The Brit Awards have announced details of next year’s ceremony – along with a huge list of changes to the award categories of the event.
The 40th Brit Awards will take place on February 18 and will see the award list reduced to just nine.
Major changes include the renaming of the ‘Critics Choice Award’ to the ‘Rising Star Award’ and will see the winner getting a performance slot on the show for the first time.
‘Best Breakthrough Act’ will now become ‘Best New Artist’ and ‘Best British Single’ will now be termed ‘Song of the Year’.
Awards will also be given for best male and female solo artist, best group, album of the year and international male and female solo artists.
Other sweeping changes include the scrapping of audience vote. This year, all of the awards will be decided by an “official voting academy”, made up of 1,200 “experts from all areas of the music industry,” according to the BBC.
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Artists will also have creative control over their performance on the night as well, with organisers saying they will “hand the stage to the artists booked to perform on the night without imposing any creative limitations”.
The classic ‘Lady Britannia Brit’ statuette will return after a decade of guest designers re-imagining the award’s classic design.
David Joseph, chairman of The Brits Committee for 2020 said: “We have had a fresh look at the Brit Awards this year. Most importantly we will be putting creativity, British culture and exceptional performances at the heart of the show to make Brits night a world class celebration.”
He continued: “The awards should be a global platform for the artists of the year to create moments that live beyond the night itself. We are looking at everything to put on the best possible show.”
Recently, it was reported that the Brit Awards were planning on scrapping their gender categories in a bid to include non-binary artists.The awards ceremony reportedly wants to “evolve” and axe the categories in a bid to change with the music industry. A source told The Sun: “Bosses are listening to changes happening in the industry. The categories will evolve in the coming years.
“The male and female categories will still be in place next February but changes are being planned for the following year. Organisers will be consulting labels and artists alike to work out what is best for the future of the Brits ceremony.”