Sam Smith hits out at Brit Awards for keeping male and female categories at this year’s ceremony
SAM Smith has hit out at the Brit Awards after they decided not to scrap gendered categories for this year’s bash, leaving the non-binary star upset.
I told yesterday how organisers had decided to keep the Best Male and Best Female categories despite discussions to introduce a gender-neutral alternative, meaning Sam will miss out.
The Diamonds singer, who doesn’t identify as male or female but “somewhere in between”, said: “Music for me has always been about unification not division.
";I look forward to a time where awards shows can be reflective of the society we live in.
"Let’s celebrate everybody, regardless of gender, race, age, ability, sexuality and class.”
However, organisers of the ceremony, due to go ahead on May 11 at London’s O2 Arena, said: “Looking to the future we still have a lot of work to do in the coming years to evolve the Brits.
“The process of change isn’t something that can be fixed in just one campaign and we are committed to working together with the industry to evolve the show to be as inclusive and relevant as possible.”
Voting opened yesterday for a panel of industry experts to decide on the nominations, with Sam’s third album Love Goes only being eligible for the Mastercard Album of the Year award.
Yet Amanda Holden is in the running to be nominated for three gongs — Breakthrough Artist, Best Female and Album of the Year, following the release of her debut Songs From My Heart last October.
Even Jane McDonald could be in with a shot of getting more nominations as she is also eligible for Best Female and Album of the Year for Cruising With Jane McDonald Volume 2, which reached No24 in November.
There may also be some disappointment for Kylie Minogue fans, despite her becoming the fastest-selling solo act of 2020 with her 15th album Disco.
New rules announced last month stated that acts who have been a resident of the UK for more than five years would be eligible for the British categories.
But despite having lived in London since the Nineties, the Aussie singer is still being consigned to the International Female Solo Artist category because of a rule that states an artist previously nominated in an International Award category will be considered an International artist irrespective of their UK residence status.
If anyone deserves to be celebrated for their contribution to music over the past 30 years, it’s Kylie.
Kylie's a cream cracker
MONTHS of being stuck inside seem to have got to Kylie Jenner – who now appears to be enjoying a bit of sunbathing indoors.
She posed in a room draped with pink material to promote her own brand of sun cream, perhaps not realising there’s not much risk of getting a tan from the lamp in her lounge.
Alongside the snap of her reclining on the floor, the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star wrote on Instagram: “Make sure you pick up your sunscreen oil on KylieSkin.com.
“Summer will be here before you know it. My favourite way to feel sexy while staying protected.”
Kylie wore pink lingerie made from yarn for the photoshoot.
Might be a good thing she’s not wearing that to sunbathe in the park.
If she snagged that on a tree it could unravel in an instant.
Nick club full of space, man
NICK Jonas is making the most of nightclubs being closed by taking over one of London’s biggest to shoot a music video.
I can reveal the US singer is at the venue – being kept a closely guarded secret – this weekend.
He flew in to the capital to spend time with his actress wife Priyanka Chopra, who is filming a TV show over here.
And it’s not just London that will feature in the video, as Nick will also be swapping sunny Los Angeles for Southampton, where other scenes for the video will be shot.
A music insider said: “Nick is using one of London’s most iconic clubs for his new video
“The concept behind the shoot is really cool.
“Clubbers will be able to recognise it immediately when the video is released.
“There is a location in Southampton being used too.”
Work on the video started just hours after the release of Nick’s fourth solo album, Spaceman, yesterday.
The 11-track record – his first since reuniting the Jonas Brothers with siblings Joe and Kevin for their 2019 album Happiness Begins – includes a song called Don’t Give Up On Us, which appears to allude to issues with Priyanka.
Nick, who wrote much of the album while she was in London and he was in the US, sings: “I hear you calling when I’m here all by myself.
“I can’t help wondering, are you loving someone else?”
Speaking on The Graham Norton Show last night about writing Spaceman, he said:“Like everyone else, I was locked up at home thinking about what I was going to do with my life, so I wrote music over Zoom with my producer.
“We locked in on my personal experience but it became a universal concept about what it is like being disconnected from the world.
“I was away from my wife for about two months and the music helped me work through missing her and feeling alone in general.”
They won’t have those worries now they’re both here in Blighty.
If Priyanka is lucky, Nick might just take her along to Southampton.
After all, last year it was voted the UK’s third best city to live and work in.
Jodie: I’d love to make Jade a solo star
JODIE Harsh DJs at all the biggest showbiz parties and has become the UK’s most well-connected drag queen.
She is close pals with the likes of Kate Moss and Victoria Beckham – and has even been a fancy dress inspiration for Little Mix’s Jade Thirlwall.
