The Brits: all you need to know I Full shortlist of nominees I A brief history of controversy at the Brits I Full coverage

The cream of the music world will gather today for the Brit Awards, with Coldplay and Duffy leading the pack with four nominations each.

Duffy's star has rocketed in the past year. The Welsh singer-songwriter's record Rockferry was the best-selling album of 2008 and moved 4.5 million copies around the world. She was nominated for best album, best single for the chart-topper Mercy, best female solo artist and best breakthrough act.

This month Coldplay won three Grammy awards, including song of the year.

The band will go head-to-head with Duffy at the Brits for best album for Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends and best single for Viva La Vida.

Coldplay are also up for best live act and will do battle for best group with Girls Aloud, Radiohead, Take That and long-time indie underdogs Elbow, who triumphed at last year's Nationwide Mercury Prize with their album The Seldom Seen Kid.

Elbow are up for three Brits: best group, best album and best live act.

Radiohead's In Rainbows and The Ting Tings' We Started Nothing complete the nominations for best album, while the Verve, newcomers Scouting for Girls and seasoned rockers Iron Maiden are all up for best live act.

Duffy is up against Adele, Beth Rowley, Estelle and M.I.A. for the best female solo award.

Adele also had recent Grammy success, picking up best new artist and best female pop vocal performance.

Kylie Minogue and the Gavin and Stacey stars James Corden and Mathew Horne will present this year's awards at London's Earls Court.

Among the stars appearing on the night will be Kings of Leon, Duffy, Girls Aloud and U2.

The Pet Shop Boys will claim the Outstanding Contribution to Music award, while Florence & the Machine were named critics' choice.

Music fans can vote for their favourite British single, live act and breakthrough act from the shortlists.

The best British single will be decided tonight by a live telephone vote.

The Brits Academy, made up of 1,000 invited music industry insiders and critics, decide on the remaining eight awards.

The best British male solo artist sees two veteran performers - former Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown and Paul Weller - up against young guns James Morrison, Will Young and The Streets, aka Mike Skinner.

A massive gamble on Weller forced William Hill to close their betting over the weekend.

Ged Doherty, the chairman of the Brits Committee, said earlier: "The Brits Academy has chosen a very wide-ranging list of nominations this year. The list highlights the continued investment in British talent across the UK record industry and I wish all the nominees the best of luck."

In the international category, unusually, the same five bands are up for the best group and best album awards: AC/DC, Fleet Foxes, the Killers, Kings of Leon and MGMT.

Reality TV acts fared well at the nominations, with four nods in the best single category: Alexander Burke with her cover of Hallelujah, Girls Aloud with The Promise, Leona Lewis with Better In Time and the X Factor finalists with Hero.

William Hill cut the price of Girls Aloud winning the best single at the Brits from an original 7/2 to 11/8 as punters piled on - citing the Cheryl Cole factor. "Our customers are banking on Cheryl Cole's popularity transferring to Girl Aloud and despite some strong opposition from Duffy and Coldplay they look like the likely winner," said a spokesman, Rupert Adams.

The bookmaker is also offering 3/1 that Coldplay win no Brits, as big names can be overlooked.

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of the Decade
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
• The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010