The Ivors Academy have announced their first ever Rising Star Award nominees. Five artists appear on the short-list: Amahla, Carmel Smickersgill, Griff, lullahush and Mysie. It's a brand new Ivor Novello category which aims to discover and nurture new talent. 

When submissions opened for the category last year, The Ivors received a landslide of applications: more than at any other time in their 65-year history. 60% of those entries were from female artists.

Amahla is a soul singer-songwriter who has already performed at venues such as The Jazz Café, while pop artist Griff is a multi-talented vocalist, songwriter and all-round creative. Carmel Smickersgill is a Manchester-based composer of classical and electronic genres. The final two short-listed artists are multi-instrumentalist lullahush and genre-free pop writer Mysie. 

Each short-listed artist will receive a year-long mentorship from prestigious talent in the field: this year, mentors are Anna Meredith MBE, David Arnold, Fraser T Smith, Kamille and Nile Rodgers. 

On the Ivors, Rodgers said: "The Ivors, in my view, offer amongst the most prestigious accolades that a songwriter can receive anywhere in the world."

Winners across all categories will be announced on 2 September 2020