The Mercury Prize will be awarded for the 28th time live on TV this evening. First awarded back in 1992 to Scotland’s own Primal Scream for their album Screamadelica, the annual music prize was established as an alternative to the more mainstream Brits. This year the shortlist contains punk bands, rappers and Anna Calvi.

Ah yes, the annual Mercury beanfest. Glamour, glitz, controversy. Do you think we’ll get any insulted politicians and dead sheep this year?

I think you might be getting mixed up with the Brits. The Mercury is a more music-orientated awards and as a result doesn’t tend to attract the same kind of rock ’n’ roll behaviour that the Brits attract. Or, maybe because the musicians involved aren’t as big names, the same level of tabloid interest.

So, no controversy at all then?

Well, not quite. This announcement of year’s shortlist did ruffle a few tailfeathers north of the border when it became clear that there were no Scottish acts nominated at a time when the Scottish music indie and folk scene is thriving.

Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite called the absence of Scottish acts “sadly predictable” when the shortlist was named. Perhaps because there hasn’t been one since 2015. That year C Duncan lost out to Benjamin Clementine.

One of the more notable absentees this time around is Lewis Capaldi, whose album Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent has been the best-selling album of the year.

Does it matter though?

Well, probably not to Capaldi. But the winners do pick up a cheque for £25,000 and in past years Mercury success has resulted in a real pick-up in record sales. James Blake, who won the award in 2013, saw sales of his album Overgrown rocket by a staggering 2500%.

Others like Speech Debelle and the Klaxons, however, have struggled to build on their Mercury success, leading to some commentators to suggest there is a “Mercury curse”.

Who are this year’s nominees anyway?

The 1975, with their stadium-friendly A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships and Anna Calvi, whose nomination for Hunter means she has now received nominations for all three of her albums, are the best-known names on the list. But there are also nominations for Ireland’s Fontaines D.C. and their album Dogrel, Joy as an Act of Resistance, from Bristol’s Idles, Black Midi’s debut Schlagenheim and Northampton rapper Slowthai.

Rap is also represented by Dave and LittleSimz, with Psychodrama and Grey Area respectively. Everything Not Saved Will be Lost marks a return for perennial Mercury nominees Foals, while Cate Le Bon’s Reward, Nao’s Saturn and SEED Ensemble’s Driftglass completes the line-up.

Who’s your money on?

William Hill has rapper Dave as favourite, with 10-piece collective SEED Ensemble the rank outsiders at 25/1. But we’re hoping that Londoner Nao’s mellifluous R&B-flavoured album Saturn might sneak through on the inside.

TEDDY JAMIESON