BBC Sound of 2023: Girl group Flo win

Flo are (left-right) Stella Quaresma, Jorja Douglas and Renée Downer

The R&B girl group Flo have won this year's BBC Sound of 2023.

Members Stella, Jorja and Renée were surprised by Stormzy who announced that they were this year's winners of the annual competition, calling them "a breath of fresh air".

The Sound Of competition was started in 2003 to find some of the most exciting new talent in music.

So while you might not have heard of some of the artists nominated for the competition now, they could well be big names in future.

Previous winners of the competition include: Sam Smith, Adele, PinkPantheress, Years and Years and Sigrid.

Who are Flo?

Flo released their first single last March

Flo is made up of singers Stella Quaresma, Jorja Douglas and Renée Downer who are aged between 19 and 21.

Flo were formed in 2019 and are were signed to Island Records in 2020.

The group have been compared to 90s and 00s girl groups like Destiny's Child, The Sugababes, as well as Little Mix.

Renée and Stella met when they studied together at the Sylvia Young Theatre School, and teamed up with Jorja - who is a former winner of CBBC singing show Got What It Takes - through social media before auditions for the band started.

Some of their top songs include Cardboard Box, Immature and Not My Job.

The band are poised to release their debut album in 2023

Flo say their message to their fans is "to be strong in yourself, to be confident".

"There is female empowerment - but everyone who listens should feel supported, inspired, independent." Says Stella.

"We want them to feel the way music used to make us feel." The group adds.

PinkPantheress won BBC Sound of 2022

More than 130 music industry experts, including people from Spotify, Apple Music, Glastonbury Festival, and the BBC picked and voted for the artists in The Sound Of 2023.

The competition was open to new UK artists who haven't yet had a top five album or more than two top 10 singles by 31 October 2022.

Artists who had appeared on TV talent shows within the last three years weren't able to compete.