Ivor Novello Awards 2019

Another ceremony we missed was the 2019 Ivor Novello Awards, or “Ivors”. Intended to honour songwriters rather than performers, these never get a huge amount of attention, but occasionally someone or something of interest gets honoured.

The ceremony took place on the 23rd of May, at Grosvenor House in London.

Ivors Inspiration Award

Winner: Wiley

Best Song Musically and Lyrically

Nominated were:

• Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) – Four Out of Five
• Ben Howard – Nica Libres at Dusk
• Hozier – Nina Cried Power

Winner: Ben Howard

Best Contemporary Song

The nominees:

• Ghetts feat. Kojey Redical – Black Rose
• Jorja Smith (with Guy Bonnet, Dizzee Rascal, and Roman Romanelli) – Blue Lights
• The1975 – Love it if We Made it

Winner: The 1975

Outstanding Song Collection

Winner: Dido, who, by the way, is pretty much the only person on this list who I’ve heard of, which probably shows how out of touch I am these days…

PRS for Music Most Performed Work

Nominees:

• Jax Jones feat. Ina Wroldsen – Breathe
• George Ezra – Shotgun
• Rudimental feat. Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplen – These Days

Winner: Rudimental and friends

Jazz Award

Winner: Django Bates

Best Album

Nominees:

• Young Fathers – Cocoa Sugar
• Let’s Eat Grandma – I’m All Ears
• Idles – Joy as an Act of Resistance

Winner: Idles

International Achievement

Winner: Deep Purple, Mark II — Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord (posthumous) and Ian Paice

Outstanding Contribution to British Music

Winner: Richard Ashcroft

Best Original Video Game Score

Nominees:

• Michael Georgiades, Joe Henson and Alexis Smith – Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
• David Housden – Q.U.B.E. 2
• Robin Bealand – Sea of Thieves

Winner: Sea of Thieves

Best Television Soundtrack

Nominees:

• Arthur Sharpe – Flowers (Series 2)
• Clint Mansell – Happy New Year, Colin Burstead
• Natasha Khan and Dominik Scherrer – Requiem

Winner: Requiem

Best Original Film Score

Nominees:

• Anne Nikitin – American Animals
• Jonny Greenwood – Phantom Thread
• Daniel Pemberton – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Winner: Jonny Greenwood

BRIT Awards 2019

Well, after a particularly dull set of nominees, the 2019 BRITs turned out to be somewhat interesting after all. The 39th edition of the ceremony took place last week on 20th February at the O2 Arena in London, where they were hosted again by Jack Whitehall.

Mastercard British Album of the Year

• Anne-Marie – Speak Your Mind
• George Ezra – Staying at Tamara’s
• Florence + The Machine – High as Hope
• The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships
• Jorja Smith – Lost & Found

Winner: The 1975

Famously, UKTV Play accidentally played an advert for “double award winners” The 1975 before the event had actually started, replacing it later with the correct “nominees” advert – as BBC News said:

It’s not clear whether the band had been made aware of what their marketing department knew – but it shone an awkward spotlight on every tearful “this is so unexpected” speech we’ve seen this awards season.

BBC News

Which is about as exciting as things got, so, as is sometimes the case, the biggest drama of the night didn’t actually take place on stage.

Oh, and let’s all agree to overlook the fact that the same article also rather stupidly takes the opportunity to wonder why so little overseas talent made it to this event which is supposed to celebrate the strength of British music (err… what are the awards called, again?)

British Single of the Year

• Anne-Marie – 2002
• Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa – One Kiss
• Clean Bandit feat. Demi Lovato – Solo
• Dua Lipa – IDGAF
• George Ezra – Shotgun
• Jess Glynne – I’ll Be There
• Ramz – Barking
• Rudimental feat. Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplen – These Days
• Sigala and Paloma Faith – Lullaby
• Tom Walker – Leave a Light On

Winner: Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa

British Video of the Year

• Anne-Marie – 2002
• Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa – One Kiss
• Clean Bandit feat. Demi Lovato – Solo
• Dua Lipa – IDGAF
• Jax Jones feat. Ina Wroldsen – Breathe
• Jonas Blue feat. Jack & Jack – Rise
• Liam Payne and Rita Ora – For You
• Little Mix feat. Nicki Minaj – Woman Like Me
• Rita Ora – Let You Love Me
• Rudimental feat. Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplen – These Days

