U2 expected to dominate Meteors

U2 are expected to dominate the Meteor Music Awards having been nominated in three categories including best Irish band.

The 11-time winners are also nominated for best Irish album with No Line on the Horizon, which has had neither the commercial success nor critical acclaim of most of its predecessors.

The band were also nominated for best live performance for their three shows at Croke Park last year.

Bell X1, who had a successful year in 2009, have also been nominated in the same three categories. Their album Blue Lights on the Runway went to number one in the Irish charts and spawned their most successful single to date, The Great Defector.

The Coronas were nominated in the best Irish band category and for their album Tony was an Ex-Con.

Lead singer Danny O'Reilly, who is the son of singer Mary Black, said the nomination was a reward for the effort they put into their new album which peaked at number three in the Irish charts. The band have just completed a Asian tour of Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.

"We spent a lot of time on the record and put everything into it. It's nice to be nominated alongside bands that you grew up listening to like U2 and Snow Patrol," he said.

There were few surprises among the nominations, except the inclusion of the relatively unknown Dublin singer Valerie Francis ahead of last year's winner Imelda May in the best Irish female category.

The public will be able to vote in eight categories: best radio DJ, best regional DJ, best Irish band, best Irish male, best Irish female, best Irish pop act, best Irish album and best Irish live performance.

For the first time in the 10 year history of the awards, there will be a most promising new artist category and unsigned acts will be able to upload their music videos on Youtube to be judged by an expert panel.

The awards take place on February 19th at the RDS and will feature Florence and the Machine, the Script, Westlife, Paulo Nutini, The Coronas and Pixie Lott.

Nutini and Florence and the Machine have been nominated in the best international album category for Sunny Side Up and Lungs respectively.