![\"SIENNA](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_Skl-and-Fejre-Urban-Jrgensen-The-Next-Generation.jpg\")
SIENNA SPIRO is one of the three shortlisted acts for the BRITS Critics’ Choice 2026 award(Image: Getty Images for Urban J\u00c3\u00bcrgensen)<\/p>\nThree artists are hoping to join the likes of Adele, Sam Fender and Florence + the Machine as winners of the awardSIENNA SPIRO is one of the three shortlisted acts for the BRITS Critics’ Choice 2026 award(Image: Getty Images for Urban J\u00c3\u00bcrgensen)<\/p>\n
The first nominees for the BRIT Awards 2026<\/a> have been unveiled – with three artists shortlisted for a major career-defining trophy.<\/p>\n Next year, the prestigious music ceremony will take place in Manchester for the first time<\/a> in its 48-year history. Held at Co-op Live<\/a> on February 28, the move – which forms part of a two-year deal – has been hailed as a “bold new chapter for the legendary event\u201d.<\/p>\n Last month, the trophy for the upcoming event, which will also air on ITV<\/a>, was unveiled and has been created by Manchester-based fashion and interior designer Matthew Williamson. The award<\/a> is made out of amber toned resin, which resembles the golden honey of the city\u2019s worker bee mascot, atop a globe representing the worldwide reach of British music.<\/p>\n The three artists shortlisted for the Critics Choice 2026 award have today (December 3) been unveiled. Created to champion rising stars, the prize has previously been awarded to the likes of Adele, Sam Smith, Florence + the Machine, Emeli Sand\u00e9, The Last Dinner Party and Sam Fender. At this year’s ceremony, Myles Smith was named the recipient of the Critics’ Choice 2025 award.<\/p>\n Hoping to join them on the very-impressive roster of winners in 2026 will be Jacob Alon, Rose Gray and SIENNA SPIRO. The award is open to British artists who, as of 31st October 2025, have not yet achieved an Official Top 20 album or more than one Official Top 20 single. Announced on Radio 1\u2019s New Music Show with Jack Saunders this evening, the winner will be revealed in January ahead of the ceremony.<\/p>\n The nomination comes off the back of an already successful few months for Fife-based singer-songwriter Jacob Alon. They were named BBC Introducing Artist of the Year last month and also earnt a place on the 2025 Mercury Prize shortlist for their album In Limerence, alongside the likes of Pulp, CMAT, Fontaines D.C. and winner Sam Fender.<\/p>\n \u201cYa beauty! Tapadh leibh for recognising my work for this award you legends,\u201d Jacob said of the nomination. \u201cEven though I\u2019m Scottish & Irish before I\u2019m British, I appreciate the BRITs critics for this recognition. I really care about and believe in this music and it makes my world brighter every time it reaches someone else. Hopefully this nomination means some more beautiful people might find something in this wee album. \u2018Mon the gays!!!\u201d<\/p>\n Rose Gray has also had a successful year, having toured with the likes of the Sugababes, Kesha and the Scissor Sisters around the world. The London-based club-pop artist, who released her debut album Louder, Please at the start of the year, has recently been touring the UK on her headline tour – including a sold-out show at Manchester\u2019s Gorilla last month.<\/p>\n Speaking of being shortlisted for the Critics’ Choice award, Rose said: \u201cI\u2019m so excited for this nomination!! This moment feels like a special reminder of how far this journey has carried me and what a crazy year it\u2019s been. One year ago, I was manifesting so hard for my album \u2018Louder, Please\u2019 to travel, to find its people, to really get its light. And it did. Releasing this record has genuinely changed my life. I\u2019m so grateful to everyone who\u2019s been part of this journey and I can’t wait for what’s to come. Thank you BRITs.\u201d<\/p>\n Pop and jazz vocalist SIENNA SPIRO has also had an exceptional few months. Having toured with the likes of Teddy Swims and RAYE, her latest single Die On This Hill has been climbing up the charts. The London singer-songwriter recently performed the soulful piano ballad on Later\u2026 With Jools Holland.<\/p>\n “So beyond honoured and grateful to be nominated for this year’s Critics’ Choice BRIT Award,\u201d SIENNA said today. \u201cTo think I started releasing music last year, I would never have expected this at all. Thank you so much!”<\/p>\n Stacey Tang, Chair of the 2026 BRIT Awards Committee and Co-President of RCA Records at Sony Music UK, added of the shortlist: “How exciting to spotlight a new wave of UK musicians shaping popular culture. Awards and recognition for emerging artists is now more important than ever, and Critics\u2019 Choice has long championed brilliantly talented new artists.<\/p>\n \u201cThis cohort shares the same early spark displayed by previous winners like Adele, Florence + The Machine, Sam Fender, Myles Smith and Emeli Sande. This year\u2019s finalists are a great reminder that commercial momentum grows from creative ambition and artistic bravery.”<\/p>\n The BRIT Awards will take place at Co-op Live on February 28. It will also be broadcast on ITV and ITVX.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three artists are hoping to join the likes of Adele, Sam Fender and Florence + the Machine as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[69971,748,1936,393,4884,208,2465,711,382,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-610221","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-brit-awards","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-co-op-live","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-itv","14":"tag-manchester","15":"tag-pop-music","16":"tag-tv","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115657527084464104","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Mercury](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1_Kae-Tempest-Performs-At-The-O2-Academy-Brixton.jpg\")
Mercury Prize-nominated Folk artist Jacob Alon was nominated for the 2025 Mercury Prize and was also named BBC Introducing Artist of the Year last month(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_AMR_MEN_031225_BRITjpeg.jpg\")
The three artists shortlisted for the BRITs Critics’ Choice Award 2025 have been unveiled (Image: BRIT Awards)<\/p>\n![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_JRP_MEN_191125_britaward_012JPG.jpg\")
This year’s BRIT Award trophy has been designed by Manchester artist Matthew Williamson(Image: Jason Roberts \/Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n