The MasterCard BRIT Awards 2012 announced and tickets on sale now

The Brit awards are one of the highlight’s in any music lover’s calendar, often featuring career-defining moments for artists; think The Spice Girls‘ 1997 Who Do You Think You Are? and Adele’s Someone Like You last year. The 2012 awards have been officially announced and speculation is already afoot for who will steal the show this time (I’m holding out Florence & The Machine, Jessie J and Adele collaboration.)

It was announced that James Cordon will return to host The Brits for the 3rd time which might come as a surprise to some, his hosting technique has received very lukewarm reviews with his usual charisma not quite translating to the format.

Last year the Brit statuette was designed by Vivienne Westwood and was a welcome update and twist on the classic award. This year, pop artist Sir Peter Blake (best known for his design on The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album sleeve) will be designing the statue who called the project an ‘honour’:

“I am very proud to be this year’s designer for the iconic BRIT Award trophy. It is wonderful to be a part of this most important and exciting music event, honouring the greatest of talents shaping our musical landscape. I’ve enjoyed the creative challenge to honour such leading performers enormously.”

Official Brit Award partners MasterCard are offering card holders BRIT Awards 2012 tickets now through their Priceless Cities promotion which gives ‘preferred access’ to a range of leisure activities such as theatre, dining and galleries.