The 2010 BRIT Awards take place on 16 February and will be screened live on ITV1. As ever, the bookies have priced up the nominees according to their theoretical chances of winning an award.

Duffy made waves in the betting last year as she scooped a total of three awards: British Breakthrough, Best Female Solo and Best British Album. Winning multiple awards on the same night is eminently possible, and has been done by the likes of Coldplay and Oasis in the past.

Therefore it may be a sound betting strategy to support your favourite group or singer across a range of markets.

JLS are the 6/4 favourites to win Best British Single for ‘Beat Again’, but will have to fight off competition from Cheryl Cole’s ‘Fight For This Love’ which is a 15/8 chance with Bet365. 2009 was a good year for genres such as R&B and hip hop, but the likes of Taio Cruz and N-Dubz aren’t given much of a chance at odds of 20/1 each.

JLS could also cap off a great night with the Best Group award, but Kasabian are the hot favourites at 5/6 in that betting market.

Nevertheless many pundits believe that this year’s Brit Awards will be a night dominated by the ladies. Lady GaGa, Florence and the Machine, Pixie Lott and Alexandra Burke all have nominations and solid chances respectively.

Florence and the Machine is strongly fancied in the Best Album market at 2/5 and could also take Best Female Artist at 9/4. Singer Florence Welch won Best Breakthrough Act last year, and has already received plenty of critical acclaim.

Paddy Power are best-priced at 2/7 about Lady GaGa winning Best International Female Artist – in what looks like a one horse race.

bookies.com is your best bet when it comes to comparing odds between the leading bookmakers:

British Male Solo Artist Betting

British Female Solo Artist Betting

Best Group Betting

British Breakthrough Act Betting

British Album Betting

British Single Betting

International Male Solo Artist Betting

International Female Solo Artist Betting

International Album Betting

International Breakthrough Act Betting

NME Awards Betting

JLS have been described as the best band the show has ever seen, and have been cut once more into 7/1. The boy band from London do offer some each way value, and also a decent trading opportunity on Betfair over the next two weeks or so.

Recommendation:

2pts 7/1 JLS Outright Winners

My word have things changed! Diana was axed last weekend following a string of poor performances, meaning that Alexandra is the hot favourite to win. Let’s take a look at the remaining 3 contestants to see if there’s any value still to be found:

8/13 ALEXANDRA BURKE

Alexandra has been described as the most talented contestant for weeks now, and Diana’s eviction has seen her go odds-on from evens before last Saturday’s show. In the straight forecast market, favourite backers may like totesport’s 15/8 on 1st Alexandra – 2nd JLS. Bet365 also offer 2/7 that she beats Eoghan in a match bet – ‘free money’ I hear you say. She should take all the beating, and Simon Cowell has backed her to win. If she got turned over it wouldn’t be all that surprising, so i think she is too short to back. Performs with Westlife.

7/2 JLS

Saturday night made for some sensational in-running betting on Betfair. After the contestants had sung their 2 songs, Diana was the new 6/4 favourite to be evicted, even though JLS were still the 8/1 outsiders in the outright market. Layers clearly had their reasons, but to me it was a no-brainer. JLS were 1.70 on Betfair to be evicted before Diana had another shocker. I haven’t traded out my strong JLS position yet and I don’t intend to, in fact I am disappointed not to have taken the 10/1 that was readily available before Saturday’s show.

Aside from me, there have been other JLS supporters who have been backing them with their wallets and this week’s 9/2 and 4/1 has gone. I am particularly re-assured that they have displaced the blasted Eoghan as second favourites and they could prove popular on the night given that they’ll perform with Rihanna.

9/2 EOGHAN QUIGG

Those unfamiliar to the show should note that his first name is pronounced ‘Owen’. They should also note that he is dreadful. He is set to sing with Boyzone and has been very weak in the betting, cut to 11/10 in the next eviction market. I am tempted by those odds, because my hatred of him means that he’s clearly an odds-on shot. As I’m not ‘greening out’ of the JLS position, I won’t increase my liability by backing Eoghan to be evicted. I must be a rational punter and not bet with my heart!

Eoghan’s voice was overwhelmed by the backing singers on Saturday, and he just doesn’t do it for me. I cannot rely on his Irish support and won’t be indulging in Boylesports’ specials. They Irish firm make him 6/2 to record a duet with Diana in 2009, 16/1 to join an Abba tribute band or 2/1 to shave his head.

SkyBet have some X Factor specials, which offer typically poor value. You can get 33/1 that a finalist falls over on stage this weekend, or 5/1 that the winner is dropped by Sony BMG by the end of 2009. I can’t find any stunning bets for this weekend’s show, as all the contestants are pretty skinny prices by this stage.

X Factor Winner Betting

X Factor Winning Manager Betting

X Factor Straight Forecast Betting

X Factor Next Eviction Betting

X Factor Specials Betting

Danni Minogue Replacement Betting

Dannie Minogue to Continue Betting