FLO announced as winners of BRITs Rising Star!
The BRIT Awards 2023 with Mastercard have today announced that FLO are the winners of the prestigious BRITs Rising Star award supported by BBC Radio 1. The news was revealed by Clara Amfo on her BBC Radio 1 Future Sounds show. FLO are the first ever group to win the BRITs Rising Star award.FLO said:
“From growing up watching the BRITs, to finding each other and forming FLO, releasing our first body of work in 2022 and winning a BRIT award in the same year!! We are so shocked and grateful. We are the first group to win the BRITs Rising Star! We’ve just made history and couldn’t have done it without our wonderful fans and supportive families. It’s truly a dream come true. We feel so empowered creating the music we love and we hope others feel that too.”
Seven months ago, the British R&B girl group FLO - Renée, Jorja and Stella - released their debut single ‘Cardboard Box’, which catapulted them into the collective consciousness and won them fans such as Brandy, JoJo, SZA, Victoria Monét, Missy Elliott, and girl group royalty Kelly Rowland and Sugababes. ‘Cardboard Box’ has set the world alight, with a debut sound and video that sparked a cultural conversion about the future of British girl groups. FLO have gone on to perform ‘Cardboard Box’ on late night US TV show Jimmy Kimmel, the UK’s Later…with Jools Holland, The Glamour Women of the Year Awards, The BET Soul Train Awards, as well as being announced as Best Newcomer nominees at the MOBOs. The recent Happi remix of ‘Cardboard Box’ quickly became the #1 sound on TikTok UK after a Polynesian-creator’s dance routine went viral on the platform, leading to over 400k creations a day at its peak and now over 1M+ versions of the dance exist, with fellow artists creating their own, including Troye Sivan. FLO released their debut EP ‘The Lead’ at the height of summer 2022 to critical acclaim, which has now amassed over 70million global streams, and represented the personal and professional growth of three young women taking the reins, who have created a sound that hasn’t been heard in the UK music scene for decades. Reinvigorating the British R&B scene, FLO have already been tipped by the likes of The Guardian, i-D, Dazed, NME, Complex and Pitchfork. From girl group royalty to hundreds of thousands of fans on their growing Instagram (180k) and TikTok (300k) channels, FLO have taken The Lead in 2022, and this is just the beginning.
Cat Burns and Nia Archives were also shortlisted for the award, originally known as Critics’ Choice, which since its launch in 2008, has successfully identified the future stars of UK music, with an extraordinary alumni of previous winners including Adele, Florence + The Machine, Sam Smith, Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, Ellie Goulding, Sam Fender, Celeste, Griff and last year’s winner Holly Humberstone, with total global track streams for all previous winners reaching over 50 billion.
The BRITs Rising Star award shortlist is selected by an invited panel of music editors and critics from the national press, online music editors, heads of music at major radio and music TV stations plus songwriters, producers and live bookers - those working with new rising talent on a regular basis.
Past BRITs Critics’ Choice / Rising Star winners and nominees:
2008 Adele (Duffy, Foals)
2009 Florence + The Machine (Little Boots, White Lies)
2010 Ellie Goulding (Delphic, Marina and the Diamonds)
2011 Jessie J (James Blake, The Vaccines)
2012 Emeli Sandé (Michael Kiwanuka, Maverick Sabre)
2013 Tom Odell (AlunaGeorge, Laura Mvula)
2014 Sam Smith (Ella Eyre, Chlöe Howl)
2015 James Bay (George The Poet, Years & Years)
2016 Jack Garratt (Izzy Bizu, Frances)
2017 Rag ’n’ Bone Man (Anne Marie, Dua Lipa)
2018 Jorja Smith (Stefflon Don, Mabel)
2019 Sam Fender (Lewis Capaldi, Mahalia)
2020 Celeste (Beabadoobee, Joy Crookes)
2021 Griff (Pa Salieu, Rina Sawayama)
2022 Holly Humberstone (Bree Runway, Lola Young)
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The BRIT Awards 2023 with Mastercard also confirm the full list of award categories for the main show. Along with the flagship Mastercard Album of the Year, Artist of the Year and Song of the Year categories, the four new genre awards introduced for 2022 will continue, with the winner decided by public vote powered by TikTok.
The full category list for 2023 will be as follows:
Artist of the Year with YouTube Music
Group of the Year
BRITs Rising Star supported by BBC Radio 1
Best New Artist
Song of the Year with Mastercard supported by Capital FM
Mastercard Album of the Year
International Artist of the Year
International Group of the Year
Alternative/Rock Act
Pop/R&B Act
Dance Act
Hip Hop/Rap/Grime Act
The main eligibility window for the above categories (bar Rising Star), and all awards as decided upon by The BRITs Voting Academy, runs from Friday 10th December 2021 to Friday 9th December 2022. The BRITs Voting Academy is made up of approx. 1200 music industry experts across media, artists, labels, publishers, promoters, retailers and more, and is refreshed annually to ensure the voters are as diverse and representative as possible.
The BRITs in 2023 will also celebrate the Producer of the Year and Songwriter of the Year, honorary awards that are decided upon by the BRITs Committee.
The BRIT Awards 2023 with Mastercard will take place on Saturday 11th February - the first time the show will be held on a Saturday in its history - and will broadcast live on ITV and ITVX - from The O2 arena.
This year the BRIT award has been designed by Slawn, the Nigerian-born, London-based artist known for his large-scale canvases filled with a blend of caricature like pop figures and bold colourful forms, who follows in the footsteps of an illustrious list of creatives including Dame Vivienne Westwood, Sir Peter Blake, Tracey Emin, Dame Zaha Hadid, Sir David Adjaye and Es Devlin and Yinka Ilori, who have all previously imbued the iconic BRIT award with their own unique and artistic flair and vision.
2023 will mark 30 years of ITV as broadcast partner, with headline sponsor Mastercard reaching 25 years and 13 years at The O2 arena. All three long-standing partners support The BRITs’ ambition to host an unforgettable and far-reaching evening of live music and entertainment that, additionally, helps raise money for The BRIT Trust, the charitable arm of the awards, who distribute funds to charities that promote education and well-being through music, including The BRIT School and Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy.
Mastercard returns as headline partner of The BRIT Awards for the 25th year, bringing cardholders closer to their passion for music through a range of BRITs experiences. This year, Mastercard will continue to partner with The BRIT School to celebrate and give a platform to the next generation of creative talent and will again sponsor the much sought after Mastercard Album of the Year award, as well as Song of the Year with Mastercard.
YouTube Music is the Official Digital Music Partner and will bring fans closer to the BRITs than ever before. As the home of the official livestream on YouTube, audiences around the world will be able to watch the whole journey of the BRITs unfold, from the nominations, through the run-up, to the awards themselves and the performances on demand afterwards. Fans will also be able to watch exclusive behind-the-scenes footage on the night on YouTube Shorts, a short-form video experience right on YouTube, as well as listening to their favourite artists' playlists on YouTube Music.
Further campaign announcements will be unveiled in the coming months.
