William Hill odds for Mercury Prize closest ever..

• 19th Jul 2006

With the announcement of the nominees of the Nationwide Mercury Prize now available for full public scrutiny and inevitable criticism, William Hill (the renouned gambling operative) have released their latest odds for who they reckon is most in with a chance of winning the coveted prize.

Not unpredictably, the only female nominees (a pitiful three out of twelve, and with one of those being half of a male and female duo), all come in at 10/1, while the male-strong majority (besides one member of the Guillemots band, all the other bands' members and solo artists are male) come in largely at 8/1, 6/1, or 5/1. This again raises the criticism that sexism is still prevalant in our music industry, with women simply remaining unrecognised for equal talent in such fields.

William Hill's odds are as follows:

5/1 Arctic Monkeys – Whatever people say I am, that's what I'm not
5/1 Thom Yorke – The Eraser
6/1 Guillemots – Through the windowpane
6/1 Muse – Black holes & revelations
8/1 Hot Chip – The Warning
8/1 Richard Hawley – Coles corner
8/1 Sway – This is my demo
10/1 Zoe Rahman – Melting pot
10/1 Lou Rhodes – Beloved one
10/1 Scritti Politti – White bread black beer
10/1 Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan – Ballad of the broken seas