OPINION - The Leader podcast: Brit Awards 2023, nominees and drama!

Nominees for the Brit Awards 2023 are have been shortlisted.

Plenty of Londoners are flying the flag for the capital, but in the second year of gender neutral categories without best male and female lists, there’s controversy not a single woman appears among five men nominated as Artist of the Year.

Meanwhile, top names such as Stormzy, Mimi Webb, Harry Styles, Lizzo and George Ezra have received nods for the 43rd Brit Awards, staged next month at the O2..

And who are the brilliantly-named duo Wet Leg everyone’s talking about?

It’s a long road since the first Brits back in 1977 - hosted by Michael Aspel - where the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band won Best British Album - a decade after its release.

You can hear all about this year’s runners and riders, and those Brits controversies now part of British folklore - from Jarvis Cocker’s Michael Jackson stage invasion to the Sam Fox and Mick Fleetwood hosting fiasco.

The Leader podcast’s joined by Gennaro Castaldo, communications director for the BPI organisers, and Evening Standard music reporter Jonathan Kanengoni.

We discuss the gender imbalance controversy, the Londoners up for nomination, whether any minnows have a shot, and some classic, wild Brits moments through the

Listen above, and find us on your Spotify Daily Drive or wherever you stream your podcasts.