artist, may well get some attention from the Brits. Their eponymous debut album was released in April 2022. The band is set to open for Styles when he plays four nights at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles later this month.

The Brits announced their first winner last month. R&B girl group FLO is the winner of the 2023 Rising Star award.

Saunders will open this year’s TikTok voting for the four genre awards later this month. Those awards, introduced last year, are best pop/R&B act, best dance act, best rock/alternative act and best hip-hop/grime/rap act.

This will mark the first time the Brit Awards, which will broadcast live on ITV1 and ITVX, will be held on a Saturday. This year marks the Brits’ 30th year years with ITV as its broadcast partner; its 25th year with Mastercard as its headline sponsor; and its 13th year at The O2 arena.

A year ago, the Brits’ nominations special was titled The Brits Are Coming. Hosted by Maya Jama and Clara Amfo, the show aired on Dec. 18, 2021.

The buzzy British R&B group FLO were named the winners of the Brit Awards’ Rising Star award on Thursday (Dec. 8). They are the first girl group to win in the category and the first group of any type to win since Florence + the Machine in 2009. Other previous winners of the award (formerly called Critics’ Choice) include Adele, Ellie Goulding, Sam Smith and Celeste.
The news was revealed by Clara Amfo on her BBC Radio 1 Future Sounds show.

“From growing up watching the BRITs, to finding each other and forming FLO, releasing our first body of work in 2022 and winning a BRIT award in the same year!!,” the members of FLO exulted in a statement. “We are so shocked and grateful. We are the first group to win the BRITs Rising Star! We’ve just made history and couldn’t have done it without our wonderful fans and supportive families. It’s truly a dream come true. We feel so empowered creating the music we love and we hope others feel that too.”

The group – Renée, Jorja and Stella – released their debut single “Cardboard Box” just seven months ago. They have also released a debut EP, The Lead. George Griffiths of The Official U.K. Charts site says “they have quickly become the de facto heirs to the British girlband crown left vacant by Little Mix.”

FLO have was also nominated for best newcomer at the MOBO Awards (but lost to BRU-C). FLO have performed “Cardboard Box” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and the U.K.’s Later…With Jools Holland.

The song ranked No. 85 on Billboard’s just-published 100 Best Songs of 2022: Staff List. Writing about the song, Glenn Rowley observed, “From the opening notes of their debut single, British trio FLO makes it clear they’re channeling the spirit — and chill-inducing harmonies — of late ‘90s/early ‘00s R&B. Taking inspiration in equal measures from the likes of 702, Blaque and Destiny’s Child, ‘Cardboard Box’ is something of a little sister to Beyoncé’s classic 2006 kiss-off ‘Irreplaceable.’ By the time the threesome finish kicking a cheating beau to the curb, they’ve proved they might just have the charisma and vocal chops to be crowned those girl groups’ latest heir apparents.”

Cat Burns and Nia Archives were also shortlisted for the Brits’ Rising Star award. The shortlist is selected by an invited panel of music editors and critics from the national press, online music editors, heads of music at major radio and music TV stations plus songwriters, producers and live bookers – those working with new rising talent on a regular basis. 

The BRIT Awards 2023 with Mastercard – as the show is formally known – will take place on Saturday Feb. 11, 2023, at The O2 arena in London. This marks the first time the show will be held on a Saturday. It will be broadcast live on ITV and ITVX.

Here’s a full list of BRIT Awards’ Critics’ Choice/Rising Star winners (with other nominees shown in parentheses):

2008:  Adele (Duffy, Foals)

2009:  Florence + The Machine (Little Boots, White Lies)

2010:  Ellie Goulding (Delphic, Marina and the Diamonds)

2011:  Jessie J (James Blake, The Vaccines)

2012:  Emeli Sandé (Michael Kiwanuka, Maverick Sabre)

2013:  Tom Odell (AlunaGeorge, Laura Mvula)

2014:  Sam Smith (Ella Eyre, Chlöe Howl)

2015:  James Bay (George The Poet, Years & Years)

2016:  Jack Garratt (Izzy Bizu, Frances)

2017:  Rag ’n’ Bone Man (Anne Marie, Dua Lipa)

2018:  Jorja Smith (Stefflon Don, Mabel)

2019:  Sam Fender (Lewis Capaldi, Mahalia)

2020:  Celeste (Beabadoobee, Joy Crookes)

2021:  Griff (Pa Salieu, Rina Sawayama)

2022:  Holly Humberstone (Bree Runway, Lola Young)

2023:  FLO (Cat Burns, Nia Archives)