Midland band Editors will be up against the Arctic Monkeys and Take That as they bid to take the most coveted award at this year's Brits.

The indie rock band, who formed at Staffordshire University before moving to Birmingham, are also going head-to-head with Girls Aloud and Kaiser Chiefs to be named Best British Group.

Editors were nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2006 after their critically acclaimed The Back Room Album was released the year before. Last year's An End has a Start was also well received.

Take That, Mika and Leona Lewis lead the field at this year's Brit Awards in a nominations list that puts the emphasis on pop.

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.

Birmingham-born rocker Ozzy Osbourne, and his wife Sharon, will host the event from London's Earls Court next month.

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.

Last year they won Best British Single with Patience and are bidding to do it again with Shine.

X Factor winner Lewis 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 with the fastest-selling British debut album of all time,Spirit, which sold 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.

Kylie Minogue is hoping to win in the Best International Female and Best International Album categories.

The Australian star, who recently returned to the limelight after recovering from breast cancer, will sing at the ceremony on February 20.

Sir Paul McCartney, recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award, will also perform, as will Kaiser Chiefs, Mark Ronson, Mika and Rihanna.

While the short-list features a number of new acts - including Kate Nash, Bat For Lashes and Klaxons - there is also room for a few golden oldies.

The Eagles are nominated for Best International Group and Best International Album with Long Road Out Of Eden, their first studio album since 1979.

Bruce Springsteen will face the likes of Kanye West and Timbaland for Best International Male.

Industry watchers said this year's race is wide open. "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.

"It's great that so many new artists are being recognised, including in the main categories, although Take That winning the Brit for best group or album would certainly be the story of the night and a wonderful way for them to cap the most remarkable comeback ever made by any UK band or solo artist."

The nominations were announced last night by Kelly Osbourne.