Sam Smith admits it’s ‘a shame’ no women have been nominated for the BRITs Best Artist Award following gender-neutral overhaul – despite previously calling for the ceremony to be more ‘reflective’
Sam Smith thinks it is ‘a shame’ there are no women nominated for Best Artist at the BRIT Awards.
The Unholy hitmaker, 30, was one of the first musicians to call for the ceremony to be ‘reflective’ resulting in organisers making the event the first major UK awards to abolish gendered categories.
But the star – who is non-binary and uses gender neutral pronouns – still thinks there is a ‘long way to go’ after the shortlist for this year’s prestigious prize only featured male nominees.
Gutted: Sam Smith, 30, thinks it is ‘a shame’ there are no women nominated for Best Artist at the BRIT Awards
Sam said there are a lot of female artists who should have made the shortlist, instead of just Harry Styles, Stormzy, George Ezra, Central Cee and Fred Again being left to contend for the prize.
Asked which women should have been shortlisted, they said: ‘Cat Burns. Anne Marie. Florence Welch. There’s so much incredible female talent in the UK — they should be on that list.’
They said: ‘Things are moving forward, but it’s obvious it’s not there yet. From seeing that [best artist] list, there is still a long way to go’.
‘It’s incredibly frustrating. ‘It feels like it should be easy to do’.
Missing out: The Unholy hitmaker was one of the first musicians to call for the ceremony to be ‘reflective’ resulting in organisers making the event the first major UK awards to abolish gendered categories (Dua Lipa pictured)
In 2021, the BRIT Awards announced it would be abolishing its male and female categories, in bid to celebrate artists ‘solely for their music’.
They continued: ‘[The BRITs] just have to celebrate everyone because this is not just about artists getting awards’.
‘Awards are for kids watching on TV, thinking, ‘I can make music like this.’ When I was young, if I’d seen more queer people at these awards it would have lit my heart. Awards are there to inspire.’
Unimpressed: Sam said there are a lot of female artists who should have made the shortlist, instead of just Harry Styles, Stormzy, George Ezra, Central Cee and Fred Again being left to contend for the prize
Meanwhile, while Sam believes their new album ‘Gloria’ is their most authentic record to date, they insisted they were never ‘inauthentic’, just not as at ease with themself.
Sam said: ‘I’ve always been authentic. I just think asking a 24 year old to be their 100 per cent self in front of 20,000 people was never going to happen’.
‘I showed 70 per cent of who I was then and a lot of that has to do with me being gay.’
Women: Asked which women should have been shortlisted, they said: ‘Cat Burns (left) . Anne Marie. Florence Welch (right). There’s so much incredible female talent in the UK — they should be on that list’
‘As I got older, though, I realised there’s no shame. I wasn’t being inauthentic — you just keep some things to yourself until you’re ready.’
It comes after Geroge Ezra was called out on Twitter last week for being nominated for the BRITs’ Artist Of The Year award while female stars were snubbed.
The singer, 29, appeared on Lorraine and said the BRITs panel have done a ‘great job of recognising talent’ – despite only men being nominated for the top gong.
Facing the music: It comes after Geroge Ezra was called out on Twitter last week for being nominated for the BRITs’ Artist Of The Year award while female stars were snubbed
Viewers took to Twitter in fury to question organisers’ decision not to put forward a single female act and, awkwardly for George, many said they thought the likes of Dua Lipa, Raye and Florence & The Machine were more worthy than him.
One wrote: ‘Are the BRITs truly saying they don’t think there are any female artists in this country better than George Ezra?’ Another added: ‘You cannot tell me that George Ezra is better than Raye or Dua or any other female artist’.
A third viewer chimed: ‘BRIT stands for Boys Receive Industry Trophies,’ while another wrote: ‘It’s an absolute disgrace that no women are nominated for artist of the year at The Brits. It’s even more of a disgrace that George Ezra is.’
BRIT AWARDS 2023: THE NOMINATIONS
Mastercard Album Of The Year
The 1975 – Being Funny In A Foreign Language
Wet Leg – Wet Leg
Harry Styles – Harry’s House
Stormzy – This Is What I Mean
Fred Again – Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022)
Artist Of The Year
Central Cee
Fred Again
George Ezra
Harry Styles
Stormzy
Group Of The Year
The 1975
Arctic Monkeys
Bad Boy Chiller Crew
Nova Twins
Wet Leg
Best New Artist
Kojey Radical
Mimi Webb
Rina Sawayama
Sam Ryder
Wet Leg
Song Of The Year With Mastercard
Aitch – Baby Ft Ashanti
Cat Burns – Go
Dave – Starlight
Ed Sheeran And Elton John – Merry Christmas
Eliza Rose And Interplanetary Criminal – Baddest Of Them All
George Ezra – Green Green Grass
Harry Styles – As It Was
Lewis Capaldi – Forget Me
Lf System – Afraid To Feel
Sam Smith And Kim Petras – Unholy
Best Alt Rock
The 1975
Arctic Monkeys
Nova Twins
Tom Grennan
Wet Leg
RISING STAR
Flo
Hip Hop/ Grime/ Rap
Aitch
Central Cee
Dave
Loyle Carner
Stormzy
Dance Act
Becky Hill
Bonobo
Calvin Harris
Eliza Rose
Fred Again
Pop/ R’n’B
Cat Burns
Charli Xcx
Dua Lipa
Harry Styles
Sam Smith
International Artist Of The Year
Beyonce
Burna Boy
Kendrick Lamar
Lizzo
Taylor Swift
International Group Of The Year
Black Pink
Drake And 21 Savage
First Aid Kit
Fontaines Dc
Gabriels
International Song Of The Year
Beyonce – Break My Soul
David Guetta And Bebe Rexa – Aim Good
Fireboy Dml & Ed Sheeran – Peru
Mauro Castillo, Stephanie Beatriz, Carolina Gaitán, Rhenzy Feliz, Encanto – Cast, Adassa, Diane Guerrero – We Dont Talk About Bruno
Gayle – Abcdefu
Jack Harlow – First Class
Lizzo – About Damn Time
Calum Scott And Lost Frequencies – Where Are You Npow
One Republic – I Ain’t Worried
Taylor Swift – Antihero
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