The BRIT Awards 2017 With Mastercard

The BRIT Awards 2017 with Mastercard

UK TV Exclusive - International superstar Michael Bublé will host UK's biggest night in music

Live on ITV - Wednesday 22February from London's O2 Arena

2017 BRIT nominations will be announced on 14January live on a primetime ITV Saturday evening slot - featuring special performances

Friday October 7- The countdown to the biggest and most exciting night in British music begins today as The BRIT Awards 2017 with Mastercard announce their prestigious host and new plans for 2017 nominations launch TV show.

Michael Bublé confirmed as host

On Wednesday 22February one of the world's greatest entertainers, the multi platinum selling, Michael Bublé will take to the stage at London's iconic O2 Arena for the 16time in his career. This time though, he will be there to host the UK's most prestigious annual celebration in music. Having more than successfully proved himself as a host and TV presenter with a long list of international TV specials and award shows under his belt, this is a major UK TV exclusive and sets the standard extremely high for the 2017 BRIT Awards.

Talking about his excitement to host The BRIT Awards Michael Bublé said:

'It's a huge honour for me to host such a big night in music. Even though I didn't grow up as a Brit I've always been well aware of The BRIT Awards and their impact globally. As a fan of music this is the perfect gig. I'm very much looking forward to February and celebrating the success stories of a great year in music.'

Bublé is one of the world's most successful recording artists with worldwide sales of over 32 million albums accompanied by sell-out tours. He's won countless awards across the world and his impressive C.V also includes three BRIT Award nominations to date. His brand new studio album 'Nobody But Me' will be released later this month on October 21.

Speaking about the exciting news, BRITs Chairman Jason Iley said:

'This is a huge coup for The BRIT Awards and we are delighted to announce Michael as our host for 2017. He is an extremely talented and charismatic world-class entertainer much loved by the British public. Michael will add an exciting element to our show in 2017.'

Nominations will be announced on 14January live on a primetime ITV Saturday evening slot - featuring special performances

In other BRIT Award news and a BRITs first, the full nominations for 2017 will be announced live on a primetime weekend TV slot, featuring special performances on ITV on Saturday 14January. This prestigious newly created slot for the nominations gives a huge platform to British music on mainstream TV. Alongside categories including British Single and British Group, the contenders for the BRITs' biggest award, the Mastercard British Album of the Year, will be revealed.

2017 will celebrate the Awards 37show since its debut year in 1977 (which was followed by a short break of a couple of years). The BRIT Awards have established themselves as a global music institution that annually celebrates UK chart and commercial successes. This year (2016) The BRITs celebrated an incredible night in British music with Adele picking up four Awards as well as giving a show stopping performance. The Awards raised an incredible £265k for Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and The BRIT Trust from Google Play live performance downloads and streams from the ceremony. The BRIT Awards annually raises funds for The BRIT Trust charity, whose main beneficiaries are the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology, Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and other selected charities. To date, over £16.8million has been raised for The BRIT Trust charity.

More exciting news on The BRIT Awards 2017, including statue design details and further performance information, will be announced in the coming weeks.

www.brits.co.uk

For further information on The BRITs, please contact:

Press/Online - DawBell

Stuart Bell/Richard Dawes/Lisa Birch/Holly Appleton - 020 3327 7111

Stuart.bell@dawbell.com/ 07931 501 495

Richard.dawes@dawbell.com/ 07931 501 924

Lisa.birch@dawbell.com/ 07415 863761

holly.appleton@dawbell.com / 07891 997704