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

The Brit Awards take place tomorrow (Wednesday 18) and you can follow the action on ITV1 from 8pm.

Rather unfortunately for an odds comparison site (bookies.com), there aren’t any odds to compare after bookmakers have suspended the markets. William Hill were forced to stop taking any bets after a number of decent sized wagers were put on 5/1 Paul Weller in the Best Male Solo Artist Category.

They cut the price into 1/5, but they were still taking £50 bets in the London area. Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and totesport have followed suit in suspending all the markets, except Best British Single which is decided by the public. The Betfair markets have also been suspended, with Paul Weller matched at a low of 1.15.

Girls Aloud – The Promise is the 11/8 favourite to win Best Single, having been matched at 13/1 high on the exchanges. They are also the only female group nominated in the Best Group category.

Duffy (Mercy) is next at 7/4, and may be a better bet, given that this category is a bit of a lottery. The fact that she will perform on the show may affect the voting in her favour – she is also nominated for Best British Female, Best British Album and British Breakthrough Act.

If I was having a bet, I’d got for 7/2 Viva La Vida by Coldplay, even though it has drifted in the market. Coldplay had the best selling album of 2008 and VLV was their first single to top the charts.

Leona Lewis is 9/1 for ‘Better in Time‘. There is a rumour that she won’t turn up for the ceremony, having not picked up anything last year.

The British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) are the nearest thing that Britain has to the Oscars, meaning that the betting is very similar. They take place on the 8th February and will almost certainly have an effect on the odds for the Oscars betting markets.

Whilst most nominations are the same, there are some regional differences which punters have to take into account. For example, in the Original Screenplay category foreign films such as Burn After Reading and I’ve Loved You So Long have picked up BAFTA nominations.

In the Best Actress Category, the Brits have gone for Kate Winslet (twice!) and Kristin Scott Thomas (25/1). Over the sea, the Americans preferred to give Melissa Leo a shock nomination. This actress protectionism means that I still think Anne Hathaway is a good bet for an Oscar (3/1 Victor Chandler), because Winslet keeps coming up short.

Kate is already preparing an acceptance speech for her BAFTA award, but we don’t know yet which film she’ll get in for: either The Reader (11/10) or Revolutionary Road (6/4). If I was pushed to have a bet in that category, I’d go for The Reader, which has nominations for Best Film and Best Director.

Slumdog Millionaire will probably make the headlines, and Ladbrokes are taking bets on just how many BAFTAs it’ll scoop up. 5-6 Awards is their 5/4 favourite, whilst 7-8 Awards is on offer for 6/4. 9-10 Awards may be of interest to some optimistic punters at 8/1.

I don’t fancy lead actor Dev Patel to pick up Best Actor at 10/1, but Danny Boyle should win Best Director at 2/9. Ladbrokes go 1/4 that Slumdog wins Best Film, and it could even Outstanding British Film at 8/11, but Hunger could be a better bet at 5/2.

Bet with caution, but it could also take Music, Editing, Production Design and Adapted Screenplay. If it doesn’t do as well as expected, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button looks like the one to benefit (8/1 Best Film, Bet365).

bookies.com is an odds comparison site, where you can check out Oscars and BAFTAs Betting:

BAFTAs 2009 Best Film Betting

BAFTAs 2009 Best Director Betting

BAFTAs 2009 Best Actor Betting

BAFTAs 2009 Best Actress Betting

BAFTAs 2009 Best Supporting Actor Betting

BAFTAs 2009 Best Supporting Actress Betting

BAFTAs 2009 Outstanding British Film Film Betting

Oscars 2009 Best Film Betting

Oscars 2009 Best Actor Betting

Oscars 2009 Best Actress Betting

Oscars 2009 Best Director Betting

Oscars 2009 Best Supporting Actor Betting

Oscars 2009 Best Supporting Actress Betting

The general consensus is that the winner of the X Factor will take the number one spot for Christmas Day. SkyBet make the X Factor contestants the overwhelming market leaders at 1/6, despite being recently eased in the betting from 1/7. The winner of the X Factor will release a cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah in time for Christmas, a song already performed by Diana Vickers on the show.

The choice of song was a source of controversy, as Simon Cowell appeared to be favouring Diana in the win market. He has already offered her a record deal should she not win, and Hallelujah certainly suits her vocal capabilities.

The X Factor winner market was turned on its head this weekend, as hot favourite Diana lost her position as market leader to 11/8 Alexandra. She has been a model of consistency, and is arguably the best singer on the show. Eoghan has the ‘cute factor’ and also has the potential to reach number one. Our X Factor tip, JLS, are 10/1 outsiders to win the competition.

The amount of terrestrial TV exposure received by the eventual winner of the X Factor means that he/she/they really ought to clinch the top spot in the charts. This has happened for the last 3 years, and there is no reason why they shouldn’t this year, but 1/6 is too short.

Aled Jones is next in the betting at 11/2, or 6/4 to win without the X Factor winner. Terry Wogan features in the background of the Bing Crosbie & David Bowie classic: Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth. Proceeds go towards the BBC charity Children in Need, and I feel the song could well gather momentum in the charts, even though it will be released on the 8th. Chris Evans described the song as magnificent, although he is also tied to the BBC.

The only other major threat to the X Factor winner is Leona Lewis. She is covering Snow Patrol’s Run, and is a 12/1 shot to be number one with SkyBet, or 3/1 in the market without the X Factor winner. The latter market looks like a straight match bet with Terry Wogan. Leona took the Christmas number one spot in 2006, and is a strong contender this year. I feel that she is more talented than any of the contestants on this year’s X Factor, but I doubt whether that can be replicated in the betting. Run is already available to download, so may not hold on until Christmas.

Another mention goes to 14/1 Peter Kay, who is releasing a single as his alter-ego Geraldine McQueen. We’ll hear it at the Royal Variety Performance on December 11, meaning that it will be seen be millions. Don’t be surprised if you then see the odds tumble.

Be sure to compare odds on a number of specials markets at bookies.com:

Christmas Number One Betting

Christmas Number One Without X Factor Winner Betting

Christmas Snow Betting

X Factor Winner Betting

X Factor Danni Minogue Replacement Betting