BRIT Awards 2022: Genderless categories, four new genre awards and new host Mo Gilligan announced for next year's ceremony
It's been announced that next year's BRIT Awards will scrap gendered categories, as well as welcoming first-time host Mo Gilligan.
Previously, awards in the ceremony had split male and female artists, but this will be done away with for 2022. Now, a single Artist of the Year award will replace the British Male and British Female awards.
The same will also happen for the previously gendered International Solo Artist awards. The BRIT Awards 2022 will also be welcoming a stack of new awards to next year's ceremony. Alongside the inaugural Songwriter of the Year gong, the British public will be able to decide upon the winner for four new genre awards - Alternative/Rock Act, Hip-Hop/Grime/Rap Act, Dance Act and Pop Act.
Comedian Mo Gilligan - best known for his Channel 4 chat show The Lateish Show - will also be replacing Jack Whitehall as the ceremony's main host for 2022. It will be the first time a non-white person has hosted the awards since 1994, when RuPaul co-presented alongside Elton John.
MORE: 11 quirky acts about The BRIT Awards 2021
Joining Mo will be radio DJs Maya Jama and Clara Amfo, who will announce the nominations this December on The BRITs Are Coming, as well as host the main ceremony's official red carpet.
Commenting on the new changes, Tom March, co-president of Polydor Records, said: “It is important that the Brits continue to evolve and aim to be as inclusive as possible.”
From this year's BRITs, Dua Lipa took home the coveted Album of the Year award for second record Future Nostalgia, while Little Mix became the first girl-group to win Group of the Year, thanking acts like Girls Aloud and Sugababes in their speech.
Article Image: BRITs
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Blank
How is it being INclusive if you are EXcluding half of the categories? Celebrating fewer artists that way.
Zimowski
well, it's an awards show, not a celebration of everyone in the industry. You have to be the best to be celebrated. Too many nominations based only on genitalia of an artists weren't necessary.
Blank
It's not quite genitalia in the music (or movie) industries though. A female voice sounds very different to a male voice and vice versa. The actual gender (as opposed to identified gender) makes a difference to the art. With acting, you can't have 2 men playing a heterosexual couple (with each other) and still be realistic to mainstream audiences. They can play a romantic couple, but not a straight one.
Likewise it's very difficult for a female to sing bass or adult male to sing soprano. Even when opposing sexes can match the frequencies and register, their timbres will be different, effecting the production and recording process. They also have significantly different appeal in terms of marketing, which effects which artists come to prominence, or fail to.
As an awards show, it IS a celebration of the industry. That's the point of it: create an event to publicise the music industry generally, and the winners specifically.
Alfred Lock
It'll still bore the out of me unless Adele or Ed do something very funny and not give a toss ..Couldn't care less who wins these days only controversy for me matters in the news.(Who can forget Jarvis Cocker/ Michael Jackson encounter 1996????).
Blank
Yep. All award ceremonies are boring af. As I said above, the last time I watched the Brits (or any award ceremony from what I remember), Geri wore a Union Jack should tell you all you need to know of my thoughts on it. As a Steps fan, I didn't even bother to watch them against Belle & Sebastian. It's just an intra-industry brown-nosing event, only of interest to the nominees and their families.
Mark Willmott
Ridiculous! No point anyone else turning up apart from Adele!
Blank
On the plus side it does put Adele up against Ed in trhe same category.
Mark Willmott
True! I just think, apart from the viewers voted awards, the winners of the rest are going to be chosen just to cover all bases so not to upset anyone. Also the new hosts aren’t the best. Always liked Jack Whitehall unless he didn’t want to do it.
Blank
I'll take your word on the hosts. I'm not a fan of Jack Whitehall. Never heard of this new bloke until this article and the last time I watched the Brits, Geri wore a Union Jack!
Mark Willmott
Ha ha, that was a while ago then. It’s not been the same for years and nowadays it’s all about ticking boxes!
Alfred Lock
Or a vest! That was too short and flashing off your thong and to the world as well..Geri always was the sauciest of the Spice Girls.