This is a tough year to delve into the ritualistic practice of predicting Cannes winners. With no clear frontrunner and a seismic shift that has seen traditional television work cede popular imagination and much of the awards spotlight to interactive and integrated work, the top Film winner is anyone's guess. And with more clearly defined Titanium and Integrated categories, Cannes-watchers have all the more to bet beers on. Still, we like to guess, and we predict this will be a year of surprises.

The year brought several large-scale TV ads, all of which might have a chance at the Film Grand Prix, but none so strong that we'd definitely declare an odds-on favorite. Sony "Paint" (Fallon, London) is one of the big blockbusters, though it's a toss-up whether this "Balls" follow-up has enough surprise to impress jurors. While we could have a case of retroactive judging from those who thought "Balls" should have nabbed the Grand Prix last year, we think this spot lacks the innocent wonderment of its predecessor.

The gorgeous Vaseline "Sea of Skin" (BBH, New York) and Levi's "Dangerous Liasions" (BBH, London) are both big ideas with big executions and may win the hearts of some judges, but with spots like Dove "Evolution" (Ogilvy & Mather, Toronto) and Coca-Cola "Happiness Factory" (Wieden+Kennedy, Amsterdam) in the running, they're unlikely to score anything higher than a Gold.

The confection category seems dominated by TBWA\Chiat\Day with Skittles and Starburst, though other standouts include BBH, London's flatulent rodent in Vigorsol "The Legend" and McCann, India's tale of illuminating teeth in Happydent's "Palace".

Beer was a bit boring this year, though Carlsberg's "Old Lions" (Saatchi & Saatchi, London) is a charmer and Johnnie Walker "Human" from BBH, London is sure to win something. Non-alcoholic drinks were a different matter. Coke tore it up with "Happiness Factory" and "Videogame" (from W+K, Portland). Crispin Porter + Bogusky's "Omnibus" from Sprite was a standout and Folgers "Happy Mornings" (Saatchi & Saatchi, New York) defied everything we ever knew about coffee advertising. Whether or not that spot picks up an award will likely depend on how much coffee the jury has collectively consumed.

As usual, Honda has a contender, this year with "Museum" (W+K, London), but its showing is far less impressive than in previous years. Volkswagen's high-impact Safe Happens campaign from CP+B represents strong stateside work. Elsewhere, the car category was a little soft in '07 with one of the loveliest contenders, Skoda "The Baking of" (Fallon, London), coming perhaps too late to be eligible at Cannes.

Gaming could be interesting with both PS3 and Wii's launch campaigns this year. PS3's "This is Living" from TBWA\London for Europe, with its myriad touchpoints, is a great Integrated contender. And Xbox enticed with Gears of War "Mad World" and Halo 3 "Starry Night" (McCann, SF).

Beauty yielded some of the year's most exciting work with cheeky spots for Lux ("Calista" and "Neon Girl" from Santo, Buenos Aires) and Rexona ("Musical" from VegaOlmosPonce, Buenos Aires). Mother produced some nice work for Boots ("Summer Rush"), and Smooth E returned with another quirky campaign (JEH United, Bangkok). And of course there's Dove "Evolution", deserving of nothing less than Gold.

Thailand also has another contender with a heart-tugging tale of gecko love in Shera Ceiling Board "Love Story" (Publicis, Bangkok).

Adidas' Impossible is Nothing Drawings campaign will likely nab awards for 180 Amsterdam. Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, with its host of online work for Got Milk? ("Brittleactica", "Get the Glass"), also has a good chance to win Film awards with its HP Hands campaign. The agency's comedic efforts (both online and on TV) for Comcast are also good bets. In the telecom world, Orange had a couple of standouts, including Mother's "Magic Numbers". We like Geico's Cavemen work, particularly "Topic" and "Airport" from The Martin Agency, as well as Sears "Arboretum", which is a visually stimulating departure for the retail category.

Interactive and Cyber contenders include Philips Bodygroom "Shave Everywhere" (Tribal DDB, NY), Arnet "Everyone for a Hair" (Santo, BA), Microsoft "Clearification" (McCann, SF) and Goodby's "Brittleactica" for Got Milk?

We're hoping for Tate Modern "Tate Tracks" from Fallon, London or BK Games from CP+B for the Titanium, both truly innovative ideas, combining advertising with cultural zeitgeist.

And here at Boards, we'll eat every copy of the magazine if R/GA doesn't win the Cyber Grand Prix for Nike+. While that's a bold (and potentially unappealing) statement, it's a measure of the industry that that's the only obvious contender we'd put money on.