Fionn Regan leads Mercury Music Prize nominations

Also in the running for the £20,000 cheque are joint 4/1 favourites Arctic Monkeys Favourite Worst Nightmare and Amy Winehouse Back To Black, Klaxons Myths Of The Near Future, Maps We Can Create, The View Hats Off To The Buskers, Jamie T Panic Prevention, Dizzee Rascal Maths & English, Bat For Lashes Fur And Gold, Young Knives Voices Of Animals And Men, New Young Pony Club Fantastic Playroom and Basquiat Strings’ eponymous collection.
A quick poll of the Hot Press staffers finds Shilpa Ganatra and Ed Power predicting victory for Jamie T while Stuart Clark’s tenner each way is going on Ms. Winehouse.
Offering a retailer’s perspective is HMV’s Gennaro Castaldo.
"It’ll be interesting to see if the judges are prepared to open themselves to potential accusations that they are going too mainstream by voting for the Arctics for a second year in a row or by selecting Amy Winehouse - both of whom have enjoyed massive commercial success - or whether they deliberately go for a less obvious choice in order to show that they remain unpredictable and independently minded,” he says.
The winner will be unveiled at London’s Hospital venue in September.