The nominees for International Group of the Year at the Brit Awards in February are truly international: there are ABBA from Sweden, BTS from South Korea, Måneskin from Italy and two American groups – the R&B superduo Silk Sonic and the band from rock The War on Drugs.

This is the second nomination in this category for BTS, which lost last year to HAIM, and The War on Drugs, which lost in 2015 to Foo Fighters. (In Britain, of course, American acts, such as HAIM and Foo Fighters, are considered “international”.)

Despite the Grammys’ recent postponement of their January 31st show in the spring due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, the Brit Awards are still underway for February 8 at the O2 Arena in London.

Five American artists are in competition for the International Artist of the Year: Billie Eilish, Doja Cat, Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift.

This is the first time in 29 years that the British will present a gender neutral category for international solo artists. Two of this year’s nominees won in the now defunct International Female Solo Artist category. Eilish won this award in 2020 and 2021. Swift won it in 2015; she has been nominated three more times, losing to Lana Del Rey (2013), Lorde (2018) and Eilish (2021).

A total of 25 artists are nominated for Best International Song at this year’s Brits. (Fifteen singles are nominated, but six are by several artists). The list includes nine artists from the United States (Eilish, Doja Cat, SZA, Lil Baby, Lil Nas X, Lil Tjay, 6lack, Rodrigo and Polo G), three from Canada (Drake, Justin Bieber and The Weeknd), three from ‘Germany (ATB, Topic and Jonasu), two from Nigeria (CKay and Joeboy), two from Sweden (A7S and Galantis) and one from Australia (The Kid LAROI), Ghana (Kuami Eugene), France (David Guetta) ), Great Britain (Little Mix), Italy (Måneskin) and the Netherlands (Tiësto).

In a strange twist, Frenchman Guetta is nominated both for Song of the Year, which is the province of British artists, and for Best International Song, which is reserved for foreign artists. That’s because at least 50% of the artists of its two song of the year nominees are British. He teams up with Joel Corry and Raye for “Bed” and with Becky Hill for “Remember”.

But only a third of the artists of his best international song, “Heartbreak Anthem”, are British. He teamed up on this record with the Swedish Galantis and the British group Little Mix. (It also explains why a British group is in the running for Best International Song.)

The International Group Award was first presented in 1986. It was awarded to 18 groups from the United States, three from Australia (or founded in) (INXS, Crowded House and Tame Impala), two from Ireland (U2 and The Corrs) and one from Canada (Arcade Fire) and France (Daft Punk).

Here are the nominees for the Brit Awards 2022 in the three international categories:

International group:

ABBA

BTS

Moneskin

Sonic Silk

War on drugs

International artist:

Billie Eilish

Doja cat

Lil nas x

Olivia rodrigo

Taylor Swift

Best International Song:

ATB, Subject & A7S – “Your love (9 p.m.)”

Billie Eilish – “Happier Than Ever”

CKay with Joeboy and Kuami Eugene – “Love Nwantiti Remix (Ah Ah Ah)”

Doja Cat with SZA – “Kiss Me More”

Drake with Lil Baby – “Girls Want Girls”

Galantis, David Guetta & Little Mix – “Heartbreak Anthem”

Jonasu – “Black magic”

The Kid LAROI. & Justin Bieber – “Stay”

Lil Nas X – “Montero (Call me by your name)”

Lil Tjay & 6lack – “Call my phone”

Måneskin – “I want to be your slave”

Olivia Rodrigo – “Good 4 U”

Polo G – “Rapstar”

Tiësto – “The company”

The Weeknd – “Save Your Tears”

The winners of these three categories will be chosen by the British Voting Academy, which is made up of professionals from the industry.