Coldplay In Battle For Best 'Brits' Song

Coldplay, David Bowie and the Bee Gees are among a list of 25 musicians doing battle for a new best song award at the Brits, Radio 2 has announced.

Presenter Davina McCall unveiled the nominees on her Monday afternoon show and then asked listeners to vote for their top five hits. All of the singles have been performed by a British act since 1977.

The five will be named at the Brits nominations on 10 January and the winner at the awards on 10 February. The award has been introduced to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Brit awards. The longlist has been chosen by a panel made up of members of the music industry and media and it includes a wide range of musical genres. Bowie made the list of 25 for his hit Heroes, Coldplay is on the list for Yellow and the Bee Gees were chosen for Night Fever.

Listeners to Radio 2's Ken Bruce show will be able to hear the top five songs between Monday 17 January and Friday 21 January. Voting will be open via the internet, text and telephone from 21-30 January to decide on the best song.Also on the longlist are True by Spandau Ballet, Careless Whisper by George Michael, Angels by Robbie Williams and Dry Your Eyes by The Streets. Colin Martin, editor of BBC Radio 2 Music, who sat on the panel, added: "Distilling over a quarter century of hits to a list of 25 to be voted on by Radio 2 listeners has been one of the most difficult tasks I have ever shared in."

The awards also added another category recently - best British live act is to replace the dance music category.

The songs are:

1. Heroes by David Bowie

2. We Are The Champions by Queen

3. Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush

4. Night Fever by Bee Gees

5. London Calling by The Clash

6. Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division

7. That's Entertainment by The Jam

8. I Don't Want To Talk About It by Rod Stewart

9. Look of Love by ABC

10. Golden Brown by The Stranglers

11. True by Spandau Ballet

12. Careless Whisper by George Michael

13. Holding Back The Years by Simply Red

14. Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel

15. Sacrifice by Elton John

16. Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack

17. Why by Annie Lennox

18. Fields of Gold by Sting

19. Kiss From A Rose by Seal

20. Wonderwall by Oasis

21. Angels by Robbie Williams

22. Yellow by Coldplay

23. Babylon by David Gray

24. Leave Right Now by Will Young

25. Dry Your Eyes by The Streets

Source: BBC