Winner: Little Mix feat. Nicki Minaj

British Male Solo Artist in association with YouTube Music

• Aphex Twin
• Craig David
• George Ezra
• Giggs
• Sam Smith

Winner: George Ezra

British Female Solo Artist in association with YouTube Music

• Lily Allen
• Anne-Marie
• Florence + The Machine
• Jess Glynne
• Jorja Smith

Winner: Jorja Smith

British Group

• Arctic Monkeys
• Gorillaz
• Little Mix
• The 1975
• Years and Years

Winner: The 1975

British Breakthrough Act

• Idles
• Mabel
• Ella Mai
• Jorja Smith
• Tom Walker

Winner: Tom Walker

International Male Solo Artist

• Drake
• Eminem
• Shawn Mendes
• Travis Scott
• Kamasi Washington

Winner: Drake

International Female Solo Artist

• Camila Cabello
  
• Cardi B
• Christine and the Queens
• Ariana Grande
  
• Janelle Monáe

Winner: Ariana Grande

International Group

• Brockhampton
• The Carters
• Chic
• First Aid Kit
• Twenty One Pilots

Winner: The Carters

Critics’ Choice Award

• Lewis Capaldi
• Sam Fender
• Mahalia

Winner: Sam Fender

British Producer of the Year

Winner: Calvin Harris

Global Success Award

Winner: Ed Sheeran

Outstanding Contribution to Music

Winner: Pink

Great to see this award back at last, but Pink, of all people? Really?

Performances

This year’s performances were as follows:

• Hugh Jackman – The Greatest Show
• George Ezra & Hot 8 Brass Band – Shotgun
• Little Mix & Ms Banks – Woman Like Me
• Jorja Smith – Don’t Watch Me Cry
• Calvin Harris, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, Sam Smith & Dua Lipa – Giant, Promises & One Kiss
• Jess Glynne & H.E.R. – Thursday
• The 1975 – Sincerity is Scary
• Pink & Dan Smith – Walk Me Home, Just Like Fire, Just Give Me a Reason, Try, and What About Us

Further Reading

• 2019 on brits.co.uk
• 2019 Brit Awards on Wikipedia
• Main news story on BBC News
• The Real Winners and Losers, on BBC News

BRIT Awards 2019 – Nominations

Here are the not-remotely-dull nominees for the 2019 BRITs:

Mastercard British Album of the Year

• Anne-Marie – Speak Your Mind
• George Ezra – Staying at Tamara’s
• Florence + The Machine – High as Hope
• The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships
• Jorja Smith – Lost & Found

British Single of the Year

• Anne-Marie – 2002
• Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa – One Kiss
• Clean Bandit feat. Demi Lovato – Solo
• Dua Lipa – IDGAF
• George Ezra – Shotgun
• Jess Glynne – I’ll Be There
• Ramz – Barking
• Rudimental feat. Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplen – These Days
• Sigala and Paloma Faith – Lullaby
• Tom Walker – Leave a Light On

British Video of the Year

• Anne-Marie – 2002
• Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa – One Kiss
• Clean Bandit feat. Demi Lovato – Solo
• Dua Lipa – IDGAF
• Jax Jones feat. Ina Wroldsen – Breathe
• Jonas Blue feat. Jack & Jack – Rise
• Liam Payne and Rita Ora – For You
• Little Mix feat. Nicki Minaj – Woman Like Me
• Rita Ora – Let You Love Me
• Rudimental feat. Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplen – These Days

British Male Solo Artist in association with YouTube Music

• Aphex Twin
• Craig David
• George Ezra
• Giggs
• Sam Smith

Nice to see Aphex Twin on that list. Craig David is, as always, completely inexplicable.

