BRIT Awards and Mercury Prize rules on Britishness changed following #SawayamaIsBritish campaign

The Brit Awards is sticking to old ways, and Sam Smith has something to say about it.

Sam Smith has shared a statement after sources claimed the BRIT Awards are planning to keep gender-based categories.Smith came out as non-binary in early 2019, and changed their pronouns to they/them in September that year.Back in 2019, it was reported that the BRITs were planning to scrap their gender categories in a bid to include non-binary artists.

almost exactly a year since Broadway went dark due to the coronavirus pandemic — but now there’s light on the horizon of the Great White Way. Broadway insiders are finally looking toward re-opening after months of delayed optimism.

Field Day festival is returning to east London’s Victoria Park for its 2021 edition, organisers have confirmed.The festival, which was cancelled last summer due to the coronavirus pandemic, was most recently held at the Drumsheds in north London in 2019.

direct to your inboxThe first changes to the lockdown in England are in force from today.Boris Johnson unveiled the government's roadmap to 'cautiously' easing lockdown restrictions amid the success of the coronavirus vaccine programme.Step one from March 8 was given the green light after four tests required to proceed were met.These include: the vaccine deployment programme continues successfully; evidence shows vaccines are sufficiently effective in reducing hospitalisations and deaths in

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association have laid down their plans for reform following the diversity controversy surrounding this year’s Golden Globes.

UPDATE 6:54 P.M.: Literally Minutes after the HFPA announced more details of their plans to be a more diverse and inclusive organization, Time’s Up responded with “the right words are not enough. The clock is ticking.”

direct to your inbox The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced a four step roadmap for easing of the England-wide coronavirus lockdown last month.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentMichale Boganim (“Odessa, Odessa,” “Land of Oblivion”) is directing “Tel-Aviv/Beirut,” a historical drama set against the backdrop of the Israeli–Lebanese conflict in 1982 and 2006.Set in Northern Israel, the film tells the journey of two families on each side of the border whose fate intertwined because of the war raging in Lebanon.

Rina Sawayama has said that spearheading the movement to change eligibility rules for the Brit Awards and Mercury Prize is “the proudest moment of her career”.The singer has campaigned heavily to have the rules changed for British solo artists at awards events and contacted the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).Then this week saw Sawayama – who was born in Japan but has lived in the UK for 26 years and has indefinite leave to remain in the country – reveal that a grassroots campaign led to the

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRina Sawayama’s self-titled debut album is indisputably one of the most innovative pop records of recent years, a head-spinning fusion of nu-metal, Lady Gaga-style pop and ballads that is catnip for critics, fans of daring music (such as her big fan Elton John) and prestigious awards like the Brits and Mercury Prize.So there was no small outcry when Sawayama, 30, who was born in Japan and is not a British citizen but has lived in the U.K.

Rina Sawayama has scored a major victory in getting eligibility rules changed for the BRIT Awards and the Mercury Prize.The singer has campaigned heavily to have the rules changed for British solo artists at awards events and contacted the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).She wasn’t eligible to enter as a British artist under the current rules in last year’s Mercury Prize for her debut ‘SAWAYAMA’.

Rina Sawayama has built considerable critical acclaim since she first emerged, and her 2020 debut album Sawayama only continued that streak — it was even No. 14 on our best of the year list.