2003 Mercury Prize shortlist

LONDON, UK (Mercury Prize Website) - Radiohead and Coldplay are joint favourites to take this year's Panasonic Mercury Music Prize.

Radiohead's Hail to the Thief became their third LP to make the the short-list, while Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head follows their debut as a Mercury nominee.
Both are ranked 4-1 to take the title by bookmaker William Hill when the winner is announced on September 9.

Eight of the shortlisted releases are debut albums, although Martina Topley-Bird - nominated for her first album Quixotic - has been up for the �20,000 prize in previous years. She provided vocals to Tricky's Maxinquaye album, which competed for the 1995 award.

South London duo Floetry have found only limited success in the UK, but their higher profile in the US saw them nominated at the Grammys earlier this year and they have worked with acts such as Justin Timberlake.
They are nominated for their debut Floetic. Hotly tipped garage act Dizzee Rascal finds himself on the shortlist little over a fortnight after he was hospitalised following a stabbing incident in Cyprus, where he was performing.
The 18-year-old is nominated for his first album Boy in Da Corner.

Other stars to be shortlisted for their debut releases are The Thrills, Soweto Kinch, The Darkness, Athlete and Terri Walker.

The full list of 2003 Mercury Prize nominees is as follows:

Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
Dizzee Rascal - Boy in Da Corner
The Thrills - So Much for the City
Soweto Kinch - Conversations with the Unseen
Floetry - Floetic
The Darkness - Permission To Land
Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head
Martina Topley-Bird - Quixotic
Eliza Carthy - Anglicana
Athlete - Vehicles and Animals
Terri Walker - Untitled
Lemon Jelly - Lost Horizons