Now, after signing a record deal with Warner last month, Jodie has brought out her pulsating dance tune My House and is hoping to use her talents to make Jade a solo star.
In an exclusive chat, she said: “I’d love to make a banger for Jade if she ever does a solo project. I think that would be fab.
“I’ve got a wishlist in my head of people I would love to work with and definitely I want to work with pop stars.
“Everything I make for and with people will be rooted in dance music but I love pop music too. I would also love to do something original with Cher, while there’s still time.”
But she doesn’t have the same drive to get her Spice Girls friend Posh back into the music business.
Joking, Jodie said: “Could I get her to do more music?
“I love her, but I’m not sure the world is crying out for another Victoria Beckham banger.”
She said it, not me.
RiRi's braid new world
WITH a string of fashion and beauty brands under her belt, it’s fair to say Rihanna knows about looking good.
So it was a huge relief to find out we’ve all been ahead of the curve by wearing tracksuits at home for the past year, as she headed out to a dinner wearing green jogging bottoms.
The singer donned the joggers with white heels when she was spotted in Santa Monica, California, on Thursday.
She had her hair in tight braids, just as it was revealed she is expanding her empire to include haircare products, trademarking the name Fenty Hair.
I probably won’t be as influential as Rihanna when it comes to my choice of supermarket own-brand three-in-one shower gel.
James finds it Impossible
JAMES Arthur has compared performing his breakout No1 single Impossible to “Guantanamo Bay s**t”, and said he hates his other chart-topper, Say You Won’t Let Go, too.
He said: “When I sing Impossible now, I die inside every time. I’m sick of singing it.
“But also it’s why a lot of people know me around the globe. I have to keep reinventing the song otherwise it’s soul-destroying.
"It’s f***ing Guantanamo Bay s**t.”
James, who returned earlier this month with new single Medicine, went on to say he wrote Say You Won’t Let Go after an all-day bender and finds it “corny”.
On the True Geordie podcast, he explained: “I was hungover as f***. I was in LA and one of my boys from home was out with me and we went to this Irish bar and just drank all day.
"I knew I had this session the next day and woke up and didn’t want to go.
"The label and everyone was like, this song is f***ing unreal. I was like, ‘I think it’s corny as f***. I hate this song’.”
Jason is quids in
JASON Manford will be laughing all the way to the bank after making more than £2million.
The comic sold his ten-property empire last year, raising over £3million to settle legal bills from a 2017 divorce.
But he still made a small fortune.
Documents for his company Gerald Dean Ltd reveal he has assets worth £2,144,807 – double the previous year.
He is set to earn even more after a deal to host new BBC quiz show Unbeatable.
No Doubt about it
GWEN Stefani hasn’t ruled out a No Doubt reunion, despite previously admitting that making their last album in 2012 was a stressful experience.
Asked if she thought about it, she told Apple Music: “It is a really big deal, and I do.
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“I’m reflecting so much on all the music. When you’re writing new music, you reflect on everything that you’ve done.
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"For sure, it’s surreal to think that happened so long ago. I’ve no idea what the future holds with that.”
With next year marking the 30th anniversary of their self-titled debut album, Gwen has the perfect excuse to give the band another go.
Chart-toppers
SINGLES
- Drivers License – OLIVIA RODRIGO
- Wellerman – NATHAN EVANS feat. 220 KID & BILLEN TED
- The Business – TIESTO
- What’s Next – DRAKE
- Calling My Phone – LIL TJAY & 6LACK
- Lemon Pepper Freestyle – DRAKE feat. RICK ROSS
- Friday – RITON & NIGHTCRAWLERS feat. MUFASA & HYPEMAN
- Without You – THE KID LAROI
- Don’t Play – ANNE-MARIE, KSI & DIGITAL FARM ANIMALS
- Wants And Needs – DRAKE feat. LIL BABY
- Drake has three new entries in the Top Ten following the release of his EP, Scary Hours 2. Meanwhile, Olivia Rodrigo scores a ninth week at No1.
ALBUMS
- When You See Yourself – KINGS OF LEON
- Future Nostalgia – DUA LIPA
- Made In The Pyrex – DIGGA D
- Do It Again – GABRIELLE
- The Highlights – THE WEEKND
- Greatest Hits – QUEEN
- Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon – POP SMOKE
- Fine Line – HARRY STYLES
- Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent – LEWIS CAPALDI
- Divide – ED SHEERAN
- Kings Of Leon are at No1 with new album When You See Yourself – their sixth to top the charts. And following her stint as Harlequin on The Masked Singer, Gabrielle is No4.
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