All have four nominations apiece and will go head-to-head in the Best British Album and Best British Single categories. Arctic Monkeys, Mark Ronson, Kaiser Chiefs and Kate Nash each have three.

Take That's career comeback continues to go from strength to strength. Their nominations include Best British Group and Best Live Act - pitting them against Arctic Monkeys.

X Factor winner Leona will do battle for the Best British Female crown with Kate Nash, KT Tunstall, PJ Harvey and Bat For Lashes. She is also in competition with Mika for Best British Breakthrough.

Her four nominations come after a remarkable year which saw her score the fastest-selling British debut album of all time with Spirit, which shifted 375,000 copies in its first week.

Lebanese singer Mika is a contender for Best British male alongside Jamie T, Mark Ronson, Newton Faulkner and Richard Hawley. Faulkner is the dark horse of the category - the dreadlocked singer-songwriter became a word-of-mouth success last year and his debut album, Hand Built By Robots, has just notched up 500,000 sales.

Arctic Monkeys are hoping to win Best British Group and Best British Single for the second year running.

Amy Winehouse has one nomination - her cover of the Zutons' Valerie with producer Mark Ronson is in the running for Best British Single. Although Back To Black was the biggest-selling album of 2007, it does not qualify for Brits voting because it was released in 2006.

Sir Paul McCartney, recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award, will also perform, as will Kaiser Chiefs, Mark Ronson, Mika, Kylie Minogue and Rihanna. Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne will host the event from London's Earls Court on February 20.

"Usually you have just one or two artists dominating the nominations, so it's unprecedented to see at least four major acts all in with a chance of bagging a handful of awards. It says a lot about the strength and vibrancy of British music right now," said HMV's Gennaro Castaldo.