2012 BRIT Awards: Best British Breakthrough Act Odds and Betting Preview

LONDON, UK – Ed Sheeran heads the nominations for this year’s Best British Breakthrough Act and this is one of four awards the 21 year old from Halifax has been nominated for. He is currently priced up as the 1/2 favourite (bet £2 to make £1 profit) with Betfred and the youngster looks set to ditch his customary hoodie to wear a suit for the event, in which he is one of the live performing acts. This BRIT is one of three awards voted for by the public and Radio 1 listeners have been handed the chance to vote and decide who collects this prize on Tuesday evening. The star-studded awards ceremony recognises musical talent both from these shores and abroad is once again hosted by the comedian James Corden.

Ed Sheeran has enjoyed a bumper year as his debut album +, sold over 102,000 copies in the first week. This album was the ninth biggest-selling album of 2011 and he has released three tracks, from this album, as singles with a fourth entitled 'Drunk' set to hit the shelves on 27th February. His debut single ‘The A Team’ entered the UK chart at number three and was the highest-selling debut single of 2011. More recently he has enjoyed success with ‘Lego House’ which peaked at number five in the UK Singles chart and he is scheduled to support Snow Patrol on their tour of the US later this year.

Next in the betting is Jessie J is quoted at 2/1 with Ladbrokes and she is currently on the drift in this market. She also holds nominations in the Best Female and British Single categories but faces strong competition from Adele and One Direction respectively and will be eager to collect this award. This English singer and songwriter came to prominence in late 2010 when she released her first single ‘Do It Like a Dude’ and then followed this up with a UK number one ‘Price Tag’ which was released in January 2011.  2011 saw the release of her debut album ‘Who You Are’ which hit number two in the UK Album Chart and she has recently announced that she is working on her second studio album. Jessie J is set star in the BBC program, The Voice UK where she will act as one of four coaches following her successful year in the music industry.

There has been some money for Emeli Sande recently and she can be backed at an industry best price of 16/1 with BetVictor while Ladbrokes have her as short as a 6/1. She has written songs for a wide range of artists that include Cheryl Cole, Leona Lewis, Tinie Tempah and Susan Boyle. She released her debut single ‘Heaven’ in August 2011 and has already been named as the winner of the Critics’ Choice award at this year’s BRITs.

The two outsiders in this market are Anna Calvi and The Vaccines who are both available at 33/1 with totesport. Anna Calvi released a self-titled album in early 2011 which entered the UK charts at number 40 but she has had more success across Europe and she was awarded the European Border Breakers Award early this year.

The Vaccines are an indie rock band that has little chance of collecting the award, which is reflected in their price, but their inclusion in the nominations shows how these commercial awards are becoming more open to a wide variety of acts and attempt to reward musical talent. Their debut album ‘What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?’ reached number four in the UK Album chart but the six singles released from this album have failed to capture the public’s imagination with the highest reaching 32 in the UK chart.

The 2012 BRIT Awards are on Tuesday 21st February at the O2 Arena in London. The ceremony is broadcast live on ITV1 from 20.00 GMT.

Best British Breakthrough Act Odds