British Female Solo Artist in association with YouTube Music

• Lily Allen
• Anne-Marie
• Florence + The Machine
• Jess Glynne
• Jorja Smith

British Group

• Arctic Monkeys
• Gorillaz
• Little Mix
• The 1975
• Years and Years

British Breakthrough Act

• Idles
• Mabel
• Ella Mai
• Jorja Smith
• Tom Walker
  

International Male Solo Artist

• Drake
• Eminem
• Shawn Mendes
• Travis Scott
• Kamasi Washington

International Female Solo Artist

• Camila Cabello
  
• Cardi B
• Christine and the Queens
• Ariana Grande
  
• Janelle Monáe

International Group

• Brockhampton
• The Carters
• Chic
• First Aid Kit
• Twenty One Pilots

Critics’ Choice Award

• Lewis Capaldi
• Sam Fender
• Mahalia

Thanks to the BRIT Awards’ completely inexplicable policy of announcing that award a couple of months early every year, we already know that Sam Fender will be the winner of that category.

The rest of the winners will be announced on 20th February.

Ivor Novello Awards 2016

The 2016 Ivor Novello Awards occurred on Thursday 19th May at Grosvenor House, in London.

PRS for Music Most Performed Work

• James Bay – Hold Back The River
• Jess Glynne – Hold My Hand
• Years & Years – King

Winner: James Bay

Best Television Soundtrack

• Stuart Earl – And Then There Were None
• Edmund Butt – From Darkness
• Keefus Ciancia and David Holmes – London Spy

Winner: London Spy

The Ivors Classical Music Award

Winner: Oliver Knussen

International Achievement

Winner: Wayne Hector

Best Song Musically and Lyrically

• Ed Sheeran and Rudimental – Bloodstream
• Wolf Alice – Bros
• Jamie Lawson – Wasn’t Expecting That

Winner: Jamie Lawson

The Ivors Inspiration Award

Winner: Happy Mondays

Album Award

Nominees:

• Villagers – Darling Arithmetic
• Jamie xx – In Colour
• Gaz Coombes – Matador

Winner: Villagers

Songwriter of the Year

Winner: Adele

Best Original Film Score

• Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury – Ex_Machina
• John Powell – Pan
• Faris Badwan and Rachel Zeffira – The Duke of Burgundy

Winner: Ex_Machina

Best Contemporary Song

• Snakehips feat. Tinashe & Chance the Rapper – All My Friends
• Roots Manuva – Cargo
• Skepta – Shutdown

Winner: Snakehips feat. Tinashe & Chance the Rapper

Outstanding Song Collection

Winner: Simple Minds

PRS for Music Outstanding Contribution to British Music

Winner: Portishead

Lifetime Achievement

Winner: Damon Albarn

PRS for Music Special International Award

Winner: Bryan Adams

More here and here.

The BRIT Awards 2016

Quite rightly, you were very excited about the BRIT Awards this year, and you flocked in your hundreds to read my latest selection of The Best of the BRIT Awards. What I wasn’t able to do, mainly due to being on holiday, was list the winners for you. So here goes…

British Male Solo Artist

Nominees:

• Aphex Twin
• James Bay
• Calvin Harris
• Mark Ronson
• Jamie xx

Winner: James Bay

British Female Solo Artist

Nominees:

• Adele
• Florence + The Machine
• Jess Glynne
• Laura Marling
• Amy Winehouse

Winner: Adele

British Group

• Blur
• Coldplay
• Foals
• One Direction
• Years & Years

Winner: Coldplay

British Breakthrough Act

• James Bay
• Catfish and the Bottlemen
• Jess Glynne
• Wolf Alice
• Years & Years

Winner: Catfish and the Bottlemen

British Producer of the Year

• Charlie Andrew
• Mike Crossey
• Tom Dalgety
• Mark Ronson

Winner: Charlie Andrew

British Single

• Adele – Hello
• James Bay – Hold Back the River
• Philip George – Wish You Were Mine
• Jess Glynne – Hold My Hand
• Ellie Goulding – Love Me Like You Do
• Little Mix – Black Magic
• Calvin Harris & Disciples – How Deep is Your Love
• Olly Murs feat. Demi Lovato – Up
• Ed Sheeran & Rudimental – Bloodstream
• Years & Years – King

Winner: Adele

Mastercard British Album of the Year

• Adele – 25
• James Bay – Chaos and the Calm
• Coldplay – A Head Full of Dreams
• Florence + The Machine – How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
• Jamie xx – In Colour

Winner: Adele

British Artist Video

• Adele – Hello
• Ellie Goulding – Love Me Like You Do
• Calvin Harris & Disciples – How Deep is Your Love
• Jessie J – Flashlight
• Little Mix – Black Magic
• Naughty Boy feat. Beyoncé & Arrow Benjamin – Runnin’ (Lose it All)
• One Direction – Drag Me Down
• Ed Sheeran – Photograph
• Sam Smith – Writing’s on the Wall
• Years & Years – King

Winner: One Direction

International Male Solo Artist

• Justin Bieber
• Drake
• Kendrick Lamar
• Father John Misty
• The Weeknd

Winner: Justin Bieber

International Female Solo Artist

• Courtney Barnett
• Björk
• Ariana Grande
• Lana del Rey
• Meghan Trainor

Winner: Björk. Again.

