Sam Smith, George Ezra and Ed Sheeran lead 2015 BRIT nominations

15 January 2015, 18:00 | Written by Laurence Day

(News)

(The War On Drugs) (The Black Keys) (St. Vincent) (Sia) (Damon Albarn) (First Aid Kit) (Foo Fighters) (alt-J) (Calvin Harris) (Charli XCX) (Coldplay) (Clean Bandit) (Duke Dumont) (Jack White) (Lana Del Rey) (Lily Allen) (Mark Ronson) (Paloma Faith) (Paul Epworth) (Pharrell Williams) (Rita Ora) (Sam Smith) (Taylor Swift) (FKA Twigs) (George Ezra) (Ed Sheeran) (One Direction) (Royal Blood) (Beyoncé) (Jess Glynne)

The shortlists for this year’s BRIT Awards were announced this evening at a launch event in London, with the list of nominees dominated by the likes of Sam Smith, George Ezra and Ed Sheeran.

The nominations were presented by Reggie Yates alongside live performances from Jessie Ware, Clean Bandit, FKA Twigs, and this year’s Critics’ Choice winner James Bay. This year's statue has been designed by British artist Tracy Emin. The award nominations show can also be seen tonight on ITV1 at 10.40pm.

Check out the full list of nominations:

BRITISH MALE SOLO ARTIST
Sam Smith
Ed Sheeran
Damon Albarn
Paolo Nutini
George Ezra

BRITISH FEMALE SOLO ARTIST
Paloma Faith
Ella Henderson
FKA Twigs
Jessie Ware
Lily Allen

BRITISH GROUP
alt-J
Clean Bandit
Royal Blood
Coldplay
One Direction

BRITISH BREAKTHROUGH ACT
Royal Blood
George Ezra
Chvrches
FKA Twigs
Sam Smith

BRITISH SINGLE
Calvin Harris - "Summer"
Clean Bandit (ft. Jess Glynne) - "Rather Be"
Duke Dumont (ft. Jax Jones) - "I Got U"
Ed Sheeran - "Thinking Out Loud"
Ella Henderson - "Ghost"
George Ezra - "Budapest"
Mark Ronson (ft. Bruno Mars) - "Uptown Funk"
Route 94 (ft. Jess Glynne) - "My Love"
Sam Smith - "Stay With Me"
Sigma - "Nobody To Love"

MASTERCARD BRITISH ALBUM OF THE YEAR
alt-J - This Is All Yours
Ed Sheeran - X
Royal Blood - Royal Blood
George Ezra - Wanted On Voyage
Sam Smith - In The Lonely Hour

BRITISH ARTIST VIDEO

Calvin Harris - "Summer"
One Direction - "You and I"
Duke Dumont (ft. Jax Jones) - "I Got U"
Ed Sheeran - "Thinking Out Loud"
Rita Ora - "I Will Never Let You Down"
Charli XCX - "Boom Clap"
Mark Ronson (ft. Bruno Mars) - "Uptown Funk"
Route 94 (ft. Jess Glynne) - "My Love"
Sam Smith - "Stay With Me"
Sigma - "Nobody To Love"

CRITICS’ CHOICE
James Bay [WINNER]
Years & Years
George the Poet

BRITISH PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Flood
Jake Gosling
Alison Goldfrapp & Will Gregory
Paul Epworth

INTERNATIONAL MALE SOLO ARTIST
Beck
Hozier
John Legend
Jack White
Pharrell Williams

INTERNATIONAL FEMALE SOLO ARTIST
Taylor Swift
Lana Del Rey
St. Vincent
Sia
Beyoncé

INTERNATIONAL GROUP
The War On Drugs
The Black Keys
The Foo Fighters
First Aid Kit
5 Seconds Of Summer

The BRIT Awards 2015 with MasterCard takes place Wednesday 25 February at The O2 and will be exclusively broadcast on ITV. The BRITs Are Coming is broadcast tonight (Thursday 15 January at 10.40pm on ITV.