Eurovision Odds: Tight at the top as France challenges Russia

by Richard West-Soley 5,235 views

How have the first few days of rehearsals affected the bookies’ ranking of songs? We take another snapshot of the current standing below.

At the very top of the table, there is little movement with the frontrunners, Russia and France. Russia – perhaps surprisingly – failed to shorten its odds significantly despite a rehearsal that promised much in the way of crowd-pleasing special effects. The numbers suggest that despite attracting plenty of punter confidence, the overall picture is far from suggesting a runaway winner right now, with decimal odds of 2 or slightly greater with some bookies. It is worth comparing last year’s early odds for eventual victor Måns, who had already shortened to odds below 2 across the board even before any rehearsals had taken place.

What about the top changes?

If anything has changed at the top, France’s Amir now looks like more of a direct challenge to Sergey. The odds for the two countries grow ever more similar, making this very much a two-horse race as far as early betters are concerned. With France still to rehearse for the first time, the Russian delegation will be keeping a close eye on what may continue to be their biggest threat. On the William Hill bookie service, Sergey maintains the first spot attracting odds of 2/1 while Amir has 9/4, maybe this is a good opportunity to bet on Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with William Hill; online Britain’s biggest bookie.

A little way behind, the rest of the pack has begun to distinguish itself, too. Australia has pulled away a little from the previously tight group chasing the two leaders. At odds of 10 or under, Dami Im’s first rehearsal seems to have inspired many to believe in victory for the Antipodean nation.

By contrast, Sweden has started to sink back slightly, now around fifth overall with a surging Ira Losco taking fourth place for Malta. Both are averaging odds of around 16, but it is possible to find 20 for Sweden already. Bulgaria, Armenia, Italy and Serbia lag a little behind them, with Ukraine occupying tenth position in the bookies’ aggregate.

At the bottom, San Marino still fails to inspire better to part with their cash, attracting odds of 250/1 on the William Hill. However, given rags-to-riches triumphs in other betting arenas – notably Leicester City’s Premier League victory after starting as 5000-1 long shots – who knows whether the punters have it right?