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Mvula favourite for Mercury Prize

Soul singer Laura Mvula is favourite to win the Mercury Prize ahead of acts including chart veteran David Bowie and previous winners Arctic Monkeys.

Bookmakers have made Birmingham-born Laura 7/4 to win followed by electronic duo Disclosure, rockers Foals and Bowie, who s urprised fans by returning to music with his The Next Day album.

William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said they had seen lots of bets come in for Laura, whose odds have tumbled from 16/1 just a few weeks ago. He said: " This is the biggest price move - certainly of this millennium and it looks like it is industry people who have sparked this gamble. It will come as no great surprise if she wins tonight."

The 12-strong list for the event, formally known as the Barclaycard Mercury Prize, includes seven acts who have previously featured on the shortlist since the prize was launched in 1992.

Arctic Monkeys - who won in 2006 - and singer-songwriter Laura Marling each make it on to the list for a third time, while Foals, James Blake and Villagers are among those who make their second appearance.

Bowie, who rarely plays live now, is the only one of the 12 shortlisted acts that will not perform at the event at the Roundhouse in north London. Instead, fans will see the video for his track Love Is Lost. Once a prolific pace-setter, Bowie had withdrawn almost entirely from the public eye in recent years and had released no albums for a decade. But without warning earlier this year, he suddenly released the single Where Are We Now? and announced his comeback album.

The list, which includes five debuts by the likes of 19-year-old Jake Bugg and Disclosure, was drawn from 220 albums submitted to the judging panel.

The other first-timers are Laura, Savages and Rudimental. Inclusion on the shortlist usually ensures an instant boost in sales for nominated artists, who hope to emulate last year's winner Alt-J who triumphed with debut An Awesome Wave.

Electronica act Jon Hopkins was previously nominated for the Mercury for his collaboration with King Creosote, called Diamond Mine, but this is his first time in his own right.

The £20,000 prize is open to British and Irish acts and aims to reward the best album of the year.

Chairman of the judging panel Simon Frith said: ''This year's Barclaycard Mercury Prize shortlist celebrates a fascinating year for British and Irish music, marked by a wonderful range of musical voices - urgent, reflective, upbeat and tender, acoustic and electronic, and all with something intriguing to say.''

Source: music.uk.msn.com
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