The competition is fierce but we think we’ve a pretty good idea on who will win
The nominations for this year’s BRIT Awards were announced last month at London’s glitzy Savoy Hotel with Scots star, Emeli Sande, leading the way with a total of four nominations, closely followed by Mumford & Sons, Rita Ora and Mercury Prize winners, Alt-J, who all have three nominations each.
With attention now turning to the ceremony itself on February 20, we take a look at who is most likely to prevail when the winners are announced.
British Female- It’s no surprise that Emeli Sande is favourite for this one after a stellar year, which included performances at both the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the London Olympics.
The other nominees in this category are kooky Paloma Faith, newcomer Jessie Ware and regular nominee, Bat For Lashes.
Prediction: Emeli Sande
British Male – Many were expecting a nod for Robbie Williams this year, after blasting back onto the music scene but this award is chosen by the BRITS panel, which means one of the new kids on the block, Ben Howard or Richard Hawley could prevail.
Prediction: Ben Howard
British Breakthrough – In a change from recent years, many of the nominees in this category are fairly unknown but the odds-on favourite has to be Rita Ora. In a glittering 2012, she scored three No1 singles aswell as hitting No1 with her debut album,’ ORA’. We would be very surprised if she didn’t want away with this statuette on the night.
Prediction: Rita Ora
British Group – This could prove to be another close fought battle with the return of Mumford & Sons gaining them a well-deserved nomination. Their second studio album, ‘Babel’, soared to the top of the charts last September and they look set to have another big year in 2013.
Prediction: Mumford & Sons
British Live Act – Our bias choice here would be Coldplay, after stunning the world with their Mylo Xyloto tour last year. However, there are rumours that Mick Jagger has agreed to a performance at the ceremony, meaning The Rolling Stones could be favourites to collect this award.
Prediction: The Rolling Stones
International Group – Fun. are certainly ones to watch after introducing themselves to the world with global smash,’ We Are Young’ ft. Janelle Monae. The New Yorkers had a stellar year which seen their debut album be well received by fans and critics alike and they were big winners at this year’s Grammy awards.
Prediction: Fun.
International Female – Rihanna has dominated this award in recent years and she is nominated again in 2013. However, she could have some tough competition as Taylor Swift had a successful year, following the release of album, ‘Red’. She was also involved in one of the pairings of the year after her romance with Harry Styles.
Prediction: Taylor Swift
International Male – This award looks like being the hardest to predict. The most obvious choice would be Michael Buble, but he has been nominated before and not even came close. Gotye had the biggest selling single of 2012 with, ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’, but disappeared off the face of the planet once it had finally stopped invading our radio stations. Bruce Springsteen, Jack Ocean and Jack White are the other nominees in a poor category.
Prediction: Frank Ocean
Best Single – This has proven to be another unpredictable category at the BRITS and this year there are 15 nominees. Usually they are whittled down to a final few just before the ceremony so we think Adele will make the cut with Bond theme, Skyfall, seeing as it has also been nominated for an Oscar.
Prediction: Adele ‘Skyfall’
Best Album – The most prestigious award of the night looks like being the most obvious of the night. One album and artist dominated in 2012 and that was Emeli Sande. Debut cut, ‘Our Version Of Events’, stayed in the Top 10 of the UK Album Chart for over 40 weeks and spawned five singles.
Prediction: Emeli Sande – ‘Our Version Of Events’
You can catch the BRIT Awards 2013 on ITV on Wednesday 20 February.