Dido pulled from Brits category!

LONDON, UK - (BBC/Radio 1) - British pop star Dido has been dropped from the race for the best newcomer title at the Brit Awards after chart bosses admitted they had wrongly included her.
Dido was named in the category when the nominations were announced on Monday despite having been included in the best female category the previous year.

On Wednesday, The Official UK Charts Company - which compiles the list of eligible albums and singles - apologised for its mistake. But the singer is still in the running for the best female award. Dido was replaced in the best newcomer category for the awards, to be announced on 20 February, by singer-songwriter Tom McRae.

The Official UK Charts Company said it regretted the upset and inconvenience caused to Dido, her record company, the Brits and BBC Radio 1 listeners, who vote on the winner of the best newcomer award. It is not known if Atomic Kitten, also nominated for the second year running as best newcomer, will be removed.

Dido, whose album No Angel was the biggest seller of 2001 in the UK with 1.9 million copies - said she was not bothered about being dropped from the Brits. "I think it's quite funny, it's so silly: You just don't question it, if you're given a nomination, you don't think 'Oh am I eligible?' You just don't know the rules. I don't know if anyone knows the rules," she told BBC Radio 1.
"My manager called me and asked me: 'Do you want to hear a very funny story?' and then we both giggled a lot and then sorted it out."

It is not the first time that the shortlists have had to be revamped for the Brits. In 2000, King of My Castle by Wamdue Project was dropped from the best British single category as none of the artists had a British passport.