Brit parade

The Brits nominations are out. As usual it's nothing to have a wet dream about, and the results can probably be predicted right here right now, but there's usually a surprise or two so we'll see how it goes.

Duffy and Coldplay lead the charge with four nominations each. Fair cop seeing as the former was pretty much THE breakthrough artist of 2008, and the latter sold about 20 trillion albums in the first ten minutes, or something. Adele, Scouting For Girls and Elbow have each pocketed three nominations each, whilst Ting Tings, Estelle and Girls Aloud each have two.

Here's the stuff you need to know:

• Gabriella Cilmi will lose International Female to any one of the other four, but it's pretty good news that she was nominated.


• Brian Higgins has not been nominated for British Producer Of The Year. Don't know where the hell that category came from, but it's pretty harsh that the dude who wrote pretty much every good pop song to be released in the last few years has been overlooked.


• British Breakthrough Act will either be won by Adele (as a means of justifying the Critics' Choice award last year), or Duffy. Ting Tings wouldn't go amiss but they probably won't get it.


• Elbow (cos of that whole Mercury Music Prize thing) or Coldplay will most likely bag the British Album trophy. Albums from Duffy and the Ting Tings just weren't consistently good enough.


• Girls Aloud are not nominated for British Live Act, and apparently Scouting For Girls aren't that good live. Girls Aloud prove their vocal abilities on tour. Scouting For Girls just prove that their music all sounds the same. We should think, anyway.


• Having just trashed Scouting For Girls, it must be acknowledged that their music, although it all sounds the same, is actually very good. Therefore 'Heartbeat' is among the better nominees for British Single. Dizzee Rascal, Duffy, Estelle, Adele and Girls Aloud are also among the best entrants. Coldplay can, with all due respect, fuck off out of this category seeing as they probably will win every other award anyway.


• ... including British Group. Either them or Take That.


• British Female probably won't go to Adele, and probably shouldn't go to Estelle. Duffy is a very possible winner and either Beth Rowley and M.I.A. could be the token "out there" winner of the night.


• Fuck knows where British Male thinks it's going. James Morrison has put out the best single of all five, but honestly it could go to any of them. None of them have been particularly brilliant this past year, which leads to the realisation that 2008 wasn't really a great year for British male solo artists. Ah well, 2010 perhaps.

If you want to carouse the whole lot, they are here. The ceremony is on February 18th.