BRIT Awards 2022 confirmed to go ahead as public voting opens

NME

The BRIT Awards have announced details of the public vote which will determine the winners of the four new genre awards.

• READ MORE: The 10 best moments from BRIT Awards history

The new genre categories – Alternative/Rock Act, Hip-Hop/Grime/Rap Act, Dance Act and Pop/R&B Act – were introduced to the annual award show last November. For the first time, fans will be able to vote for their favourite artists on a dedicated voting hub, which is powered by TikTok.

BRIT Chair Tom March commented: “I’m really excited to launch four new genre awards, which create even more opportunities for artists to be acknowledged for the brilliant music they create and produce, and give music fans the chance to get involved and vote to support their artists and help them to win a BRIT.”

The vote will launch at 12pm GMT on Thursday January 20, closing at 6pm GMT Thursday February 3. Users will be able to cast up to ten votes per category, per day, with vote limits resetting at midnight every night for the duration of the voting window.

ready to vote for your faves? these are the four categories you'll be able have your say on via @tiktok_uk:

Dance Act
Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act
Pop/R&B Act
Rock/Alternative Act

voting opens on Thursday 20 Jan at 12pm! for more info head to: https://t.co/IzDDqI5niE pic.twitter.com/NyfJvQWOFB

— BRIT Awards (@BRITs) January 19, 2022

The nominees for this year’s BRITs were announced on December 18, with the likes of Adele, Ed Sheeran, Little Simz and Dave up for awards. Notably, the Best Male and Female Artist categories are not featured in the awards, instead, a Best Artist category takes their place. The nominees for the four new categories are as follows:

Best Rock/Alternative Act
Coldplay
Glass Animals
Sam Fender
Tom Grennan
Wolf Alice

Best Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act
AJ Tracey
Central Cee
Dave
Ghetts
Little Simz

Best Dance Act
Becky Hill
Calvin Harros
Fred again…
Joel Corry
Raye

Best Pop/R&B Act
Adele
Dua Lipa
Ed Sheeran
Griff
Joy Crookes

After the new categories were initially announced, it was heavily criticised by artists, music experts and fans on social media, many of whom wondered why R&B was being merged with pop.

“Putting pop and R&B in the same category is really nuts to me. And proves that the powers that be once again just do not get it,” R&B singer-songwriter Mahalia tweeted. “I love the Brits. I have since I was a kid. But as an R&B singer/songwriter, this feels completely unprogressive to the whole UK R&B scene.”

All winners will be revealed at the BRIT Awards ceremony, taking place at London’s O2 Arena on Tuesday February 22 and broadcast exclusively through ITV. The ceremony will be hosted by Mo Gilligan, who replaces Jack Whitehall after four consecutive years.

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