July 23, 2010

By By Andre Paine, London

The BRIT Awards looks set to take place at the O2 Arena in London from 2011 after Earls Court representatives confirmed it was moving.

The annual awards bash for the music industry, which is televised live on ITV 1, has been at Earls Court in West London for 13 years.

U.K. labels trade body the BPI, which organizes the ceremony, has not commented on any move. AEG Europe, which operates the O2 Arena, said that nothing had been confirmed.

However, a move to the O2 in south-east London now looks likely, although the awards show would need to be reconfigured for an arena audience.

"EC&O Venues can confirm that the BRITS will not be staged at Earls Court in 2011, following the organizer's decision to change the format to an arena event," said a statement. "We are sad to see the BRITs move to a new venue after 13 very successful years at Earls Court but we'd like to wish the organizers the very best of luck going forward."

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