The xx take Mercury prize

The XX have won the 2010 Barclaycard Mercury Prize. The South London trio fended off last minute favourite Paul Weller and were awarded the prize for their debut album ‘xx’.

Accepting the award at a televised ceremony at the Grosvenor Hotel in London last night, singer Oliver Sim said: "We've had the most incredible year. Every day we've woken up to something incredible we weren't expecting."

The XX were the favourites to take the award until a few days ago when a last minute surge of bets on Weller caused betting outlets to move him from a 1/20 outsider to a 1/10 favourite to win.

The odds yesterday leading up to the event were:

Dizzee Rascal – Tongue N' Cheek (33/1)
The xx – xx (7/4)
Paul Weller – Wake Up the Nation (1/10)
Corinne Bailey Rae – The Sea (25/1)
Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More (8/1)
Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can (7/1)
Foals – Total Life Forever (16/1)
Wild Beasts – Two Dancers (5/1)
Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions (16/1)
Villagers – Becoming a Jackal (20/1)
Kit Downes Trio – Golden (33/1)
I Am Kloot – Sky at Night (10/1)

Previous winners of the award and £20,000 prize money include Elbow, Primal Scream, PJ Harvey and Klaxons.

Generate debate: What do you think of the result? A predictable choice but was it the right one? Who should have been nominated? Are you just pleased that Weller didn’t walk away with it? Who was your money on?