{"id":307910,"date":"2026-03-01T11:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T11:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/307910\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T11:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T11:44:13","slug":"olivia-dean-preaches-the-art-of-loving-at-brit-awards-ceremony-plagued-by-censorship-and-dodgy-jokes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/307910\/","title":{"rendered":"Olivia Dean preaches \u2018the art of loving\u2019 at Brit Awards ceremony plagued by censorship and dodgy jokes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n

Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n

It was Olivia Dean<\/a>\u2019s night at the 2026 Brit Awards<\/a>, as she took home the two top prizes for Artist and Album of the Year <\/a>at a ceremony marked by frequent bouts of censorship and awkward moments.<\/p>\n

Dean, who won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist<\/a> at the ceremony in January, has proved to be one of the UK\u2019s biggest breakthroughs in years, winning over fans and critics with her soulful pop sound. She was one of a number of stars who attended the annual music awards show, which was held outside London for the first time in the award show\u2019s history, instead taking place at the Co-Op Live arena in Manchester. <\/p>\n

Accepting her award for Artist of the Year, Dean said: \u201cI want to say thank you to my whole team, everybody down there, I love you, my band… it takes a lot of people to be a good artist, and it’s not lost on me that I’m very lucky to have good people around me. So thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The awards show was hosted once again by comedian Jack Whitehall<\/a>, who kicked off proceedings with a sketch that showed him obsessively on the look-out for pop star Harry Styles, in hope that he would return with new music. Whitehall, 37, was seen out jogging and mistaking an older woman for the former One Direction star, visiting his waxwork at Madame Tussauds, and eventually hearing the news that Styles would be singing live at the ceremony.<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Jack Whitehall made a number of gags during his sixth stint hosting the Brit Awards (ITV)<\/p>\n

One of the anticipated moments of the evening was Styles\u2019s performance, which opened the show with a live rendition of his No 1 single \u201cAperture\u201d. Backed by a troupe of dancers, he leant into the track\u2019s dance and electronic influences with a dizzying light display, receiving a standing ovation from the live audience. \u201cAperture\u201d serves as the lead single from the 32-year-old\u2019s fourth studio album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. It is scheduled for release next week on Friday 6 March, the same day Styles returns to the Co-Op Live for a headline show.<\/p>\n

\"Harry<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Harry Styles performed live at the Brit Awards (Gareth Cattermole\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Whitehall seemed intent on ruffling a few feathers<\/a> by cracking jokes about the stars in attendance, referring to singer-songwriter Alex Warren as \u201cEd Sheeran if you ordered him on Temu\u201d and producer Mark Ronson<\/a> as \u201cNick Grimshaw if he learnt to use GarageBand\u201d. He also took a swipe at the controversy at the previous week\u2019s Baftas, in which Tourette\u2019s campaigner John Davidson involuntarily shouted a racial slur while Sinners stars Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented an award. <\/p>\n

However, it was Whitehall\u2019s gags about Manchester, the ceremony\u2019s host city, that drew particular ire from viewers at home, with some going so far to accuse him of classism. He made jokes about drug use in the city as well as making digs at people from Preston, Lancashire, while also mocking a man in the audience for his suit, which he suggested was not Prada but rather \u201c100 per cent polyester\u201d. He also suggested that Manchester\u2019s idea of black tie was the brand Stone Island, known for its casualwear.<\/p>\n

Fans watching from home were left confused by the frequent bouts of censoring, including for Whitehall\u2019s joke about Peter Mandelson in the wake of his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in a public office.<\/a> Geese frontman Cameron Winter was also censored as he shouted \u201cFree Palestine\u201d while collecting the New York rock band\u2019s award for Best International Group. <\/p>\n

A number of famous faces turned up to present awards, including Robbie Williams who was on hand to present the first award of the night, Song of the Year, which was voted for by the public \u2013 this went to Dean and Sam Fender for their collaboration, \u201cRein Me In\u201d. Rock band Wolf Alice took Group of the Year, following the release of their 2025 album The Clearing, ahead of a live performance of single \u201cThe Sofa\u201d. Jeff Goldblum presented the prize for Album of the Year, while Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie introduced Noel Gallagher as the recipient for Songwriter of the Year.<\/p>\n

\"Wolf<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Wolf Alice took home the prize for Group of the Year (AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Producer Mark Ronson, who was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award, also delivered a special mashup of some of his biggest hits, from his debut single \u201cOoh Wee\u201d with rapper Ghostface Killah to \u201cBack to Black\u201d by Amy Winehouse, to his and Winehouse\u2019s rendition of \u201cValerie\u201d by The Zutons and \u201cUptown Funk\u201d, his No 1 hit with Bruno Mars. For his track \u201cDance the Night Away\u201d from the Barbie soundtrack, Dua Lipa descended from a giant mirror ball before switching to her song \u201cElectricity\u201d, overseen by Ronson\u2019s \u201csuper-producer group\u201d with Diplo, Silk City.<\/p>\n

There were plenty of spectacular live performances, from Olivia Dean\u2019s rendition of her hit single \u201cMan I Need\u201d to a dazzling, big band-backed medley from RAYE, <\/a>who dominated the awards in 2024. Spanish artist Rosal\u00eda gave a jaw-dropping performance of her song \u201cBerghain\u201d, an operatic opus she sings in German while backed by a choir and orchestra. Bjork, who features on the track as a guest artist, also made a surprise appearance. Rosal\u00eda later gave a moving acceptance speech for the International Solo Artist award, in which she urged listeners to \u201caccept otherness\u201d, and to embrace other languages and cultures.<\/p>\n

\"Rosalia<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Rosalia won International Solo Artist at the Brit Awards 2026 (Gareth Cattermole\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Dean echoed this sentiment as she was announced as the winner of Album of the Year for The Art of Loving, telling the audience at the Co-Op Live arena: \u201cMaking this album has changed my life, I feel so proud to have made it, and to work with everybody that I did on it…<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you so much for believing in me when I didn’t really believe in myself sometimes… this album is just about love and loving each other in a world that feels lovelessness right now, so I don’t know, thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-307910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}