With the Sunday newspapers telling us ahead of the event that Robbie was only up for one Brit Award this year, there were very few surprises when the nominations for the annual UK music awards fest were announced last night. Even my Mum expected Ms Dynamite and the Streets to dominate, and they did, each picking up four nominations each. Then again, given that they are nominated against each other in three of those categories, it’s likely neither will actually storm the night.
In fact the only surprise of the night was that out of all the singles released in 2002 two by Gareth Gates deserved nominations for the title of ‘best’. But then we realised the five best selling records of the year automatically make up the nominations for this category – so no surprise their either.
Nominations for best pop act are also based on overall record sales. The rest were selected by the Brits Academy, of course, hundreds of people from the music industry and music media. That Academy selects the overall winner for ten of the categories. Radio 1 listeners will now be able to vote for best breakthrough artist (a trendy way of saying best newcomer), listeners to commercial radio stations will vote for best single (not that there is one in the list of nominations), MTV Base viewers can pick the best from the ten artists nominated for best urban act, while CD:UK viewers and Sun readers will vote for best pop act.
The awards take place on 20 Feb at Earls Court at 5pm – they will be televised by ITV later that night. Between now and then ITV will no doubt generate hours of television analysing the nomination lists. Those nominations in full:
British male solo artist: Badly Drawn Boy; Craig David; David Gray; The Streets; Robbie Williams
British female solo artist: Sophie Ellis Bextor; Ms Dynamite; Beverley Knight; Alison Moyet; Beth Orton
British album: Coldplay - Rush of Blood to the Head; Ms Dynamite - A Little Deeper; The Coral - The Coral; The Streets - Original Pirate Material; Sugababes - Angels with Dirty Faces
British group: Blue; Coldplay; Doves; Sugababes; Oasis
British single: Atomic Kitten - The Tide is High (Get The Feeling); Gareth Gates - Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake); Gareth Gates - Unchained Melody; Liberty X - Just A Little; Will Young - Anything Is Possible/Evergreen
British urban act: Beverley Knight; Big Brovaz; Craig David; Daniel Bedingfield; Mis-Teeq; Ms Dynamite; Romeo; Roots Manuva; So Solid Crew; The Streets
British dance act: Chemical Brothers; Groove Armada; Jamiroquai; Kosheen; Sugababes
British breakthrough artist: Liberty X; Ms Dynamite; The Coral; The Streets; Will Young
Pop act: Blue; Enrique Iglesias; Gareth Gates; Pink; Will Young
International male solo artist: Beck; Eminem; Moby; Nelly; Bruce Springsteen
International female solo artist: Missy Elliot; Norah Jones; Alicia Keys; Avril Lavigne; Pink
International album: Eminem - The Eminem Show; Norah Jones - Come Away with Me; Alicia Keys - Songs in A Minor; Pink - Missundaztood; Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way
International group: Foo Fighters; Nickelback; Red Hot Chili Peppers; Royksopp; White Stripes
International breakthrough artist: Norah Jones; Avril Lavigne; Nickelback; Shakira; White Stripes
Outstanding contribution to music: Tom Jones