Adele leads Mercury Prize noms

ADELE & THE 11 DWARFS: Not surprisingly, the list of nominees for the Mercury Prize, announced yesterday in London, was headed by critical darling and commercial titan Adele. The others are Tinie Tempah, James Blake, Anna Calvi, Everything Everything, Ghostpoet, Katy B, King Creosote & Jon Hopkins, Metronomy and Gwilym Simcock, along with past recipients P.J. Harvey (2001) and Elbow (2008). The winner of the annual award, chosen by a coalition of journos and execs, will be announced Sept. 6 during a TV special that will feature performances by the noms. And no, we’d never heard of half of them, either. (7/20a)