PJ Harvey favourite to win second Mercury Prize

The winner of the 2011 Barclaycard Mercury Prize for Album of the Year will be announced tonight, Tuesday 6 September, at an awards show in London.

PJ Harvey is the 6/4 favourite to take home the prize, which would make her the first person to win on two occasions. Bookmakers William Hill say they have seen a number of four figure bets staked on the artist whose first win was for Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea in 2001.

However, William Hill’s spokesman Rupert Adams also told Drowned in Sound that King Creosote & Jon Hopkins have seen their odds drop from 40/1 to 10/1 over the weekend:

“The Judges have produced a number of surprise winners in recent year, Anthony and The Johnsons and Speech Debelle to name a few. Over the weekend we have seen significant gambles on King Creosote and Jon Hopkins, who our punters think could be the dark horse this year.”

The 2011 Album of the Year shortlist, with latest odds:

• PJ Harvey Let England Shake 6/4
• James Blake James Blake 5/1
• Adele 21 6/1
• Anna Calvi Anna Calvi 7/1
• Metronomy The English Riviera 7/1
• Ghostpoet Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam 8/1
• Everything Everything Man Alive 10/1
• King Creosote & Jon Hopkins Diamond Mine 10/1
• Katy B On a Mission 20/1
• Elbow Build a Rocket Boys! 33/1
• Tinie Tempah Disc-Overy 40/1
• Gwilym Simcock Good Days at Schloss Elmau 50/1

Drowned in Sound will be sending updates live from the event, which for the first time will feature all of the nominated acts, from our twitter account @drownedin and on our music boards at: Mercury Prize Prediction Thread

You can also catch up on all our Mercury Prize coverage, including interviews with PJ Harvey and Ghostpoet, here: Mercury Prize 2011

The BBC will be covering the night live on BBC Two and BBC HD from 10.00pm. BBC Radio 6 Music will also be broadcasting live from the venue from 8.00pm. There will also be additional coverage of all live performances available on the BBC HD channel from 10.30pm and on the Red Button for the next 7 days.