The Brits 2023 as it happened: Harry Styles wins coveted Album of the Year
Mo Gilligan hosted the awards ceremony for a second time at the O2 Arena in London
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Your support makes all the difference.The biggest night in British music came to a rather predictable end, as Harry Styles won every category he was nominated in.
The “As It Was” singer took home the prizes for Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Pop/R&B, as the 2023 Brit Awards were transformed into “Harry’s House”.
Wet Leg were the other big winners of the night, as the “Chaise Longue” hitmakers were awarded Best British Group and Best New Artist on Saturday (11 February). They lost out, however, to The 1975 in the Alt/Rock category (which is decided by fans) and to Styles in the Album of the Year category.
Read: Biggest talking points from the 2023 Brits
Hosted by Mo Gilligan, the show had a number of standout moments including Sam Smith and Kim Petras’s “Unholy” performance and Styles thanking his former One Direction bandmates during his Artist of the Year acceptance speech.
Elsewhere, Cat Burns performed a stunning rendition of of her 2020 TikTok hit “Go”, and Wet Leg bassist Ellis Durand had some strong words for the Tory party, which ITV rushed to bleep out.
Lizzo’s glittery, show-stopping performance earned praise on Twitter, and David Guetta’s finale act with Becky Hill and Sam Ryder was a surprise triumph.
In the run-up to the ceremony, there was considerable backlash to the all-male contender list for this year’s gender-neutral Artist of the Year prize.
Catch up on everything that happened below...
Salma Hayek presents award for Best Pop/R&B Act
Erm... so Salma Hayek is in the house? Presenting one of the more controversial categories, Best Pop/R&B. Basically, it’s very evident Pop needs to have its own category, as does R&B. Maybe a change for next year. But for now, the award goes to Harry Styles...
Something’s up with Mo Gilligan’s autocue?!
I thought I misheard earlier but now I’m pretty sure Mo Gilligan introduced Wet Leg as “One Leg” earlier, because he just introduced Lewis as “Sam Capaldi”. Oh dear, I’m guessing there’s something up with the autocue... bit of an Anchorman moment.
The Brits 2023 Best New Artist is Wet Leg
Unless it’s a big US pop star it’s almost too easy to guess who’s winning what based on whether they bother to turn up. The Best New Artist prize of course goes to Wet Leg, following their lively and apparently Midsommar-inspired performance of “Chaise Longue”.
Here’s Beyonce’s International Artist of the Year speech
And the Artist of the Year award goes to... a man
Here we are then, the male-dominated Artist of the Year category. I have some Thoughts on the row over this that I’ll be sending off later but for now, the winner is...
Brits 2023: Viewers stunned to see young Happy Valley star presenting award: ‘Bless him!’
Happy Valley fans were stunned to see a familiar face at this year’s Brits awards ceremony.
The 2023 Brits took place on Saturday (11 February) at the O2 in London, United Kingdom.
Mo Gilligan returned as host for the second year in a row, after taking over presenting duties from Jack Whitehall in 2022.
The proceedings kicked off with a lively first performance of “As It Was” by Harry Styles, following which Aitch was announced as the winner of the R&B/Grime/Rap award.
‘Bless him!’: Viewers stunned to see young Happy Valley star presenting at the Brits
Rhys Connah and Georgia May Jagger presented Beyonce with ‘International Artist of the Year’
Lizzo blows everyone else away with a medley of ‘Special’ and ‘About Damn Time'
What a spectacular performance from Lizzo, opening on her self-empowering “Special” then a rowdy version of “About Damn Time” complete with flute solo.
Award for Best International Group of the Year goes to...
Fontaines DC!
The Irish band accepted their award virtually, as they’re currently in Australia.
Wet Leg win their second Brit
The “Chaise Longue” hitmakers beat The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, and Nova Twins to take home the Brit for British Group of the year.
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