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The BRIT Awards may be hosted by James Corden for the fifth — and final — year in a row, but the U.K. music awards ceremony is expanding its audience internationally via live stream for the first time ever.
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The star of Hulu’s The Wrong Mans and Disney’s upcoming movie musical Into the Woods will emcee the British version of the Grammys on Wednesday, where awards presentations will be peppered throughout a concert-style ceremony. Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams, Lorde and Disclosure, Ellie Goulding, Bastille and Rudimental are set to perform. Beyonce also has been confirmed to take the O2 Arena stage, following a flood of rumors.
The BRITs will kick off with a performance by the Arctic Monkeys — a noteworthy headliner due to the band’s controversial history with the awards show. The group refused to attend the ceremony in 2006 (when they won the breakthrough act award), sent a mocking video message as Wizard of Oz characters in 2007, and gave a sarcastic acceptance speech while dressed as country squires in 2008 (their words were drowned out by awards show organizers). But it seems the band has made peace with the BRITs as they’ve become one of the U.K.’s premier rock bands, following a Glastonbury Festival headline performance last year.
Mars, Perry and Lorde are up for awards in the international categories, competing against Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Pink, Drake, Daft Punk, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Arcade Fire and more.
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Dominating the British categories are Disclosure and Bastille, each with four nominations, followed by Rudimental and Goulding each with three. One Direction has two nominations, as does David Bowie for his first release in a decade, The Next Day. Sam Smith has already been awarded the annual critics’ choice award. See the full list of nominees here.
The BRIT Awards will air on locally on ITV at 8 p.m., but international audiences can tune in below at 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET to live stream the show.
Email: Ashley.Lee@THR.com
Twitter: @cashleelee
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