Brit Awards 2020
Brit Awards 2020 was the 40th edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music show, the Brit Awards, and was marketed as "The 40th Show".[2] It was held on 18 February 2020 at the O2 Arena in London, with Jack Whitehall as the host for the third year running.[3][4]
| Brit Awards 2020 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date | 18 February 2020 |
| Venue | The O2 Arena |
| Hosted by | Jack Whitehall Alice Levine (Nominations show & red carpet) Clara Amfo (Red carpet) |
| Most awards | Lewis Capaldi (2) |
| Most nominations |
|
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | ITV ITV2 (Red Carpet) YouTube |
| Runtime | 125 minutes |
| Viewership | 3.8 million[1] |
BBC Radio 1 host Alice Levine hosted the BRITs Are Coming Nominations Launch Show on 11 January 2020. The show was broadcast on ITV.[2]
Category changes
Several changes were made to the award categories compared to the previous year with the overal number of awards based on nominations reduced from thirteen to nine.[5][6] None of the categories included fan voting.[7]
Categories not included
Compared to 2019, the following awards were not awarded:[7]
- International Group Award (Returned in 2021)
- Best British Video Award
- Outstanding Contribution to Music Award
- Global Success Award
Renamed categories
The following awards were renamed:[5]
- Best New Artist (previously British Breakthrough Act)
- Rising Star Award (previously Critics' Choice Award)
- Song of the Year (previously British Single of the Year)
Controversy
Following the launch show, the Brits were castigated for having male-dominated nominations on the main and gender-neutral categories.[8][9][10][11][12] The nominations for Album of the Year, Best Group and Best New Artist were almost entirely dominated by male solo artists, except for Mabel who was nominated for the latter, and international singers Normani and Miley Cyrus, who both were up for Song of the Year for their collaborations with Sam Smith and Mark Ronson.
Performers
Pre-ceremony
| Performer(s) | Song | UK Singles Chart reaction (week ending 23 January 2020) |
UK Albums Chart reaction (week ending 23 January 2020) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liam Payne Cheat Codes |
"Live Forever" | N/A | LP1 – 100 (–31) |
| Freya Ridings | "Lost Without You" | N/A | Freya Ridings – 72 (+18) |
| Aitch | "Taste (Make It Shake)" | N/A | N/A |
| Dermot Kennedy | "Power Over Me" | 60 (+26) | Without Fear – 23 (+17) |
| Mabel | "Don't Call Me Up" | 52 (+4) | High Expectations – 22 (+7) |
Main show
Winners and nominees
The winners are in bold.[14][15]
| British Album of the Year (presented by Billie Eilish and Finneas) |
Song of the Year (presented by Tom Jones) |
|---|---|
| |
| British Male Solo Artist (presented by Ronnie Wood) |
British Female Solo Artist (presented by Ellie Goulding and Jorja Smith) |
| British Group (presented by Anne-Marie, Courtney Love, and Hailee Steinfeld) |
Best New Artist (presented by Clara Amfo and Niall Horan) |
| International Male Solo Artist (presented by Kiefer Sutherland and Paloma Faith) |
International Female Solo Artist (presented by Melanie C) |
| Rising Star Award (presented by Sam Fender) |
British Producer of the Year |
Multiple nominations and awards
| Nominations | Artist |
|---|---|
| 4 | Dave |
| Lewis Capaldi | |
| 3 | Mabel |
| Stormzy | |
| 2 | Burna Boy |
| Harry Styles | |
| Michael Kiwanuka | |
| Fred Again |
| Awards | Artist |
|---|---|
| 2 | Lewis Capaldi |
References
- Tilley, Joanna (19 February 2020). "Brit Awards pulls in 3.8m". Broadcast. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
- Paine, Andre (16 December 2019). "BRITs Are Coming special returns to ITV". Music Week. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- "Jack's back!". BRIT Awards. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- "Brit awards 2020: Lewis Capaldi tops winners alongside rap triumphs". The Guardian. 18 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
- "We're back!". BRIT Awards. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- McGhie, Tom (5 November 2019). "Brit Awards announces major changes for 2020 ceremony". The Independent. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- Grein, Paul (5 November 2019). "U.K.'s BRIT Awards Cut Categories, Eliminate Fan Voting, Give Artists More Control of Performances". Billboard. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- Petridis, Alexis (11 January 2020). "This year's male-dominated Brit awards have an issue with women". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- Savage, Mark (14 January 2020). "Why weren't more women nominated for a Brit award?". BBC. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- Duke, Simon (11 January 2020). "Brit Awards at centre of 'sexist' storm as nominations are revealed". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- "Brit Awards nominations 2020: where are all the brilliant women?". The Daily Telegraph. 11 January 2020. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- Horton, Tom; Green, Alex (11 January 2020). "Lewis Capaldi and Dave lead nominations in male-dominated Brit Awards shortlist". Irish Independent. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- "The lyrics of Dave's Brits performance in full". The Independent. 19 February 2020. Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
- "Nominees for the BRIT Awards 2020". BRIT Awards. 11 January 2020. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (11 January 2020). "Brit award nominations 2020: Dave and Lewis Capaldi top pile, with women shut out". The Guardian. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
Producer of the year will be announced ahead of the awards ceremony; the rising star award for hotly tipped new talent has already been awarded, to soul singer Celeste.