Music

Florence 'favourite to win Mercury'

Published Tuesday, Sep 8 2009, 19:34 BST | By Oli Simpson
Florence 'favourite to win Mercury'

Rex Features

Florence and the Machine have emerged as the bookies' favourites to win the Mercury Prize tonight.

According to Betfair, the band's debut album Lungs has odds of 3/1, Speech Debelle's Speech Therapy is at 9/2 and The Horrors' Primary Colours follows at 7/1. Bat For Lashes is at 8/1 with Two Suns.

Speaking to XFM, Betfair spokesman Michael Robb said that although Florence and the Machine currently stand as favourites, the competition is unpredictable.

He said: "Like last year, this is an extremely open event. Florence and the Machine go in as favourites and you can see why in a competition which tends to prefer young talent.

"But no-one knows what goes on in that judging room, which was never more evident than last year when Elbow shocked punters by beating long-term favourite Burial to the prize."

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