2012 BRIT Awards: Best British Single Odds and Betting Preview - Punters backing One Direction

LONDON, UK - After a betting upset in the Best British Single category at last year’s BRIT Awards, punters will be hoping that lightning does not strike twice after One Direction have been heavily-supported in the market to scoop the Best Single award this year with smash hit What Makes You Beautiful.

At this stage last year The Wanted were strongly-fancied to win Best Single with 'All Time Low' at 2/5 with Sky Bet, but on the night their fans were let down as Tinie Tempah took the gong. It was a similar story two years ago when punters got behind Cheryl Cole’s 'Fight For This Love', only for JLS to win with 'Beat Again' at 8/1 with Paddy Power.

Despite being a hard category to predict, punters have been more than keen to latch onto One Direction to win Best Single, even though it is the first time the boys have ever been nominated for such a prestigious award. 'What Makes You Beautiful' can be backed at best odds of 8/11 (bet £11 to make £8 profit) with Betfred and Totesport to win Best Single, but back in mid-January it was trading at 5/4 with Blue Square and bet365.

'What Makes You Beautiful' sold an amazing 150,000 copies in its first week, much to the delight of X Factor boss Simon Cowell, and if his boy band can emulate JLS in winning Best Single Cowell will no doubt be a happy man on Tuesday evening. It was the 20th highest-selling single in the UK last year, and went down a storm with ‘tweenagers’ across the country. Punters have voted with their wallets in this category, but considering recent history in this category it would be ill-advised to have too big a bet on One Direction, no matter how catchy the single is and even if the award is voted for by the listeners of Capital FM.

Second in the betting is Adele with 'Someone Like You', which may appeal to some at 11/2 with Bet Victor. However with Adele set to land Best Female and Best Album, the panel may be eager to spread the awards round. This theory is backed up by recent trends, as the last act to scoop both Best Album and Best Single in the same year was Coldplay back in 2006. Nevertheless, many viewers will have fond memories of Adele’s rendition of Someone Like You at last year’s ceremony and she mopped up at this year’s Grammys, although that was with Rolling in the Deep.

Next is Military Wives with 'Wherever You Are', which beat X Factor winners Little Mix to Christmas Number One and can be backed at 7/1 with Sporting Bet to win the award. It was the fastest-selling charity single since 1997 and there is more to come from them, with their album In My Dream set to appear on shelves in early March.

Former winners JLS are at 14/1 with Bet Victor to win with 'She Makes Me Wanna', which shot to number one in the UK charts when it was released and features American singer Dev. As a single it is not the most memorable, and 14/1 does not look overly generous considering they won two years ago with Beat Again.

The Wanted, who were odds-on to win this last year, may get compensation in 2012 with 'Glad You Came'. 'Glad You Came' topped the charts in the UK and Ireland and may appeal to some punters at 14/1 with Sporting Bet.

Ed Sheeran is a long-shot at 18/1 with Sporting Bet for 'The A Team', and the firm are also best-priced on Jessie J winning Best Single at 25/1 with 'Price Tag'.

At even bigger odds, Olly Murs is 25/1 with Stan James for 'Heart Skips A Beat', and then Example is next at a general 50/1 for 'Changed The Way You Kissed Me'.

The outsider of the 10 nominees is Pixie Lott, who was nominated for three awards last year but is yet to win a BRIT Award. Her number one single 'All About Tonight' can be backed at 80/1 with Sporting Bet, which could be a generous price in a category that is so hard to call and opened up at 33/1 with Stan James.

The money for One Direction is certainly note-worthy, but at bigger prices we like the look of Adele (11/2) and The Wanted (14/1).

The 2012 BRIT Awards are on Tuesday 21 February at the O2 Arena in London. The ceremony is live on ITV1 from 8.00pm..

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