'New boring' Sheeran and Adele tipped to sweep Brits
Best female will be most competitive category in years, but 'beige pop' Ed Sheeran and Adele likely to win out
STRONG FEMALE entries have overshadowed the male nominees for this year's Brit Awards, say critics, but Ed Sheeran, leader of "the new boring", is still tipped for multiple wins.
For the fifth year running it was a female artist who won the Critics' Choice Award last night, a gong handed out ahead of the ceremony that tips a new act for stardom. Scottish soul singer Emeli Sandé picked up the prize as other nominees were announced at the Savoy hotel in London.
The British Female Solo Artist category, which includes Jesse J, Adele, Florence Welch, Kate Bush and Laura Marling, was described as the "the most competitive in the list" by The Independent.
Bush, who won her first Brit award before the other contenders were even born, made a long-awaited comeback last year with her acclaimed album 50 Words for Snow. But Neil McCormick at The Daily Telegraph says the engravers might as well etch Adele's name into the gong and get it over with. The London-born Someone Like You singer has been nominated for three awards, as has Jessie J.
McCormick says the men are not looking quite as convincing this year. "Women are no longer deemed to be pop music's weaker sex, and the British Female category is arguably the strongest it has ever been," he says.
However, the Daily Mail points out that men continue to dominate in the Best British Group category, with guitar bands Arctic Monkeys, Elbow, Kasabian and Coldplay all nominated. And it is Ed Sheeran who has had more nods than any other act this year after being shortlisted for four awards.
But will the night be dominated by what Peter Robinson at the Guardian has called the "new wave of beige pop"? Sheeran, Adele and Coldplay are all members of "the new boring", he says, though Sheeran apparently leads this cultural movement. Robinson describes his nominated album as "a 12-bore shitgun (13 if you count the bonus track)".
The ceremony takes place at the O2 arena on 21 February. As the Telegraph says: "May the best woman win." ·
