The BRIT Awards 2020 with Mastercard - Show Programme

SONG OF THE YEAR
THE TOP TEN IDENTIFIED BY CHART ELIGIBLE SALES
SUCCESS IN THE CALENDAR YEAR THEN VOTED FOR
BY THE ACADEMY. SUPPORTED BY CAPITAL FM.
Song Of The category is, of course, what
used to be known as British Single.
Music consumption is up overall and streaming
is now the world’s favourite way to listen, with
114 billion streams in the last twelve-month
period. Top tunes are just as likely to be
treasured album tracks as lead promos. And
so, the category is retitled as Song of the Year.
In commercial terms there were two clear
leaders in the fight to be biggest single
(finding the best is a more nuanced affair).
Lewis Capaldi’s Someone You Loved spent
seven weeks at No.1 in March and April,
chalking up 2.33 million sales in 2019. It
was also the most streamed song across
multiple platforms. The single also made
No.1 in America. That Billboard chart-topper
made him the first solo Scot to complete
that feat since Sheena Easton in 1981!
The video for Capaldi’s breakout, breakup
smash featured his second cousin and
namesake Peter Capaldi. The plaintive
piano track was one of four big hit
compositions. Hold Me While You Wait,
Bruises and Grace also made Britain’s
Top 40 biggest songs of the year.
Ed Sheeran was Britain’s other big seller.
Suffolk’s finest teamed up with Justin Beiber
for their fourth collaboration in May. I Don’t
Care was an ode to anxiety but there was
little to worry about in terms of chart sales.
Its eight-week chart-topping reign totalled
1.43m units and 240 million YouTube views of
the very odd promo, where the guys dressed
as ballerinas, bananas cowboys and more.
Like Capaldi, Sheeran had a raft of huge
sellers. Tracks Beautiful People feat.
Khalid, and Take Me Back to London,
alongside Stormzy, held their own.
One of music’s enduring trends is
collaboration. Half of our shortlisted acts
appear with a pal. Wanna cross over and
chart Stateside? Like Ed (not that he needs
to), team up with a North American mate.
Sam Smith impressed on the topic of
international relations. The January duet with
former Fifth Harmony singer Normani got us all
on the dance floor! Their thumping ‘get over
you’ No.3 anthem garnered the most YouTube
views by a British Artist. Count ‘em, Sam –
that’s a cool 500 million. All eyes on you!
Mark Ronson also looked west for inspiration,
finding Miley Cyrus and her back-to-her-roots
Tennessee drawl. Their outing was reportedly
a work of homage to Miley’s Godmother, Dolly
Parton. Mark took a back seat for the roadchase-on-the-highway,
much-viewed video.
But the driven producer went all out for this
half-dance, half-country hit. This modernday
Jolene peaked in February at No.2.
The producer-as-popstar vibe continues with
Calvin Harris. This is his 17th BRIT nomination.
His January No.2 release alongside another
BRITs favourite Rag’n’Bone Man was a
grand and foreboding epic dance track
with hints of gospel. More than 230 million
people on YouTube watched the clip.
Triple passport holder Mabel hooked
her biggest hit to date with Don’t Call
Me Up, the flick-him-off anthem. She
turned heads with January’s No.3 tale
of a gal who has had enough of her
lackluster beau. It’s catchy dance groove
and cool moves upped the glamour!
There was a tip for every suburban dweller
in Just You and I, Tom Walker’s No.3 hit, and
that tip was, ‘be thankful’. Originally released
in 2016 it received a reggae makeover and
charted in January 2019, almost three years
later. The track is an ode to Tom’s nowfiancé
Annie. The video features a young
couple running down Southend Pier.
It’s London that features slap-bang in the
lyrical landscape elsewhere. Our boys from
The Endz are keeping it real. Dave teamed
up with Burna Boy in July; the Location in
question was an ‘all boys on tour’ trip to Ibiza.
The No.6 song a hot and heavy, bravadopacked
boast about women and deals.
Streatham’s top boy went on tour, having a
blast in the sunshine. On his biggest hit to
date, AJ Tracey took a trip down memory
lane. Having grown up nearby, Ladbroke
Grove was the sounds and vibes of his teen
years. Sampling Jorja’s Smith’s Wandering
Romance, the track made No.3 in February,
an evocative snapshot of London days.
Stormzy, meanwhile, directs the world’s gaze
on his hometown, and the Vossi Pop video
features an iconic Thames-side landscape.
The track’s title came from a video the
rapper found on YouTube; it’s a not-so-gentle
put-down to haters who might besmirch
his now-famous name. Vossi Pop says he’s
riding the wave, having fun, and rising above
petty fights and troubles. He blasts, “This is
London city. We the hottest in the world!”
62