The winner of the 2008 Nationwide Mercury Prize will be announced tonight (September 9) at 10.30pm. Here's our quick-fire guide to the nominees.

Dupstep enigma Burial is the final favourite at 4/7 to win - but really, does the bookies' favourite ever win?

How can you possibly second-guess an award that has gone to Talvin Singh one year, Badly Drawn Boy the next? Or that in 1994 overlooked 'Definitely Maybe' in favour of M People?

And yet… even though we know it's utterly futile, we can't help making predictions. Here's who we're backing in the NME office. Who have you had a flutter on?

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Greg Cochrane
Assistant Reviews Editor
Burial. Last year's judges arguably shot themselves in the foot by outlining the criteria under which the prize was chosen, saying it had to be something forward thinking or forward looking and not a record that rehashed ideas from the past. Apart from Neon Neon and perhaps Radiohead, none of the other nominees do that besides Burial - it’s a superb explorative, dark record. So, if Adele or The Last Shadow Puppets win they're all a bunch of hypocrites.

Luke Lewis
Deputy Editor, NME.COM
'In Rainbows' will win, if only because Radiohead have been nominated four times now and never won. Then again, I've also got a hunch about Elbow…

David Moynihan
Editor, NME.COM
Radiohead. If the Mercury awards really are about the best music on the album and nothing else, then tracks like ‘Nude’, ‘Reckoner’, ‘Jigsaw...’ and ‘15 Steps’ should make this the clear choice. It’s warmer than previous Radiohead releases and utterly beautiful.
Although where’s Foals, M.I.A and Mystery Jets in the shortlist?
Meh. I'm not even sure who 90% of the Mercury judges are, but as it's not a public vote I always imagine it a bit like the scene in that crappy Da Vinci Code movie where the kid catches the coven of hooded witches going at it around a pentagram.

Alex Miller
New Bands Editor
I’m backing Burial, but only because the Mercury award is so unbelievably dull that by backing the favourite I am getting into the spirit of the event. Award ceremonies picked by anyone other than fans are stupid. Fun, but stupid.

Paul Stokes
News Editor
I think Radiohead stand a great chance as it would be the first time some really praised ‘In Rainbows’ for the music rather than the way it was released, which I could see appealing to the Mercury. They need to get headlines off the back of the prize and I think this could work, plus Thom Yorke has now been nominated five times (four with the band, once solo) so surely the poor chap will start to take it personally if he doesn’t win. However, forget the brain - I have this niggling feeling that Laura Marling will be the dark horse for some reason…

Jamie Fullerton
Assistant News Editor
Neon Neon. Not an icicle's chance in hell of actually winning it, but it's undeniable that the best bona fide pop songs of the year are on 'Stainless Style'.

Tom Pinnock
Writer
Radiohead. For a start, this is a stunning reinvention and an unexpectedly beautiful album, and it'd be a worthy winner. Then, of course, there's retribution due for all the other Radiohead albums that have been nominated but failed to win, so if the judges are feeling sentimental this is a dead cert. Let's just hope they don't give 'In Rainbows' the gong purely for its novel, and now very, very boring, method of release.

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