British superstars Adele and Ed Sheeran are poised to take the Brit Awards by storm this year, having both been nominated for a number of gongs.Adele is no stranger to awards having picked up a multitude of accolades for both debut album 19 and sophomore effort 21.
Sheeran, by contrast, is relatively new to the scene but has become a household name in next to no time with first album +, which has spawned a number of top hits.
Adele has been nominated in the Best Female Solo Artist category, where she will face stiff competition from Jessie J, Kate Bush, Laura Marling and Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine.
Sheeran gets the nod in the male equivalent of the prize and will need to beat James Blake, James Morrison, rapper Professor Green and Noel Gallagher if he is to emerge victorious.
The You Need Me singer has also been tipped to take the British Breakthrough Act, where he is up against a cast of top names including Jessie J, Emili Sande, Anna Calvi and The Vaccines.
Sheeran and Adele will come head-to-head for British Single and MasterCard British Album of the Year prizes, with Adele’s Someone Like You facing off against Sheeran’s the A Team.
Jessie J has also been tipped to win the single award for Price Tag, making it a hat-trick of nominations for the Essex singer-songwriter.
Meanwhile, Arctic Monkeys, Chase & Status, Coldplay, Elbow and Kasabian will battle it out for the coveted Best Group award.
While Adele is used to the plaudits for her latest album, Sheeran has seen his star rise at a rapid rate with his blend of acoustic melodies tinged with hip-hop lyrics and catchy hooks wining him many fans.
Not that his success has come without hard work, in 2009, the 20-year-old played no less than 312 gigs after setting out to beat James Morrison’s record of 200 shows in a year.