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Stormzy, Lewis Capaldi, Billie Eilish, Mabel and Harry Styles All Set To Perform At Brits 2020

Stormzy, Lewis Capaldi, Billie Eilish, Mabel and Harry Styles All Set To Perform At Brits 2020

The first phase of performers at the Brit Awards 2020 has been announced.

Nathan Ryland

Nathan Ryland

London grime artist Stormzy will take centre stage at the Brits 2020, which takes place at London's 02 Arena next month.

Other performers announced include Lewis Capaldi, Billie Eilish, Mabel, and Harry Styles - with more still to be revealed.

This will be Stormzy's fourth appearance at the Brits. He shocked fans in 2017 with a surprise performance alongside Ed Sheeran. Then in 2019 his performance went viral after calling out Theresa May for her handling of the Grenfell Tower fire.

In 2018, his LP 'Gang Signs & Prayer' became the first rap album to be crowned Album of the Year. This year he's nominated for best album, best single, and best male solo artist.

Stormzy
Stormzy

Since nominations were announced last week, the awards have come under some heavy criticism, with some accusing the awards of having a sexism problem.

Only one of 25 available nominations in the mixed-gender categories went to a female artist. Pop singer Mabel is the single female nomination across the top awards.

Nominees for Album of the Year were Stormzy, Lewis Capaldi, Michael Kiwanuka, Harry Styles and Dave. These five nominees also make up the best Male Solo Artist category and some claim the awards are geared too heavily in favour of men.

While 'Psychodrama' by Dave and 'Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent' from Lewis Capaldi have gathered favourable reviews from critics, some argue the list only reflects sales rather than the diverse make-up of the UK music scene.

Stormzy and Harry Styles, on the other hand, released albums relatively recently - with judges ignoring popular albums from female artists such as Mabel ('High Expectations') and Freya Ridings' (Freya Ridings).

Alex and Dave on stage at Glastonbury Festival.
LADbible

Three of the last five Album of the Year winners have been male solo artists. The other two include an all-male band The 1975, who used their acceptance speech to protest sexism in music. The last female winner was Adele, back in 2016.

The nominees for the Song of the Year category are also disproportionately male-oriented, with Mabel's Don't Call Me Up the sole female nomination. Critics will argue that from the best songs of the year, surely more than one of them might have come from female artists.

The 40th Brit awards takes place on February 18th, broadcast live on ITV. Comedian Jack Whitehall is confirmed as the returning host for this years awards, following his successful debut in 2019.










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