Anne-Marie, Dua Lipa and George Ezra among BRIT Awards nominees

LONDON - Singers Anne-Marie, Dua Lipa, Jess Glynne and George Ezra are among the nominees for next month's BRIT Awards, Britain's annual pop music honors, in a list dominated by young talent.

Anne-Marie is in the running for 4 prizes - British Female Solo Artist, Mastercard British Album of the Year for "Speak Your Mind", British Single and British Artist Video of the Year for "2002" at the British Record Industry Trust (BRIT) awards, to be held on Feb. 20 in London.

Lipa, who triumphed with 2 wins at last year's event, is nominated in the British Single category for "IDGAF" as well as her "One Kiss" collaboration with DJ Calvin Harris. The 2 songs are also in the running for British Artist Video of the Year.

Glynne's name also featured in 4 categories including British Female Solo Artist and British Single for "I'll Be There". Chart-topper "These Days" by Rudimental featuring Glynne, singer Dan Caplen and rapper Macklemore is also nominated for British Single and British Artist Video of the Year.

The other contenders for British Female Solo Artist include Florence + The Machine, Lily Allen and Jorja Smith, last year's Critics' Choice winner. Smith is also nominated for her album "Lost & Found".

Summer hit "Shotgun" singer George Ezra got three nods: for British Male Solo Artist, for British Single and for his album "Staying at Tamara's". He will compete against Sam Smith, Craig David, Aphex Twin and Giggs for British Male Solo Artist.

The album category, the biggest prize on the night, also includes Florence + The Machine's "High as Hope" and The 1975's "A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships".

The latter are nominated for British Group alongside Arctic Monkeys, Gorillaz, Little Mix and Years & Years.

"If you look at the list, it's really fresh, really young, really diverse, really female," Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BRIT Awards and the British Phonographic Industry, told Reuters.

"(It's) a really great list that reflects the year of music and shows just how much fresh talent is coming through." (Reporting By Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Emily Roe; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

YouTube debuts videos for second music awards

NEW YORK - YouTube on Monday premiered videos from 14 musicians as it tried a new, virtual-only format for the second edition of its music awards.

The giant video-sharing site had searched for a new approach after a mixed reaction to its inaugural event in 2013, which featured a livestreamed show from New York that appeared aimed at creating a new-media rival to the MTV Video Music Awards.

For the second try, YouTube dispensed with the physical world entirely and announced the winners ahead of time and instead used Monday's "awards" day to premiere new videos.

They included "El Perdon," a collaboration between Spanish superstar Enrique Iglesias and reggaeton artist Nicky Jam, as well as a song featuring English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran and the electronica-influenced band Rudimental.






But the debuts mostly showcased artists with sizable yet still niche followings, with videos driven by narratives rather than just performances.

British trip-hop singer FKA twigs directed the video for her own "Glass & Patron," which depicts a pregnant woman pulling a scarf from her womb before the song builds into an abstract dance in the woods.

Other artists who premiered videos included dance music singers Charli XCX and Shamir, Norwegian DJ Kygo and the rising rapper Action Bronson.



The 50 artists who were earlier declared winners -- chosen for the growth in interest for their videos on YouTube -- included Sheeran as well as a number of massive artists including Beyonce, Drake, One Direction and Nicki Minaj.

While the vast majority of award winners were Western, they also included the South Korean girl group 2NE1, who enjoy an especially large following in Japan.

The inaugural edition in 2013 had faced criticism that the event lacked YouTube's unique flavor, with the show culminating in rapper Eminem -- a perpetual winner at award ceremonies -- being crowned Artist of the Year.

The awards came as YouTube and Google try to expand their reach in the growing industry of streaming through paid subscription services.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com