Calum Scott on BRIT Awards nomination with Lost Frequencies: "We're against Encanto, for God's sake!"

We are coming down the home stretch of the 2022-2023 award season, with the Oscars eight days away. The 38th Independent Spirit Awards is the last big award show left before we find out who will become our new batch of Academy Award winners.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor On the morning after the BRIT Awards the night before, the U.K. music industry generally opts for a long lie-in. But 2023 BRITs chairman Damian Christian was up early – despite it being a Sunday – to receive an email from ITV bosses telling him that the show had posted “great numbers.” The telecast peaked at 3.9 million viewers, up from 2.7 million last year, with a further 1.2 million streams of the show on streaming service ITVX. The ceremony also scored its highest share (54%) of 16-34-year-old viewers in more than a decade, confirming the big move to Saturday night had paid off. “Although it was great getting the Saturday night, there was still no guarantee people were going to watch it,” Christian tells Variety in an exclusive interview. “For us to do a show for two hours, full of music and for everyone to engage with it is a massive result.”

Paul Mescal has clocked his first Olivier Award nomination for his leading performance in Rebecca Frecknall’s buzzy stage adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire. Scroll down for the full list of nominees.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Scott Adams’ racist rant has resulted in the “Dilbert” cartoonist losing his deal with syndication partner Andrews McMeel Universal. In a statement late Sunday, Andrews McMeel said it was “severing our relationship” with Adams, which the company originally struck in 2011, including “all areas of our business with Adams and the ‘Dilbert’ comic strip.” “As a media and communications company, AMU values free speech,” the statement from chairman Hugh Andrews and president/CEO Andy Sareyan said. “But we will never support any commentary rooted in discrimination or hate. Recent comments by Scott Adams regarding race and race relations do not align with our core values as a company.”

Ellise Shafer The Screen Actors Guild Awards are back to honor the year’s best acting performances, subsequently giving key insights into the Oscars race as awards season heats up. Before the televised ceremony, SAG announced that “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Stranger Things” had won outstanding action performance by a stunt ensemble in a motion picture and television series, respectively. “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” lead this year’s nominations with five nods each, including best ensemble, the ceremony’s highest honor. The two films will compete against Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon,” Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” and Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” for the prize.

Terry Flores “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” has picked up another award on its march to the Oscars, nabbing the feature prize at the 50th Annie Awards, presented by ASIFA-Hollywood, on Saturday evening. In addition to being named the top film by the animation industry, “Pinocchio” led the winners’ list with five trophies overall, including the award for best direction for del Toro and fellow director Mark Gustafson. The stop-motion movie also picked up wins for music (Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz, del Toro and Patrick McHale), production design (Curt Enderle and Guy Davis) and character design (Tucker Barrie). Del Toro, who came directly from the PGA Awards where he received the trophy for producing ‘Pinocchio,’ was thrilled to win the Annie for direction alongside Gustafson. “Can I say this? I wanted the fucking Annie so much. It’s the most gorgeous thing in the world!” He noted that the Annies ceremony was the one place that he didn’t have to point out that animation is a medium and not a genre. “What I can say is about ‘Pinocchio’ is that it was done by artists, and the animators were treated like cast and not technicians.”

Naman Ramachandran For a solid decade, the U.K. contributed some of the most iconic floppy-haired lotharios, airport dashes and front-door confessions in romcom history. Films such as “Four Weddings and a Funeral” (1994), “Notting Hill” (1999) and “Love Actually” (2003) basically invented such hallmarks of the genre. But in the last decade, the global-facing British romcom has all but disappeared from cinemas. Richard Curtis, the brains behind the aforementioned hits as well as the “Bridget Jones” adaptations, says the heavy lifting keeping romcoms alive has largely been carried out in the television ranks. The writer cites examples such as the BBC’s “Gavin & Stacey” and “Fleabag” and Channel 4’s “Catastrophe” as “blazing examples.”

*WINNER.BEST FILM“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Malte Grunert“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh“Elvis,” Gail Berman, Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Patrick McCormick, Schuyler Weiss“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Jonathan Wang“Tár,” Todd Field, Scott Lambert, Alexandra MilchanOUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM“Aftersun,” Charlotte Wells, Producer(s) TBC“The Banshees of Inisherin” Martin McDonagh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin“Brian and Charles,” Jim Archer, Rupert Majendie, David Earl, Chris Hayward“Empire of Light,” Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris“Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” Sophie Hyde, Debbie Gray, Adrian Politowski, Katy Brand“Living,” Oliver Hermanus, Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley, Kazuo Ishiguro“Roald Dalh’s Matilda the Musical,” Matthew Warchus, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Jon Finn, Luke Kelly, Dennis Kelly“See How They Run,” Tom George, Gina Carter, Damian Jones, Mark Chappell“The Swimmers,” Sally El Hosaini, Producer(s) TBC, Jack Thorne“The Wonder,” Sebastián Lelio, Ed Guiney, Juliette Howell, Andrew Lowe, Tessa Ross, Alice Birch, Emma DonoghueOUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER“Aftersun,”  Charlotte Wells (Writer/Director)“Blue Jean,” Georgia Oakley (Writer/Director), Hélène Sifre (Producer)“Electric Malady,” Marie Lidén (Director)“Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” Katy Brand (Writer)“Rebellion,” Maia Kenworthy (Director)FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE“All Quiet on the Western Front” Edward Berger, Malte Grunert *WINNER“Argentina, 1985,” Santiago Mitre, Producer(s) TBC“Corsage,” Marie Kreutzer“Decision to Leave,” Park Chan-wook, Ko Dae-seok“The Quiet Girl,” Colm Bairéad, Cleona Ní ChrualaoíDOCUMENTARY“All That Breathes,”

