The BRIT Awards are back, taking over The O2 in London on February 8 (a Tuesday — it’s the new Friday) to toast the best and biggest musicians from these isles and beyond.
With a new, more inclusive look — after pressure from Sam Smith among others, they’ve done away with gendered categories — and 12 shiny prizes up for grabs, it’s anyone’s guess who will emerge victorious on the night.
That said, we’ve channelled our inner pop music Nostradamus and come up with some names. Are we right? Tune in on the night to find out.
Album of the Year
- Adele - 30
- Dave - We’re All Alone In This Together
- Ed Sheeran - =
- Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
- Sam Fender - Seventeen Going Under
Who will win? Adele - 30
Going up against Adele in any category must feel like playing football against a team of prime Maradonas — you just can’t see her getting beat. Her latest release, 30, was the best-selling album of 2021 with only six weeks to do it. And, you know, it’s Adele.
Who should win? Dave
There’s a hair’s breadth between Dave and Little Simz for this one, both of whom delivered two of the best UK rap albums in recent memory — but the man from Streatham just shades it for us.
Artist of the year
- Adele
- Dave
- Ed Sheeran
- Little Simz
- Sam Fender
Who will win? Ed Sheeran
To avoid just saying “Adele” for every category she’s in, we’ll pick Ed Sheeran, who has a decent chance of toppling her here. His latest album outsold the rest of the top 30 combined on the week it came out, and he also bagged both number one and two on the Christmas charts. Some year, even by his standards.
Who should win? Dave
Again, we can’t look past Mr Santan here. Our own critic David Smyth said his latest album was proof that Dave was “the greatest rapper working in Britain today”, and who can argue?
International Group of the Year
- ABBA
- BTS
- Måneskin
- Silk Sonic
- The War on Drugs
Who will win? ABBA
If BTS had released an album in 2021 we would have said they were a shoo-in, but the K-Pop juggernauts were, by their standards, pretty quiet. And although ABBA’s comeback album was a bit, erm, not good, nostalgia is king right now so they’ll probably nab it.
Who should win? Silk Sonic
Anyone who hasn’t wrapped themselves up in the near-ridiculous, totally brilliant Seventies revivalism of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s new project needs to stop reading this and go listen right away.
International Artist of the Year
- Billie Eilish
- Doja Cat
- Lil Nas X
- Olivia Rodrigo
- Taylor Swift
Who will win? Olivia Rodrigo
It has to be her, doesn’t it? The 18-year-old Californian owned 2021, going from little-known Disney grad to overnight superstar with her debut single Drivers License, before banishing any one-hit-wonder naysayers with her brilliant album Sour.
Who should win? Olivia Rodrigo
Again, we’re fully behind the chart-conquering, pop-punk-reclaiming teenager for this one, even if we think there’s an outside chance she could be toppled by the human awards hoover that is Billie Eilish.
Best New Artist
- Central Cee
- Griff
- Joy Crookes
- Little Simz
- Self Esteem
Who will win? Joy Crookes
Little Simz really isn’t new — her debut album came out in 2015 — and Griff was last year’s Rising Star, so we’d be surprised if she won in 2022. The slick confidence of Joy Crookes’ first full-length record, though, signalled potential for bigger things to come.
Who should win? Self Esteem
Barring Little Simz, the artist to release the best album of this lot was surely Self Esteem AKA Rebecca Lucy Taylor. Her debut Prioritise Pleasure was a pop powerhouse; bracingly honest and hugely exciting.
Song of the Year
- A1 & J1 - Latest Trends
- Adele - Easy On Me
- Anne-Marie, KSI, Digital Farm Animals - Don’t Play
- Becky Hill & David Guetta - Remember
- Central Cee - Obsessed With You
- Dave ft Stormzy - Clash
- Ed Sheeran - Bad Habits
- Elton John & Dua Lipa - Cold Heart (Pnau Mix)
- Glass Animals - Heat Waves
- Joel Corry, RAYE, David Guetta - BED
- KSI - Holiday
- Nathan Evans, 220Kid, Billen Ted - Wellerman
- Riton x Nightcrawlers Ft Mufasa & Hypeman - Friday (Dopamine Re-Edit)
- Tion Wayne & Russ Millions - Body
- Tom Grennan - Little Bit Of Love
Who will win? Adele - Easy On Me
All bow down to Queen Adele. Before this long-awaited comeback single, we had many questions — would that brilliant voice still be intact? Was she still a master of the Sad Banger? And would everyone love it? — all of which she answered with a big fat “yes”.
