Other / Maxliu / 15 February 2011 /

Betfair's Brit Awards betting markets closed at midnight on Sunday but, with the annual music biz bash due to take place tonight, we decided to assess the field ...

The Brit Awards return in all their glittery irrelevance this evening and Betfair punters are predicting big nights for Take That and Mumford & Sons. The former are [1.18] to win Best British Group while the latter were backed in to [1.32] for best Brit album before the markets closed.

Where do they get these categories from? The last person I heard refer to a group was my granddad, a man who considered Herman's Hermits ear-splitting fluff. And how can a bunch of rioja-teethed public school folkies win best album when they've only got one song, and a very annoying one at that? Artless ubiquity, that's how.

No matter. I sound as bitter and outdated as the music industry will when Radiohead self-release their new album this Saturday (big news kids, big news). So let's have a quick look at tonight's runners and riders.

Plan B is [1.37] favourite to win Best British Male. Just as the Beatles forged their fire and melody by gigging every night in the bars of the Reeperbahn, he's earned sensitivity and depth, tirelessly promoting his concept soul record The Defamation of Strickland Banks. Fab Four comparisons may be pushing it, but the boy has done well.

Great too to see Laura Marling backed in to [2.06] for Best British Female. I've praised her on this site before but I'll just add that, at the other end of the market, Rumer's Trans-Atlantic nu-soul provides a pleasant contrast to the fav's brittle Englishness. And where is Adele?

Elsewhere, something called The Wanted is favourite to win Best British Single, the Arcade Fire, who are considered above criticism by the music press and legions of middle-class white people (believe me, the backlash will come) are a cert to land best International Group, Rhianna is [1.28] to win Best International Female and Justin Bieber will triumph in the little boys category.

As for breakthroughs (to what?), it makes sense to reward Tinie Tempah in the British arena but how the cast of Glee can rival The National (five albums in) in the international is beyond even this journeyed correspondent. Meanwhile, Bruce Springsteen meets Kanye West in a Best International Male tussle where four out of five nominees are American. There can be only one winner and it will probably be Cee Lo Green.

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