Cyprus now tops the table of most likely qualifiers from the initial live show. Eleni moved into overall favourite position to win the contest late last night, shifting an Israel that looked unbudgeable for weeks. Odds on previous list-topper Netta still look safe as houses tonight, however, with barely a hair’s breadth separating the top two countries in qualification markets.

It is telling how little value there is in a successful bet on each – punters will gain as little as one-hundredth of their stake in profit on Cyprus, and one-fiftieth on Israel.

Still, there are always surprises. Last year, bookmakers’ odds predicted nine out of ten of the qualifiers from both the first and second semifinals, with a shock Finnish exit from the first show. Nonetheless, if a repeat performance is on the cards, tonight’s top ten could look a lot like this:

Struggling to impress punters enough to break the top ten before the show are: