Sam Smith has bagged the BRITs Critics' Choice Award.

The music maestro beat off competition from Ella Eyre and Chloe Howl to win the prize, which predicts who is going to make the biggest impact in 2014.

Smith will collect the gong at a nominations event in January before the full BRITs take place at London's O2 Arena on February 19.

He follows on from previous winner Tom Odell, who then went on to release the successful No.1 debut album 'Long Way Down'.

Other past winners of the award include Emeli Sandé, Ellie Goulding and Jessie J.

The prize is decided by a team of industry tastemakers from the media, who have considered over one hundred acts.

Smith meanwhile has already featured on a No.1 single despite his fledgling status in the scene. He lent vocals to Naughty Boy's 'La La La', which topped the chart earlier this year.