Taylor Swift, The 1975, Blur, Pixies, U2, London Grammar, Madonna, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Foals, Donna Summer and Björk.The 16th edition of the annual event comes after the recent news that in 2022, vinyl outsold the CD format for the first time in 35 years.“We can’t wait to be taking part in Record Store Day UK,” said Scott Gamble from Crash Records in Leeds. “It’s such a great chance for us – and others stores all over the country – to shout about  what we do and see the local music-loving community out in force.“Having such a great list of releases from household names through to brand new artists means we  get an opportunity to introduce our world to people who aren’t necessarily already part of our brilliant  set of regulars.

The full list of exclusive releases coming to independent UK record shops as part of Record Store Day 2023 has been revealed.

Sam Smith‘s inflatable Brit Awards suit, has said that he took inspiration for the silhouette from his dog.Harri (whose full name is Harikrishnan Keezhathil Surendran Pillai) spoke to the BBC about getting the call to design the outfit.“They [Smith] reached out to me on Monday, asking if I could create something custom-made for the Brits,” he said. “I was a bit scared because it’s not enough time.

Salma Hayek looked stunning at her most recent appearance at an awards show. Hayek was a guest and a presenter at the BRIT Awards, wearing an all black and leather ensemble, which she capped off with a leather jacket for the after party.How Salma Hayek overcame fear of marriage on her wedding day: ‘I was nervous’Salma Hayek goes preppy in London: Check out her Gucci lookHayek wore a stunning dress with a leather skirt and some platform heels. She accesorized the look with a stunning necklace and striking make up.

Paul Mescal reciting the lyrics to the Taylor Swift song ‘We Are Never Getting Back Together’ has been released – you can watch it above.The video, in which Mescal simply speaks the lyrics without any music, was shared by W Magazine to coincide with Valentine’s Day.After finishing the recital, Mescal said of the song: “It’s kind of sad, isn’t it?”Mescal, who is best known for his role in the BBC series Normal People, is nominated for Best Actor at this year’s Oscars for his performance in Aftersun. This is his first-ever nomination for an Academy Award.His fellow nominees in the category include Austin Butler (Elvis), Brendan Fraser (The Whale), Colin Farrell (The Banshees Of Inisherin) and Bill Nighy (Living).In Aftersun, Mescal plays Callum, a young father trying to connect with his 11-year-old daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) when they go on holiday to a Turkish resort.In a four-star review of Aftersun, NME wrote: “Liable to increase the cult around Mescal, following his BAFTA-winning turn in Normal People, Aftersun may be small in scale, but it leaves a distinct and lasting impression.

The Brit Awards 2023 has already seen some incredible red carpet looks from celebrity attendees. We had Lizzo show-stopping “opulent” gold gown, Megan McKenna’s cowgirl-inspired ensemble and Talia Storm’s, err, bikini. We’ve also had Leigh-Anne Pinnock in a burnt orange gown.The Little Mix star graced the red carpet in a very daring dress.

This weekend, the 2023 BRIT Awards take place (for the first time ever in the ceremony's history - on a Saturday!) and one of the night's most anticipated moments will be seeing who will win the coveted Song of the Year award. 

Every Thursday, we here at Official Charts round up the biggest New Releases coming your way across music and home entertainment. 

The Brit Awards 2023 saw the fashion rule book torn up and thrown away. With huge names performing on the night, from Harry Styles to Stormzy and Lizzo, it’s no surprise the red carpet looks were just as impressive as the performers at the O2. One fashion highlight of the night was Jessie J baring her baby bump on the red carpet hours after revealing that she is expecting a baby boy.The 34 year old Price Tag singer looked phenomenal as she rocked a red jumpsuit which featured a large cut-out at the midsection, so her blossoming baby bump was bared to the world.

On Saturday (February 11), the 43rd annual BRIT Awards took place at London's The O2. Hosted by Mo Gilligan, the ceremony saw performances from the likes of Harry Styles, Lizzo, Sam Smith and Kim Petras, David Guetta and many more.

Maya Jama has wowed viewers after debuting a new look during her Love Island return. The TV and radio presenter had a busy weekend as she stepped out at the Brit Awards over the weekend but on Sunday night she was back to the day job on Love Island's Aftersun.

Lewis Capaldi has been keeping his relationship under wraps for weeks but he and his actress girlfriend appeared to go public with their romance at the Brit Awards after party in London on Saturday night.