- LONDON: British singer Adele, who stormed to the top of the charts in Britain and the United States with her second album "21," was one of 12 artists shortlisted on Tuesday for the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for album of the year 2011.
Also in the running for the annual award were previous winners Elbow and PJ Harvey as well as London rapper Tinie Tempah and James Blake for his self-titled debut album. The prize honors music of any genre by British or Irish artists and is based solely on the music on the album.
According to the Official Charts Company, in commercial terms Adele dominates the shortlist. The winner of the award is announced on Sept. 6. The 12 nominated albums have sold 3.9 million copies between them in Britain, the OCC said, of which Adele's "21" accounted for 2.7 million.
In distant second was Tempah's "Disc-Overy" with sales of 620,000 copies and in third was Elbow's "Build a Rocket Boys!" at 230,000.
