BRIT AWARDS - CRITICS CHOICE WINNER REVEALED

The BRIT Awards 2012 with MasterCard
Critics’ Choice Award winner and runners up announced today

Winner: Emeli Sandé
2nd Place: Maverick Sabre
3rd Place: Michael Kiwanuka

Tuesday 21st February 2012 at The O2, London
Exclusively broadcast live on ITV 1

Thursday 15th December – For Immediate Release


Today The BRITs can reveal that Emeli Sandé is the winner of this year’s prestigious Critics’ Choice Award, with Maverick Sabre in second place and Michael Kiwanuka in third.

For a relative newcomer Scottish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sandé has already had an incredible career. As a published writer she’s written hit singles for Chipmunk and Wiley as well as album tracks for Cheryl Cole, Susan Boyle and Tinie Tempah. Since signing a record deal with Virgin Records in 2011, Emeli has had a No. 2 debut single with ‘Heaven’ and a No.1 single with Professor Green, ‘Read All About It’. Emeli received rave reviews for her recent headline sold out tour and is currently supporting Coldplay across the UK and Europe. Her outstanding song writing, breath-taking vocals and credible compositions have won her fans across the board and her hugely anticipated debut album, ‘Our version of Events’ will be released in February 2012.
As the winner, Emeli Sande will perform at The BRITs Nominations Launch event on the 12th of January at The Savoy Hotel.

Emeli said of her win, “To win a BRIT Award so early in my career is beyond a dream come true. I am overwhelmed to be the recipient of such a prestigious award. Thank you so much.”

The Critics’ Choice Award is for new British acts that the critics tip for mainstream success in the forthcoming year. In previous years it has been awarded to Jessie J (2011) Ellie Goulding (2010), Florence and the Machine (2009) and Adele (2008). The artists are chosen by a team of experts including the music editors of national newspapers, key music and lifestyle magazines and music websites plus the heads of music at major radio and music TV stations. The Award is open to artists signed to a label who are set to release their debut albums in 2012 and over 100 artists from a range of genres were considered for the award.

For the third year running, the Critics’ Choice Award will also be presented in association with War Child, an international charity that protects children living in the world’s most dangerous war zones. The BRITs are working alongside the charity and the annual War Child gig, now in its fourth year.

The BRIT Awards’ involvement with War Child complements a long standing association with the Awards’ own BRIT Trust charity. The Awards have raised more than £13m for the Trust, whose main beneficiaries are the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology (http://www.brit.croydon.sch.uk) the only free performing arts school in the UK, Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy (http://www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk) and other selected charities which match the mission criteria.

This week has also seen the final day for the Voting Academy to cast their votes for the winners of The BRIT Awards 2012 with voting closing yesterday.



For further information, please contact:

Press/Online - DawBell
Stuart Bell/Richard Dawes – 0207 484 5012

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TV/Radio - Scream Promotions
Claire Jarvis/Tony Cooke – 0207 434 3446
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Notes to editors

The BRITs - Voting Academy **

The Academy is made up of 1,000 specially invited members from across the breadth of the UK music industry: music critics, music writers, online & student press, major & independent record companies, retailers, music TV and radio producers & presenters, music publishers, artist managers, live concert promoters, NUS representatives and DJs. Since 2011, Artists have been invited to join the Voting Academy.

Less than a quarter of the academy's membership is drawn from the recording industry and only 12% of the voting academy is drawn from major record companies.

All academy votes** are collected online, and are counted and verified by official scrutinisers ERS (Electoral Reform Services).


BRIT - British Record Industry Trust

The BRIT (British Record Industry Trust) Awards is organised by the BPI – the British recorded music industry association - which has over 400 record company members large and small who between them account for in excess of 90% of UK recorded music sales.

The BRIT Awards 2012 with MasterCard will be the 32nd BRIT Awards, which has raised more than £12.2 million for The BRIT Trust charity, whose main beneficiaries are the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology http://www.brit.croydon.sch.uk, Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy http://www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk and other selected charities which match the mission criteria.

Over 8,000 young people have been given free education and the opportunity to enter the BRIT School since its opening in 1991 and more than 10,000 children and adults have been helped by the extraordinary music therapy work carried out by Nordoff-Robbins.

The BRITs Committee 2012

The steering group that puts the show together, is made up of: David Joseph, Chairman (Universal Music), Jason Iley (Universal Music), Miles Leonard (EMI), Christian Tattersfield (Warners), Mike Smith (Sony Music), Ben Beardsworth (XL Recordings), Geoff Taylor (BPI) and Maggie Crowe (BRIT Awards Ltd), Adrian Carter (BRIT Awards Ltd), Mark Fletcher (BPI), John Kaye Cooper (ITV), Suzi Aplin (BRITs TV Exec Producer), Craig Gledhill (BRITs TV Producer), Stuart Bell/Richard Dawes (DawBell PR)

ITV

ITV Plc is the UK’s leading advertiser-funded, free-to-air broadcaster and employs almost 4,000 staff worldwide within its Broadcasting, ITV Studios and Online businesses.
ITV’s broadcasting business is made up of ITV1, the UK’s largest commercial TV channel in terms of audience share, and the UK’s leading portfolio of digital channels - ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4. Annually ITV invests around £1 billion in content for its broadcast channels and its website itv.com.

About MasterCard

MasterCard (NYSE: MA) is a global payments and technology company. It operates the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard’s products and solutions make everyday commerce activities - such as shopping, travelling, running a business and managing finances - easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone. Learn more at mastercard.com or follow us on Twitter @mastercardnews

About AEG & The O2

AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. It owns or operates some of the world’s best arenas and theatres, numerous sports franchises including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL) and LA Galaxy (MLS), and a collection of companies dedicated to producing, promoting and presenting world-class live entertainment.

In May 2005, AEG Europe announced that it would transform the former Millennium Dome and the surrounding area into the UK’s most exciting and technically advanced music, sport and entertainment destination. It was renamed The O2 and opened in June 2007.

The centrepiece of the multi-million pound development is the 20,000 capacity indoor arena, the most popular music arena in the world. There is also a live music venue – indigO2 - with a capacity of 2,350, The O2 bubble – a state of the art exhibition space that is host to the British Music Experience, a permanent, high-tech, interactive music museum, an 11 screen cinema complex, and a vibrant ‘Entertainment District’ featuring a variety of bars, restaurants and leisure facilities.

The O2 arena sold more tickets than any other arena in the world last year (breaking all previous records) – making it the most popular music venue in the world for the third year running.
Since opening The O2 has picked up many industry awards including Venue of the Year at the Music Week Awards, Pollstar International Arena of the Year (3 years running) and Best New Major Concert Venue, Venue of the Year at The Event Services Association and Favourite Venue at the TPI Awards.

In Zone 2 of London’s Underground, The O2 is situated on the Greenwich Peninsula next to the North Greenwich station on the Jubilee Line, which provides direct access to central London in less than twenty minutes. Thames Clippers, fast-speed catamarans run a ferry service from central London to the QEII pier next to the venue every 20 minutes.

The O2 is an official venue for the 2012 Olympics hosting both the gymnastic and basketball events.

AEG employs more than 3,000 staff in over 45 operating companies worldwide. Its international head office is in Los Angeles, and its European headquarters is based in London.