Just over a month to go until the winner of the 2005 Mercury Music Prize is revealed. Hip cats the length and breadth of the country are already placing bets willy-nilly, hoping they’ve backed the winner.
According to the odds, The Kaiser Chiefs are still firm favourites. But what do the odds prove? The Mercury Music panel are a deeply contrary bunch of gits – just as you’d expect from music industry ‘experts’ – so they might be turned off by seeing one album as a favourite for so long. Then again, they might not.
But we are your friends. We’re letting you make your own mind up. You can listen to the bands, check the odds and see who you’d pick, and bet on them to win. The prize is wide open, so each artist is a worthwhile bet.
So here are the Mercury Music Prize odds this week from hecklerspray and Betfair.com…
Polar Bear – Held On The Tips Of Fingers: These
big-haired free-jazz noise merchants have seen their odds lengthen for
the third straight week. According to the odds, the judges won’t be
fans of skronk this year. LISTEN/BUY Current odds – 74/1
Seth Lakeman – Kitty Jay: Seth’s fiddle-de-dee songs
about Dartmoor also might not be what the judges want, if the odds are
anything to go by. His odds are still getting longer and longer. LISTEN/BUY Current odds – 59/1
Maximo Park – A Certain Trigger: Typical. Just as
Maximo Park’s rather wonderful post-punk-Bryan-Ferryisms was growing on
us, their odds have taken a little bit of a tumble. LISTEN/BUY Current odds – 19/1
The Go! Team – Thunder Lightning Strike: It’s not a
good week for people we like. The Go! Team’s amazing technicolour noise
explosion is taking over the world, but their odds have had a little
knock this week. LISTEN/BUY Current odds – 35/2
Coldplay – X&Y: The most ubiquitous band on the
shortlist are also having a bad week. Coldplay’s odds have lengthened a
tiny bit, but they’re probably too busy either saving the world or
rolling around in a hallway full of cash to care. LISTEN/BUY Current odds – 17/1
KT Tunstall – Eye To The Telescope: KT has also seen
her bland-as-flour, whinging, singer-songwriter claptrap fall slightly
in the odds rankings this week. Maybe her dull yodelling put all her
fans to sleep before they could bet on her. LISTEN/BUY Current odds – 33/2
Hard-Fi – Stars Of CCTV: The first band to actually
have shorter odds this week than last. Could Hard-Fi’s fortunes be
changing for good, or this merely a blip of good fortune them? LISTEN/BUY Current odds – 33/2
Antony And The Johnsons – I Am A Bird Now: He writes achingly sad love songs, he looks like a recently-dumped drama teacher, and his odds are holding firm this week. LISTEN/BUY Current odds – 23/2
The Magic Numbers – The Magic Numbers: Last week, The
Magic Numbers were second favourites to win the Mercury Music Prize.
This week, the jangly beardsters taken a big fall. LISTEN/BUY Current odds – 33/5
M.I.A – Arular: M.I.A’s tearing up the competition. Since the shortlist was announced, Arular
has steadily climbed the rankings. We’ve said it before and we’ll say
it again – we honestly wouldn’t be surprised if she wins the prize. LISTEN/BUY Current odds – 5/1
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm: Other bookmakers have
installed Bloc Party as the favourites to win the Mercury Music Prize,
but the Betfair lot are being slightly more conservative. However,
they’re peering over the favourite’s shoulders all the time. LISTEN/BUY Current odds – 22/5
Kaiser Chiefs – Employment: Apparently the Kaiser
Chiefs are very strong favourites to win the Mercury Music Prize. We’re
not so sure – comedy northerners have never really been the panel’s cup
of tea. Is this the year to change their minds? LISTEN/BUY Current odds – 2/1
We’ll keep updating the odds each week, but in the meantime head over to Betfair.com to see how the odds are sliding. Have fun betting, and good luck.
Related stories:
The hecklerspray Betfair.com Tutorial
[story by Stuart Heritage]