International Group

• Alabama Shakes
• Eagles of Death Metal
• Major Lazer
• Tame Impala
• U2

Winner: Tame Impala. I bet U2 were furious – they always win this award.

Critics’ Choice

• Izzy Bizu
• Frances
• Jack Garratt

Winner: Jack Garratt

Global Success

A special made-up award for Adele, because she was robbed in the International Male Solo Artist category and was so upset.

Well, that’s it for another year. See you next January for the latest nominees in the ADELE Awards.

The BRIT Awards 2016 – Nominations

On the 24th of February this year, we’ll find out who has won a BRIT Award this year. Or more likely, who has won five, as that tends to be the way it goes. The nominations are spectacularly dull this year, as you’ll see below if you can bring yourself to keep reading – the only truly interesting thing is that they have changed some of the names this year…

British Artist Video

• Adele – Hello
• Ellie Goulding – Love Me Like You Do
• Calvin Harris & Disciples – How Deep is Your Love
• Jessie J – Flashlight
• Little Mix – Black Magic
• Naughty Boy feat. Beyonce & Arrow Benjamin – Runnin’ (Lose it All)
• One Direction – Drag Me Down
• Ed Sheeran – Photograph
• Sam Smith – Writing’s on the Wall
• Years & Years – King

British Breakthrough Act

• James Bay
• Catfish and the Bottlemen
• Jess Glynne
• Wolf Alice
• Years & Years

That’s the same James Bay who won the Critics’ Choice last year (beating Years & Years), both of whom did pretty well on the charts in 2015, after all.

British Male Solo Artist

• Aphex Twin
• James Bay
• Calvin Harris
• Mark Ronson
• Jamie xx

British Female Solo Artist

• Adele
• Florence + The Machine
• Jess Glynne
• Laura Marling
• Amy Winehouse

British Group

• Blur
• Coldplay
• Foals
• One Direction
• Years & Years

British Producer of the Year

• Charlie Andrew
• Mike Crossey
• Tom Dalgety
• Mark Ronson

British Single

• Adele – Hello
• James Bay – Hold Back the River
• Philip George – Wish You Were Mine
• Jess Glynne – Hold My Hand
• Ellie Goulding – Love Me Like You Do
• Little Mix – Black Magic
• Calvin Harris & Disciples – How Deep is Your Love
• Olly Murs feat. Demi Lovato – Up
• Ed Sheeran & Rudimental – Bloodstream
• Years & Years – King

Mastercard British Album of the Year

• Adele – 25
• James Bay – Chaos and the Calm
• Coldplay – A Head Full of Dreams
• Florence + The Machine – How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
• Jamie xx – In Colour

International Male Solo Artist

• Justin Bieber
• Drake
• Kendrick Lamar
• Father John Misty
• The Weeknd

International Female Solo Artist

• Courtney Barnett
• Björk
• Ariana Grande
• Lana del Rey
• Meghan Trainor

Björk, the only non-British female who anybody cares about (seemingly) receives her sixty-third nomination in this category.

International Group

• Alabama Shakes
• Eagles of Death Metal
• Major Lazer
• Tame Impala
• U2

Oh look, U2 rack up their six thousandth nomination in this category. Because so few other foreign groups are popular in the UK, apparently. It’s a shame R.E.M. haven’t been up to much recently.

Critics’ Choice

• Izzy Bizu
• Frances
• Jack Garratt

The winner of which will be Jack Garratt.

Anyway, good luck to Aphex Twin, who is inexplicably nominated for just the third time ever. Other than that, if you care about any of those nominees, you can vote for some of them at the BRIT Awards website.

