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BRITs 2026 – A (completely subjective) ranking of all the performances from worst to best

A ranking no one asked for.

Emily Sergeant - 1st March 2026

The BRIT Awards brought all the action to Manchester last night, including some absolutely stellar performances by huge names.

But who gave the best performance of the night? And who sadly missed the mark?

That’s right – The BRITs landed in Manchester for the first time in its 46-year history, electrifying Co-op Live as part of a two-year deal described as a ‘bold new chapter’ for the legendary event, and there was some incredible live acts performing to celebrate.

Now, before we get into it, this piece right here very much defines what Op-Ed is. This is an article written up based on personal opinion, and should only be viewed in that way. You see, we usually like to remain as impartial as we can on The Manc, and always aim to present things from all perspectives where possible. Often, you’ll even see us referring to ourselves using collective pronouns (as we just did there… and right then too), but right now, it’s time for some first-person pronoun usage – hi, my name’s Emily, and this is my ranking.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of the lucky The Manc Group team members who got to attend the BRITs in person at Co-op Live last night, so I just sat at home watching from the comfort of my sofa while live-reporting on all the winners instead.

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That did mean, however, that I got a front-row seat to all of the night’s performances, so I’m arguably *qualified* to rank them all from worst to best… right?

Okay, so here it goes then.

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Honorable Mention

I only feel it’s fair to put this performance into its own category and not include it as part of the full ranking, given the fact that it paid tribute to indisputable rock icon Ozzy Osbourne following his passing last year, and came after he was award the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Rock on, Ozzy.

9. Sombr

Look, I’m sorry to Sombr. I actually am. I don’t even really dislike his music that much, ’12 to 12′ is an undeniable banger (a banger he didn’t perform though, I might add) and for all I know he could be a really genuinely nice lad in real life – but when he gets up on that stage, I just… it’s not for me okay.

Also the fake ‘stage invasion’ wasn’t needed. I know his new song’s called ‘Homewrecker’ but he didn’t perform that one either, so it just didn’t make sense to have it in there.

8. Alex Warren

I have to confess, straight off the bat – this was not as bad as I was expecting it to be.

I mean, I can’t say I’ve ever willingly listened to Alex Warren’s chart-topping song ‘Ordinary’ all the way through before, so I don’t know what exactly I was expecting from it, to be honest, I just wasn’t expecting it to be good… and it wasn’t, but it also wasn’t that bad either, so I respect that.

HUGE shoutout to James Blunt, though – like what the hell? Sure.

7. HUNTR/X (KPop Demon Hunters)

Right, why were they in the car park?

I mean I know ‘why’, it’s for the kids. But imagine being an East Manchester resident just trying to enjoy a quiet Saturday night in, and then all you can hear are three singers reaching excessively high notes outside your house, even when all your doors and windows are closed. Should’ve just let them inside. Song’s a banger though, it genuinely is.

Also, if we’re still doing confessions, I genuinely thought HUNTR/X were an AI band until only a couple of months ago and was truly humbled to find out they weren’t after exclaiming it with my whole chest. Anyway, the more you know. I blame the fact it’s an animated film for fooling me.

6. Raye

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(Full performance not yet uploaded to YouTube, check back later)

I’m expecting to get a bit of backlash on this from all the Raye fans in our office, but this one just didn’t grab me to be honest. It didn’t really distinguish itself from any other Raye performances, and I think I just expected a bit more?

Cannot fault her talent though. I really can’t.

5. Wolf Alice

Surprisingly, given the type of music and artists everyone who knows me knows I’m a fan of, I’ve never really taken to Wolf Alice a great deal, and I’m not entirely sure as to why either, which feels a little unfair to them. This performance, however, was impressive.

My personal favourite part was when everyone climbed out of the sofa, and also when Ellie was looking dead down the barrel of the camera lens singing on that suspended bridge thing.

I might have to bury whatever non-existent hatchet I seem to have with them, and get to know.

4. Olivia Dean

Olivia Dean was the big winner of the night, hands down (I mean, she won four BRITs so it’s less ‘hands down’, more just facts) and you will never, repeat NEVER, see me tearing her down for that. But I just don’t think her performance of her huge viral hit ‘Man I Need’ here secures her a spot in the top three performances of the night.

This does not mean I didn’t enjoy it though. Oh no, I thoroughly enjoyed every single second of it, and it looks like she did too – and honestly, that’s the main thing. Nothing else matters.

3. Mark Ronson

Dua Lipa surprise appearance coming down from the ceiling on a disco ball. That’s it, that’s the review.

Okay, to add to it a bit more, I suppose – this was overall a really lovely performance to honour Mark Ronson’s impressive Outstanding Contribution to Music award that he accepted earlier, and was a great retrospective on his illustrious career. The Amy Winehouse tribute was a tear-jerker.

Also, rogue Ghostface Killah appearance in the year 2026. Okay then (Wu-Tang are performing at Co-op Live later this month on their UK tour, so not that ‘rogue’, but we weren’t expecting him here, were we?).

2. Harry Styles

It pains me, physically pains me, that I’ve just had to write out ‘2. Harry Styles’, but unfortunately, he’s just missed out on the top spot.

Less than a week before he takes to the Co-op Live stage in Manchester for one night only next Friday to celebrate the release of his fourth studio album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, our lovely Harry performed lead single ‘Aperture’ to open last night’s BRIT Awards, and it was just joyful to witness from start to finish.

That white boy’s got a good bit of motion, you can’t take that away from him.

It’s slightly more of a niche thing to praise, but as someone who’s grown up dancing my whole life, the choreography here really is my s**t, and really elevated – if not made – the whole performance.

1. Rosalía

I’ve only just picked my jaw up off the floor.

This was, by far, my most highly-anticipated performance of the night by a country mile, and f**k me did it deliver. It has to be said, while we’re here, that Rosalía’s Lux ended up being my pick for album of the year in 2025 according to our Audio North year-end list, so there may be a little bit of bias in my review, but this was genuinely everything I was hoping it would be and more.

This was Rosalía’s first – and so far, only – performance of ‘Berghain’ live on television since the album was released to universal acclaim this past November, so even if it wasn’t particularly up your street, you still got to witness a hugely important moment.

The transition to the additional ‘rave’ element once the song had finished really turned it into the sort of thing that could be played in the infamous Berlin club it’s named after. Excellent touch.

Also BJÖRKKKKKKK. Ahhhhhhhh. If you wanted the most genuine recreation of my reaction when she appeared last night, this was it. “AHHHHHHHH”.

Featured Image – BRITs (via YouTube)