Another week closer to the contest, the betting odds are still in flux as countries shift up and down the tables of favourites with the major bookmakers, although the favourites remain clear, with the same ten countries remaining on the shortest odds.

According to the latest figures from PaddyPower.com, host nation Greece still holds strongly to its position as the bookies' and punters' favourite to win the contest, on extremely short odds of 2/1. Sweden, however, is battling for the attentions of second place in the betting odds with Romania, with Carola slipping to 8/1 to win below Mihai's 7/1. With fellow bookmaker William Hill, Carola remains as fourth favourite on 9/1.

Top ten unchallenged
The top ten bet-pullers remain unchanged overall, despite a few of then ten changing places. Outside the top ten, confidence has slipped in Malta, seeing I do drop from 20/1 to longer odds of 25/1. Similarly, Estonia drops slightly from 25/1 to 28/1. Belarus joins the ranks of those countries with the longest of odds this year, falling from 66/1 to 100/1 to win – one of now seven countries with those odds.

As ever, it is worth remembering that betting odds reflect both expectation and public confidence in the potential for an entry to win outright, rather than an actual prediction of placing. Unexpected wins are by no means unknown in the Eurovision Song Contest, and often that 100/1 bet may not be as bad an idea as some may think. At this early stage, spotting a potential dark horse could be an extremely lucrative challenge for an aspiring punter!

The full odds from PaddyPower.com are as follows:
Greece 2/1
Romania 7/1
Sweden 8/1
UK 12/1
Belgium 12/1
Bosnia-Herzegovina 12/1
Germany 14/1
Norway 14/1
Switzerland 14/1
Croatia 16/1
FYR Macedonia 20/1
Finland 22/1
Denmark 25/1
Iceland 25/1
Malta 25/1
Estonia 28/1
Russia 28/1
Turkey 28/1
Ireland 33/1
Ukraine 33/1
Cyprus 40/1
Latvia 40/1
Poland 40/1
Slovenia 40/1
Armenia 50/1
Netherlands 50/1
Spain 50/1
Monaco 66/1
Israel 80/1
Portugal 80/1
Albania 100/1
Andorra 100/1
Belarus 100/1
Bulgaria 100/1
France 100/1
Lithuania 100/1
Moldova 100/1

Fancy a flutter yourself? You can bet online at PaddyPower.com!