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Beth Orton Talks Brit Award, New Material
No one was more surprised by her Brit Awards victory than Beth Orton. "To be honest, I was fairly oblivious to most of what was going on, but we were on the next table to [multiple award winner] Macy Gray, which was good," she says. Orton was named best British female solo artist at the Brits ceremony, which took place Friday at London's Earl's Court.

Orton spoke to Billboard Online from Milan today (March 8), where she had just arrived for a Thursday evening gig with fellow Brit Award-winner Beck. "I'm not quite with it! We've just done a 14-hour drive to get here."

Many saw Orton's success at the Brits as the surprise of the night, in a category where the nominees included Geri Halliwell and Gabrielle. Orton says she was pleased by the award, "but I hadn't been waiting for it."

Tourmate Beck was named best international male solo artist but declined to attend the event, filming an acceptance speech in Italy, where Orton says he was "on holiday." On the heels of a successful U.S. tour, the pair come to the U.K. later this month, where Beck plays Wembley Arena on March 23, supported by Orton, then continues without her to Manchester (March 24) and Glasgow (March 25). The latter two dates are already sold out.

Orton already has material written for the follow-up to her 1999 Arista/Heavenly set "Central Reservation," which peaked at No. 110 on The Billboard 200. It has sold 100,000 copies in the U.K. and 475,000 worldwide, according to the label.

"I've just got to get some time to myself and hone it all down," she says of her new songs.

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Page Updated Sun Apr 9, 2000 5:59pm EDT