Coldplay
Photo: Capitol

British R&B star Craig David and "Yellow" rockers Coldplay topped the list of Brit Award contenders announced Monday (January 15), with four and three nominations, respectively.

The U.K. equivalent of the Grammy Awards, the Brit Awards — including an Outstanding Contribution to Music honor for U2 — will be presented in a London ceremony on February 26. Several artists are up for two awards, including colorful pop star Robbie Williams, Radiohead, Badly Drawn Boy, pop singer Sonique, Irish boy band Westlife and David Gray. Badly Drawn Boy, the stage name of eccentric singer/songwriter Damon Gough, won U.K.'s prestigious Mercury Music Prize for best album last summer, but is not among the Brit Award nominees for Best British Album, which include Coldplay's Parachutes, David's Born to Do It, Radiohead's Kid A, Gray's Lost Songs and Williams' Sing When You're Winning. David, whose Born to Do It will be released Stateside by Atlantic Records in May, is also up for Best British Male Solo Artist, Best British Dance Act and Best British Newcomer. Coldplay are up for Best British Group and Best British Newcomer in addition to Best British Album. The long list of Best Newcomer nominees also includes two-step stars Artful Dodger, electronica duo Death in Vegas and Sonique.

Perhaps the most tightly contested races of the 15 Brit Awards categories will be for the international honors. Eminem, Wyclef Jean, Ronan Keating, Ricky Martin and Sisqó will compete for Best International Male Solo Artist, while Madonna takes on Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, Pink and Jill Scott for Best International Female Solo Artist.

Scott, who is nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy, received a Best International Newcomer nod, along with Kelis, Lene Marlin, Pink and Westlife, who will also battle U2, the Corrs, Savage Garden and Santana for Best International Group.

U2, Westlife, David and Williams, who holds the all-time record with nine Brit Awards, will perform at the ceremony, which will be held at Earls Court 2 and broadcast on U.K. television on February 27.

Brit Award nominees are determined by an academy of more than 1,000 members, with the exception of Best British Newcomer, Best British Video, Best British Single and Best Pop Act, which are determined by public voting.

• Craig David
• Coldplay
• U2
• Radiohead
• Robbie Williams

After covering the Phil Collins ballad, "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)," for her 1999 album, "Rainbow," Mariah Carey has teamed up with Irish boy band Westlife to record yet another version of the song.

Carey and Westlife recently huddled in a studio on the Italian island of Capri to cover the track, which was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Oscar in 1985, and MTV News sat down with both to discuss how the collaboration came about.

"Everybody used to say to me, 'Who would you like to do a duet with?' or 'Who would you like to sing with out of everybody in the world?'" explained Westlife's Mark Feehily. "And I was always like, 'Mariah Carey.'

"Today, now, we're in a recording studio doing a duet with her, and you could never imagine how much it means to me."

For Carey, cutting a new version of "Against All Odds" gave the singer a chance to work with a talented group of young male singers, much as she did back in 1995, when she drafted Boyz II Men to back her up on the number one song "One Sweet Day," and last year, when she teamed up with 98 Degrees for "Thank God I Found You."

"I thought it would just be a cool thing to do," Carey said, "to kind of turn it into a duet and combine what they do with what I do. They stack a lot of harmonies, so we made the song kind of a different thing. But it was an easy process. It wasn't like some difficult drama."

No word yet on when and where the Mariah Carey-Westlife cover of "Against All Odds" will turn up, but we'll keep you posted.

• Mariah Carey
• Phil Collins
• Westlife

After scoring a hit by duetting with 98 Degrees on "Thank God I Found You," Mariah Carey looks to be dipping back into the boy band pool.

U.S. spokespeople for the Irish outfit Westlife told MTV News that the boys will be in a recording studio in Italy next week recording their contribution to a duet with Mariah on a cover of the Phil Collins nugget "Against All Odds." The track should be familiar to Mariah's fans, as the singer recorded a solo cover of it and released it on her "Rainbow" album.

There's no release date yet for the duet, and U.S. spokespeople for Carey were unavailable for comment at press time.

Carey has struck chart gold in the past with her work with young male vocal groups both with "Thank God I Found You" (which featured 98 Degrees and Joe) and her megahit "One Sweet Day" with Boyz II Men.

• Mariah Carey
• Westlife