The 2023 Brits Awards took place last night, Saturday 11th February, at the London O2 Arena. Hosted by Mo Gilligan, this marks the Brits 43rd edition of the ceremony. Many winners took away this years Brit award, which was designed by Nigerian-born, London-based artist Slawn.
Harry Styles was the star of the night, taking home four Brits awards. He won the awards for Best Pop/R&B Act, Artist of the year, Song of the year for his number one single ‘’As it was’’ and Album of the year for his third studio album Harry’s House. During his acceptance speech for Artist of the year, Harry Styles shouted out his former One Direction band mates, sending fans into a craze with more hope towards a reunion.
Styles also spoke about how he was aware of his privilege for winning the award and shouted out some British female artists. The Brits voting academy faced backlash as Mabel, Florence and the Machine, Becky Hill, Rina Sawayama and Charli XCX were all eligible to be nominated for the 2023 Artist of the year award, however none of the talented women in music made the cut.
‘’I want to thank Niall, Louis, Liam and Zayn, as I wouldn’t be here without you. I’m really, really grateful for this, and I’m very aware of my privilege up here tonight. So this award is for Rina, Charli, Florence, Mabel and Becky, thank you so much.’’
The first winner of the night was Aitch, as he took home the Brit award for Best Hiphop/Rap/Grime act. Becky Hill won Best Dance Act for her second year in a row. The Rising Star award went to girl group, Flo. The British girl group formed in 2019 and consists of members Jorja Douglas, Stella Quaresma and Renée Downer. Ellie Goulding and Tom Grennan presented the award for Best New Artist. Wet Leg went onto win the award, aswell as Group of the year later on in the evening. During the acceptance speech, Wet Leg lead singer, Rhian Teasdale, said,
‘’That Rock’n’roll, hey. That Rock’n’roll. It just won’t go away. It might hibernate, from time to time and sink back into the swamp.’’
Pop icon Beyoncé, won two awards on the night. She won International Artist of the year and International Song of the year for ‘’Break My Soul.’’ The award for International Group of the year went to Irish post-punk band, Fontaines D.C. The Best Alternative/Rock Act award was awarded to The 1975. This is the band’s fourth Brit award. The 1975 won album of the year in 2019 for their album, A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships. The award for Producer of the year went to French DJ, David Guetta. He has had six number One’s in the UK and has worked with artists from across the globe, such as Nicki Minaj, Sia, Rihanna, Kelly Rowland, Justin Bieber and many other successful artists within the music industry.
Harry Styles opened the show with a performance of his award-winning song, ‘’As it was.’’As the show went on, many artists performed, such as Lizzo, Lewis Capaldi, Cat Burns, Wet Leg, Stormzy, Sam Smith and Kim Petras. The show ended with a performance from David Guetta with Ella Henderson, Becky Hill and Sam Ryder.
