BMI London Awards Name Sam Smith and Normani’s ‘Dancing With a Stranger’ Song of the Year
Sam Smith and Normani’s “Dancing With a Stranger” was named song of the year in the results for the BMI London Awards, announced online Monday in lieu of a ceremony. The kudos honor the most-performed songs of the year in the U.S. by UK or European songwriters signed to Broadcast Music, Inc. “Dancing With a Stranger” was ranked as the fourth biggest radio song of 2019 in the States, with three billion impressions.
Smith also got an award for having another of the top 30 songs recognized by the performing rights organization, “How Do You Sleep?” These two trophies bring Smith’s tally to 10 BMI London Awards, on top of six BMI Pop Awards in the U.S. Normani was getting her second award from the London branch of the org, with three BMI Pop Awards in the bag in the U.S.
Also faring well was Ed Sheeran, who was recognized for his part in co-writing six songs that landed among the top 30 tunes by UK/European writers: “Beautiful People,” “Cross Me,” “I Don’t Care,” “Tip of My Tongue,” “What Am I” and “2002.” Sheeran now has 25 BMI London Awards and 17 from the U.S. pop division.
Ellie Goulding was awarded with two, for “Hate Me” and “Close to Me.” She now has a total of nine BMI London Awards, to go with her seven BMI Pop Awards in the U.S.
Film and TV composers from the UK and Europe were also honored as part of Monday’s online rollout. Landing five was Icelandic composer Atli Örvarsson, for “Chicago P.D.,” “Chicago Med,” “Chicago Fire,” “FBI” and “FBI: Most Wanted.” Other winners included Harry Gregson-Williams, David Arnold, Dominik Scherrer, Andy Love, Carim Clasmann and Galia Durant in the TV and streaming categories, and David Buckley, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Alexandre Desplat and Anna Drubich for film work.
BMI Million-Air Awards went to UK and European writers whose songs have surpassed a million broadcast performances. Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” was on top of this year’s heap, having reached 13 million plays. Following behind were Mick Jagger and Keith Richards with 10 million performances of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and Sting with 9 million for “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.”
A full list of winners, video clips of some of their acceptance speeches, and footage from past years’ live ceremonies can be found at https://www.bmi.com/london2020.
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