On the day of final, the Netherlands manage to hold onto gold, while Australia consolidates a second place and Switzerland surges into third in odds to win the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.
The top five has seen some shuffling this week, with former favourites beginning to slide. Russia, previously a top three contender with bookmakers, has drifted into seventh place across the aggregated odds, notably since the announcement of its early start position in the running order. Likewise, France, highly fancied at the start of the week, only just hangs on in the top ten.
Conversely, Australia has turned into a serious challenger after qualification on Tuesday. Confidence in “Zero Gravity” has only strengthened with what many regard as a very favourable place in tonight’s running order. Switzerland has also come right up on the rails following success in the second show, combined with a similarly late placement in the final. In terms of odds, both countries are practically neck-and-neck with odds around 6-7, although still some way off the less-than-evens pricing on Netherlands with some bookies.
Despite some drift in the odds, Sweden’s John Lundvik hangs on as fourth favourite, with another swell for Iceland’s Hatari bringing them back into the top five right behind him.
Battle of the odds
With just hours to go to the show, the bookies’ top ten for the crown looks like this:
1. The Netherlands
2. Australia
3. Switzerland
4. Sweden
5. Iceland
6. Italy
7. Russia
8. Norway
9. Azerbaijan
10. France
At the other end of the table, it is Germany and the hosting country Israel that punters expect to struggle.
The odds have become a good indicator of success at the contest in recent years. This year, bookmakers collectively predicted eight out of ten qualifiers from the first semifinal, and nine out of ten in the second. However, there are always surprises.
How close will they get this year? The countdown on that judgement has begun.
