Griff, Pa Salieu And Rina Sawayama Shortlisted For BRITs Rising Star Award

Griff, Pa Salieu and Rina Sawayama have been shortlisted for the 2021 BRITs Rising Star award.

The three up and coming musicians will go head to head to be given the prestigious award, which was previously known as the BRITs Critics' Choice award, at this year's BRIT Awards 2021 with Mastercard.

Speaking about her nomination, Griff admitted she was "kinda terrified".

She explained: "It's kinda terrifying how many legends have been nominated for this award. I never ever ever expected making beats in my music room after school could eventually lead to a BRIT nomination. Super lame but I remember after school, catching up on the BRITs and crying watching Stormzy perform. And I don’t think I really knew what that emotion was at the time but I think it was just an overwhelming sense of aspiration. To be nominated for a BRIT three years on is completely surreal!"

And Pa Salieu admitted he was "very grateful" to receive the honour.

Sharing his excitement about the nomination, he said: "I am very grateful to be shortlisted for this BRIT award. Love & blessings every time! Thanks to everyone supporting my journey so far."

Rina Sawayama confessed she "literally fell to the floor" when she received the call.

Explaining how she felt when she found out, she said: "I literally fell to the floor when I found out that I’d been nominated for Rising Star. I really can’t put into words how much this means to me given that I wasn’t eligible for this award a few weeks ago and now that door has been opened for future generations of artists like myself. Thank you so much to everyone who voted for me, it means the world."

The winner will be announced on March 19 ahead of the BRIT Awards on Tuesday May 11.