Can the BRIT Awards honestly say George Ezra is better than every female musician in the UK?

“Green green grass, blue blue sky, you better throw a party on the day that I die.” Not the scrawlings of a child in primary school having a little bash at some poetry, but the chorus of last year’s irritatingly commercially successful George Ezra single. If you’ve escaped this eye roll of a track so far in your life, you’re a luckier soul than I am. I’m bringing it to your attention not just to puzzle you, but with good reason. 

With the new year comes a new Brit Awards, and the nominees for 2023 trickled out in dribs and drabs over the course of a wet and dreary Thursday. Each category felt pretty diverse in terms of genre, and a lot of tracks and records I loved got a nod. But there’s one major category that stands out like a sore, swollen, blistered thumb. The Brit Award for British Artist of the Year.

If this award seems new, it’s because — relatively speaking — it is. Two years ago, the Brits combined the awards for Best British Male Artist and Best British Female Artist into one gong. The old way didn’t factor in artists who fit neither category, such as frequent nominee Sam Smith who identifies as non-binary. The aim of this merger was to make the award more inclusive. It seems the people in charge of the 2023 nominations missed the memo. 

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The Brit Award for British Artist of the Year has nominated five men for 2023. There are no women or non-binary performers to be found. This is where I hear you open your mouth to protest and say something like “It shouldn’t be about the gender – if five men release the best overall music of the year then they should be nominated for this award.” Alright, fine. Let’s have a look at the fellas then.

Harry Styles, Stormzy, Central Cee and Fred Again. There’s room to lose one of them and have three men and two women nominated, sure, but I think a reasonable case can be made for those four to be worthy nominees. There’s one stinking bad apple in the batch, however, that does not sit right with me.

George Ezra. Two words that should strike fear in even the toughest souls. If your target market is pre-school children and their grudgingly obliging parents, well, George Ezra wins hands down every time. And it’s no doubt a big one for the record companies and the man himself. But is he in the top five best musicians in the country? Is he better than any other female artist releasing music in the UK? 

Guys, Charli XCX was right there. She released the biggest album of her career with nary a skip on it – an 80s-tinged pop masterpiece that felt boundary pushing and commercial in equal measure. If you want to keep Charli just for the category she’s nominated in (Best Pop Act), fine. 

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I would rather Mabel be nominated – a singer who didn’t quite get her usual commercial success but whose second record About Last Night hit the dance pop spot when it wanted to. 

I’m aware someone like Shygirl might be so adventurous and provocative in her output that her tunes could turn the Brits board to dust with one measly stream, but there’s no denying she had a better year than He Who Must Not Be Named. 

Ezra can have his blue skies and green grass – it all sounds very chirpy. From where I’m sitting, all I can see is predictable disappointment.