Who should win? Glass Animals - Heat Waves
Don’t be surprised if this one sneaks in during Adele’s victory lap and snatches the award. The Oxford band’s track has been the ultimate sleeper hit; first released in 2020 to little fanfare, it has since racked up a boggling 1.1 billion Spotify streams.
International Song of the Year
- ATB, Topic, A7S - Your Love (9PM)
- Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever
- Ckay - love nwantiti (ah ah ah)
- Doja Cat ft SZA - Kiss Me More
- Drake ft Lil Baby - Girls Want Girls
- Galantis, David Guetta, Little Mix - Heartbreak Anthem
- Jonasu - Black Magic
- The Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber - STAY
- Lil Nas X - MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)
- Lil Tijay & 6LACK - Calling My Phone
- Måneskin - I Wanna Be Your Slave
- Olivia Rodrigo - good 4 u
- Polo G - Rapstar
- Tiesto - The Business
- The Weeknd - Save Your Tears
Who will win? Olivia Rodrigo - good 4 u
Time for some bet-hedging: we haven’t a clue here. Billie Eilish, Doja Cat and SZA, The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber, Lil Nas X, The Weeknd… any one of them could very plausibly walk away with it. But, if you’re twisting our arm, we’ll go for Rodrigo’s mega-streamed break-up anthem.
Who should win? Doja Cat ft SZA - Kiss Me More
This song has been stuck in our head for longer than we care to admit, so in the sense that we’d get some sort of validation for never being able to shake loose that chorus if it did go on and win an award, we’d like to see it happen.
Best Group
- Coldplay
- D-Block Europe
- Little Mix
- London Grammar
- Wolf Alice
Who will win? Coldplay
Music of the Spheres, Coldplay’s ninth album, was a bit of a dud — one of those box-ticking pop albums they squeeze out in between their more experimental records. But boy did those boxes get ticked: the album topped charts in multiple countries. For that, they’re favourites here.
Who should win? Wolf Alice
With their last record Blue Weekend, Wolf Alice proved that they’re more than just indie darlings, and are ready to become the UK’s next big rock band — something they’ll get the chance to prove on the main stage at Reading and Leeds this summer.
Best Pop/R&B act
- Adele
- Dua Lipa
- Ed Sheeran
- Griff
- Joy Crookes
Who will win? Adele
Because obviously she will. (In the interests of not looking a complete fool, there is a decent chance that Ed Sheeran could win it here… but we don’t think he will).
Who should win? Adele
To be honest, they’ve all had good years (even if Dua Lipa has been a bit quiet in comparison to the others). But we can’t ignore You Know Who.
Best Rock/Alternative Act
- Coldplay
- Glass Animals
- Sam Fender
- Tom Grennan
- Wolf Alice
Who will win? Sam Fender
Has anyone else noticed that Sam Fender has become really very big? Last year he headlined Ally Pally (twice) and Brixton Academy, and this year he’ll play Wembley Arena (twice) and Finsbury Park. He has to win here.
Who should win? Sam Fender
Wolf Alice are great, but it’s got to go to the guitar hero from North Shields.
Best Dance Act
- Becky Hill
- Calvin Harris
- Fred again..
- Joel Corry
- RAYE
Who will win? Joel Corry
The dance category is always a bit of a toss-up, and especially this year. There aren’t any big standouts — maybe on account of clubs being shut for half the year — but we’ll go for Joel Corry, if not RAYE (both nominated for Song of the Year).
Who should win? Fred again…
The multihyphenate Fred again… — who can sing, play, produce and DJ — should be the victor here, thanks to his pair of 2021 albums Actual Life and Actual Life 2, which were moving in both the physical and emotional senses.
Best Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act
- AJ Tracey
- Central Cee
- Dave
- Ghetts
- Little Simz
Who will win? Dave
Dave has probably accumulated too much star power not to sweep the others aside here, and you feel as if the pandemic slightly stifled what would otherwise have been a humongous 2021 for AJ Tracey.
Who should win? Little Simz
It would be a miscarriage of justice if Little Simz was to walk away empty-handed from this year’s BRITs, so if she does end up getting pipped to the post in the other categories, then this will have to be hers.