The BRIT Awards 2014

On February 19th at the O2 Arena in London it was time for this year’s BRIT Awards, presented once again by James Corden. Here’s a round-up…

Best Producer

Nominees:

• Paul Epworth
• Flood & Alan Moulder
• Ethan Johns

Winner: Flood & Alan Moulder.

Critics’ Choice Award

Nominees:

• Ella Eyre
• Chlöe Howl
• Sam Smith

Winner: Sam Smith.

British Breakthrough Act

Presented by Tinie Tempah and Fearne Cotton. Nominees:

• Bastille
• Disclosure
• Laura Mvula
• London Grammar
• Tom Odell

Winner: Bastille.

International Female Solo Artist

Presented by Nick Grimshaw. Nominees:

• Lady Gaga
• Lorde
• Janelle Monáe
• Katy Perry
• Pink

Winner: Lorde.

British Female Solo Artist

Presented by Prince. Nominees:

• Birdy
• Ellie Goulding
• Jessie J
• Laura Marling
• Laura Mvula

Winner: Ellie Goulding.

International Group

Presented by footballer Cesc Fàbregas and Nicole Scherzinger from The Pussycat Dolls. Nominees:

• Arcade Fire
• Daft Punk
• Haim
• Kings of Leon
• Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Winner: Daft Punk, collected by Nile Rodgers.

British Group

Presented by Lily Allen. Nominees:

• Arctic Monkeys
• Bastille
• Disclosure
• One Direction
• Rudimental

Winner: Arctic Monkeys.

International Male Solo Artist

Presented by Pharrell Williams and Kylie Minogue. Nominees:

• Bruno Mars
• Drake
• Eminem
• John Grant
• Justin Timberlake

Winner: Bruno Mars.

British Male Solo Artist

Presented by Noel Gallagher. Nominees:

• James Blake
• David Bowie
• Jake Bugg
• John Newman
• Tom Odell

Winner: David Bowie, although he looked suspiciously like Kate Moss. That’s Bowie’s third win at the BRITs – he also won this award in 1984 and the coveted Outstanding Contribution award in 1996.

British Video

This didn’t seem to have any nominees at the time of my previous post, which is how it got forgotten. It’s particularly special, though, since this is the first time this has been awarded since 2002! Voted for via YouTube, and presented by Jimmy Carr. Nominees:

• Ellie Goulding – Burn
• Calvin Harris feat. Ellie Goulding – I Need Your Love
• Naughty Boy feat. Sam Smith – La La La
• John Newman – Love Me Again
• One Direction – Best Song Ever

Winner: One Direction.

British Single of the Year

Awarded based on sales, and presented by Katy Perry. Nominees:

• Bastille – Pompei
• Disclosure – White Noise
• Ellie Goulding – Burn
• Calvin Harris feat. Ellie Goulding – I Need Your Love
• Olly Murs – Dear Darlin’
• Naughty Boy – La, La, La
• John Newman – Love Me Again
• One Direction – One Way or Another
• Passenger – Let Her Go
• Rudimental – Waiting All Night

Winner: Rudimental.

MasterCard British Album of the Year

Presented by Emeli Sandé. Nominees:

• Arctic Monkeys – AM
• Bastille – Bad Blood
• David Bowie – The Next Day
• Disclosure – Settle
• Rudimental – Home

Winner: Arctic Monkeys.

Global Success

Presented by model and actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

Winner: One Direction.

So that’s it for another year! More in 2015!

Performances

• Arctic Monkeys – R U Mine?
• Katy Perry – Dark Horse
• Bruno Mars – Treasure
• Beyoncé – XO
• Disclosure / Lorde / AlunaGeorge – Royals / White Noise
• Ellie Goulding – I Need Your Love / Burn
• Bastille / Rudimental / Ella Eyre – Pompeii / Waiting All Night
• Pharrell Williams / Nile Rodgers – Get Lucky / Good Times / Happy

Further Reading / Viewing

• The BRIT Awards
• The 2014 BRIT Awards on Wikipedia
• Connor Maynard, Ella Eyre, and Lianne La Havas on the red carpet
• Rizzle Kicks, Arctic Monkeys, and Disclosure backstage
• The Guardian’s live coverage as it happened
• The Daily Telegraph coverage, including a video of highlights