Coldplay, Kaisers for Mercury prize

The nominees for the 2005 Nationwide Mercury Music Prize were announced yesterday.

Jools Holland revealed the twelve albums that will battle it out for the £20,000 reward to be the following:

Bloc Party - 'Silent Alarm'
Hard-Fi - 'Stars of CCTV'
Kaiser Chiefs - 'Employment'
MIA - 'Arular'
The Magic Numbers - 'The Magic Numbers'
Coldplay - 'X&Y'
The Go! Team - 'Thunder, Lightning Strike'
Anthony And The Johnsons - 'I Am A Bird Now'
KT Tunstall - 'Eye To The Telescope'
Maximo Park - 'A Certain Trigger'
Seth Lakeman - 'Kitty Jay'
Polar Bear - 'Held On The Tips Of Fingers'

The Kaiser Chiefs are early favourites with odds of 4/1 with Ladrokes, closely followed by Bloc Party with 5/1.

NME.com reports that the Kaisers showed an overwhelming lack of confidence in themselves by betting just £2 on their victory. "The Kaiser Chiefs went into the Ladbrokes in Trafalgar Square this morning and backed themselves to win with £2 at odds of 4/1. If they win it will return £10," Ladbrokes spokesman Warren Lush told the site.

The winner will be announced on September 6.