Brit Awards Get Revamp for 2011

The annual Brit Awards music prize is getting a revamp in 2011 with the scrapping of the Outstanding Contribution Award, a redesign of the famous statuette trophy by Dame Vivienne Westwood (pictured) and a change of venue, it has been revealed by ceremony organisers.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) awards which celebrate sales in pop music will no longer feature the Outstanding Contribution Award -- previously won by Robbie Williams, Sir Paul McCartney and Oasis -- and will instead make the MasterCard British Album of the Year the big finale award.

Announcing the change, Brit organisers declared, "Current British music has never been better and 2011 will highlight this and focus on the incredibly high standard set by our artists in the last year."

Voting for the 12 Awards (listed below) will be by a newly extended voting panel. The winners and nominees from the 2010 awards -- including Lady Gaga, Dizzee Rascal and JLS -- will join the traditional voting panel made up of music critics, retailers and record labels.

As well as the change to the climax of the show, all winners will be taking home a unique statuette trophy, created by iconic British fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood.

The new colourful design will be made especially for the 2011 ceremony, with future trophies to be designed by individual artists each year.

Also changing venue from west London's Earls Court -- where the ceremony has taken place for more than a decade -- to London's O2 Arena, the 31st Brit Awards will take place on Feb. 15.

The nominees for next year's Brit Awards will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 13 at IndigO2, with the launch event being broadcast on ITV2 the night after.

The full list of Brit Award 2011 categories are:

British Male
British Female
British Breakthrough (supported by Radio 1)
British Single (supported by listeners of Capital Radio and users of iTunes)
British Group (promoted by Radio 2)
Critics Choice (in association with War Child)
MasterCard British Album of the Year
International Male
International Female
International Breakthrough (supported by MTV)
International Album
International Group

The Brit Award nominations for 2011 can be found here.