The Zutons To Win The Mercury?

added 24 August 2004 at 12.13

With Mercury fever mounting, it’s just a fortnight until the winner of the Mercury Music Prize 2004 is announced and while everyone has a different prediction, the bookies have slashed the odds for a certain group of psychedelic Liverpudlian underdogs. Could The Zutons do it?

When the nominations were announced, this year’s Mercury Prize seemed a two-horse race: Joint favourites at 5-2, Franz Ferdinand and The Streets had produced innovative world-beating albums and seemed set to battle for the finish to take home the gong.

However, as any shrewd music fan knows, the prize is a volatile beast with surprise winners commonplace (eg M People in 1994). This week sees the odds of The Zutons’ album ‘Who Killed The Zutons?’ slashed from 12-1 to 11-2 making the band second favourites, and with the prize due a guitar-led winner (but perhaps no the favourites) things look promising for the Scouse five-piece.

Cue smug looks from all the Zutons fans that had a flutter when the original odds were released.

“Due to the nature of the Mercury Prize it’s never unusual for a darkhorse to have the odds dramatically shortened,” a spokeswoman for William Hill explained. “As bookmakers we have to make well known acts the favourites – for example The Streets are having a run of success at the moment with their number one single – but we also know that it’s often the acts with the longer odds that may win it, so The Zutons could just do it this year.”

The current odds are as follows:

  1. The Streets / Franz Ferdinand (joint favourites) 5-2
  2. The Zutons 11-2
  3. Amy Winehouse 13-2
  4. Snow Patrol / Keane 8-1
  5. Joss Stone / Belle And Sebastian 12-1
  6. Jamelia / Basement Jaxx 14-1
  7. Ty / Robert Wyatt 25-1

Thanks to www.williamhill.co.uk

To hear all of the Mercury Music Prize nominated albums, vote for your winner and enter a competition to bag the whole dozen records go to Xfm's Mercury homepage by clicking here.

 

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