Brit Awards 2020 was the 40th edition of the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

's annual pop music show, the Brit Awards, and was marketed as "The 40th Show". It was held on 18 February 2020 at

the O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as The O2, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of The O2 entertainment district on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London, England. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the third-highest seat ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, with

Jack Whitehall Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall (born 7 July 1988) is an English comedian, actor, writer and television personality. He is known for his roles as JP in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series '' Fresh Meat'' (2011–2016) and as Alfie Wickers in the BBC ...

as the host for the third year running.

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

host

Alice Levine Alice Levine (born 8 July 1986) is an English radio and television presenter, writer, narrator and comedian. Early life and education Levine was born in Beeston, Nottinghamshire. Levine studied English at the University of Leeds, where she me ...

hosted the BRITs Are Coming Nominations Launch Show on 11 January 2020. The show was broadcast on ITV.

Category changes

Several changes were made to the award categories compared to the previous year with the overall number of awards based on nominations reduced from thirteen to nine. None of the categories included fan voting.

Categories not included

Compared to 2019, the following awards were not awarded: * International Group Award (Returned in 2021) * Best British Video Award * Outstanding Contribution to Music Award *Global Success Award

Renamed categories

The following awards were renamed: *

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since the 2nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1960 (except in 1967) "for a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that ar ...

(previously British Breakthrough Act) * Rising Star Award (previously Critics' Choice Award) * Song of the Year (previously British Single of the Year)

Controversy

Following the launch show, the Brits were castigated for having male-dominated nominations on the main and gender-neutral categories. The nominations for Album of the Year, Best Group and

were almost entirely dominated by male solo artists, except for

Mabel Mabel is an English female name derived from the Latin ''amabilis'', "lovable, dear".Reclams Namensbuch, 1987, History Amabilis of Riom (died 475) was a French male saint who logically would have assumed the name Amabilis upon entering the prie ...

who was nominated for the latter, and international singers

Normani Normani Kordei Hamilton ( ; born May 31, 1996), known mononymously as Normani, is an American singer. She first became known as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which became one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. While in t ...

and

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...

, who both were up for Song of the Year for their collaborations with

Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2012, they rose to prominence when they featured on Disclosure (band), Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch (song), Latch", which peaked at number eleven on ...

and

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...

Performers

Pre-ceremony

Main show

Winners and nominees

The winners are in bold.

Multiple nominations and awards

References

External links

Brit Awards official website
{{Brit Awards Brit Awards Brit Awards

Brit Brit most commonly refers to: * Briton, a British person Brit, Brits or BRIT may also refer to: People Nicknames * Brit Hume (born 1943), American TV journalist * Brit Selby (born 1945), Canadian ice-hockey player * Brit Smith (born 1985), ...

February 2020 in the United Kingdom 2020 awards in the United Kingdom