Girl power ... James Blunt rehearsing today for the Brits award event. Photograph: Dave Hogan/Getty
Roll out the union flag, strike up the brand ... that curious big bang known as the Brits is upon us again. Great and good, mildly famous and ludicrously over-papped - all will converge on Earls Court, west London, in a little under three hours' time. The clock on the Brits website is ticking away; the excitement, as they say, is mounting.
At the moment, in the pre-storm calm, the only news seems to be that Madonna and Prince are intending to bestow a touch of regal majesty on things, though apparently Prince is dithering a little over whether to perform, shy dear that he is. Coldplay, Gorillaz and Kanye West - less bashful, perhaps - will also be strutting their stuff tonight.
Oh ... the awards. You want to know about the awards. Well, James Blunt is leading the pack, up for five gongs including best male solo artist, best single and best album. Also heavily tipped are Kaiser Chiefs, also shortlisted for five awards and who will open the show with I Predict a Riot.
Despite impassioned behind-the-scenes lobbying from your concerned Guardian Unlimited arts desk, the Chiefs' pals the Cheshire Chord Company have not, to our knowledge, been invited. Shame on you, Brits: to my mind a 50-piece, all-female barbershop group might make the rest of the event seem normal and down-to-earth.
No matter. Other multiple nominees include Coldplay (best album, group, single and live act) and Kate Bush (best female, best album) - not to forget U2, who stole the show so comprehensively at last week's American Grammys. Although he's only listed for one award (best male artist), Robbie Williams will be hoping not to fumble that particular catch: holding onto it would take his total Brits haul up to a record 15 gongs.
Adding to this wave of industry bonhomie are new figures, released in typically timely fashion by the BPI, which purport to show that last year was the most successful year for home-grown music since 1998, with half of all albums bought, 62.4 million, being British born and made.
Perhaps that might dampen the doubts of those who've criticised the Brits system on a number of counts, among them their slightly hazy sense of nationality (also known as the Antony of the Johnsons question) and what some feel to be the over-long qualification period (also known as the "didn't James Blunt release Back to Bedlam back in, er, 1992?" issue).
Frankly, of course, who cares? It's the hairstyles we'll be watching. And although earthbound mortals like you and I don't get to go tonight, there's no reason to wait for ITV's screening tomorrow.
Picking up the baton from Anna Pickard, who covered the launch for us last month, Dorian Lynskey will be in the glitter-lined Vulture hotseat from 7.30pm, blogging live from Earls Court as events unfold. Catch all the drama - by which we mean, naturally, those hairstyles - right here.
