The 21-year-old - unknown to all but her Myspace friends this time last year - is nominated in four categories including Best British Female.

She is also in the running for Best British Breakthrough Act, Best British Album for Alright Still and Best British Single for Smile.

Brit Award nominations in full

Gallery: The Brits launch party

Blog: Who will get the gongs?

Her rivals in the Best British Female category are Amy Winehouse, Corinne Bailey Rae, Jamelia and Nerina Pallot.

Bailey Rae has two further nominations - Best British Breakthrough Act and Best British Single for Put Your Records On.

Winehouse has a Best British Album nomination for Back To Black.

Pallot is the least known of the five.

The part-French, part-Indian singer-songwriter grew up on the Channel Island of Jersey.

She was dropped by her record album in 2001 and considered quitting the business altogether.

But her second album Fires, released independently, sold 10,000 copies via the internet and after-gig sales before it was picked up by a major label.

Best British Male is a five-way race between James Morrison, Jarvis Cocker, Lemar, Paolo Nutini and Thom Yorke.

Both former Pulp star Cocker and Radiohead frontman Yorke released solo efforts last year.

Cocker will forever be associated with the Brits after invading the stage in 1996 during a Michael Jackson performance.

Best British Group will go to either Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, Muse, Razorlight or Snow Patrol.

Arctic Monkeys, Muse and Snow Patrol are also nominated for Best British Album.

Take That cap their comeback year with a Best British Single nomination for Patience.

Their former bandmate Robbie Williams is in the running for Best Live Act.

But that is his only nomination - his 2006 album Rudebox was a relative flop and was branded worst record of the year by one critic.

George Michael also has a Best Live Act nomination after embarking on a tour for the first time in 15 years.

Best British Breakthrough Artist nominees are Corinne Bailey Rae, The Fratellis, James Morrison, The Kooks and Lily Allen.

Gnarls Barkley has three nominations in the overseas categories for Best International Group, Best International Album (St Elsewhere) and Best International Breakthrough Act.

Oasis will be honoured with a special award for outstanding contribution to music.

The winners will be chosen by Brits Academy voters, except for the Best British Single which will be selected by the public.

X Factor winner Leona Lewis has a chance to scoop her first Brit - the Best British Single category includes her chart-topping debut A Moment Like This.

The nominations were announced during a live launch party held at London's Hammersmith Palais.
Industry experts said this year's winners are difficult to predict.

"With so many new faces listed and quite a few established names absent, this has to be one of the freshest Brits line-ups since the awards began over 25 years ago," said HMV's Gennaro Castaldo.

"2006 has been an exciting year for new music and the nominations certainly reflect this. It should make for an open contest that will be much harder to predict than in previous years.

"Nobody symbolises this wind of change more than Lily Allen, who has seemingly come from nowhere to bag a number one single and a top three album in her debut year.

"To secure four nominations on top of this is unprecedented and turns her success story into a bit of a fairytale."

But he warned: "With so many nominations, there is a risk that Lily's votes may be spread too thin for her to win any of the awards."

Take That are unlucky not to have scooped more nominations, Castaldo added.

"While the lack of nominations for Robbie was not unexpected, I'm a little surprised that Take That's fantastic comeback has not been recognised with nominations in the Best British Group and Best British Album categories.

"Their incredible chart success over Christmas clearly came a little too late for the voting panel, but Patience must have a great chance of scooping the Best British Single award given that the public are voting. It would certainly seal a remarkable year for the band."

Russell Brand will host this year's awards from London's Earls Court on Valentine's Day.

The awards will be broadcast live on TV for the first time since 1989, when Mick Fleetwood and Samantha Fox formed a disastrous presenting duo.