Jamie effing T?!?!?!? I swear that guy made a deal with the devil or something. What a load of tripe.

You know I'm pulling for the Winehouse...

I guess of the bunch I've heard, I'm behind Dizzee Rascal. Maths + English is good stuff.

I figure Winehouse has a lock on this...however the Basquiat Strings are pretty cool. Would like to see it go to a relatively unknown.

For the record, I hate the Arctic Monkeys. Mostly because of their album art. And their lack of substance.

Over at the KEXP blog, they have the actual odds from English bookies listed for each nominee:

Amy Winehouse - Back To Black (4-1)
Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare (4-1)
Dizzee Rascal - Maths + English (8-1)
Jamie T - Panic Prevention (8-1)
Klaxons - Myths Of The Near Future (8-1)
The View - Hats Off To The Buskers (8-1)
Bat For Lashes - Fur And Gold (10-1)
Fionn Regan - The End Of History (10-1)
The Young Knives - Voices Of Animals And Men (10-1)
Basquiat Strings - Basquiat Strings with Seb Rochford (12-1)
Maps - We Can Create (12-1)
New Young Pony Club - Fantastic Playroom (12-1)

It does look like Amy is a front-runner!!!

Doesn't the Mercury Prize have the tendency to pick the winner that no one expects, like Badly Drawn Boy, Dizzee Rascal and Antony & the Johnsons?

Just peruse through past prize winners and see.

That list is awful. I've never understood this prize, it can't be based on sales looking at previous winners, but it can't be based on critical appraisal because there have been higher praised British or Irish albums this year. Where's Patrick Wolf I ask you?! Where?!!!

Yeah, I'd have to agree on the uninterestingness of most of these bands. Last night I went and found tracks by all of them (well, the ones I didn't know) and wow, they are unimpressive. The only one that was kind of cool was Basquiat Strings, and that was Kronos Quartet type music. And Jamie T? The View? Rubbish. Bat for Lashes? The Young Knives? Boring. Fionn Regan had kind of a gentle niceness, but really didn't capture my attention, while New Young Pony Club was sort of fun, but nothing to write home. Both the Klaxons and Arctic Monkeys are knowns, but knowns that are overrated.

I'm still throwing my money behind Dizzee, but Amy or the Strings would be fine with me too.

And yeah greggoir, where the heck is Patrick Wolf on this list?

I agree -- I thought the Basquiat Strings were interesting, and of course, love the Winehouse record.... but Jamie T. can totally suck it, and I'm not so fascinated by any of the others.

Still, beats the Grammy nominations by miles.