Leading British bookmakers, William Hill, have slashed the price of the United Kingdom winning the Eurovision Song Contest from 40/1 to 14/1 following the news that former Smiths singer Morrissey is in concrete talks with the BBC to write an entry for the country at the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, pre-empting any confirmation either from the BBC or Morrissey that a deal has been reached in any form.
News that Morrissey may be on the verge of writing an entry for the United Kingdom selection process and the obvious (yet unlikely) possibility that hemay perform the song himself has led to a global outburst of newssinceThe Sun and esctoday.com published the news exactly 24 hours ago! The news has had an effect on one of the United Kingdom's leading bookmakers, who have slashed the odds on a United Kingdom victory from 40/1 (the largest odds given for a United kingdom victory to date) to 14/1, which would traditionally be expected for 6th-8th favourites! All this approximately 2 months before the nation selects the song and performer that will go to Helsinki!
The news about Morrissey perparing an entry has been a feature on BBC News 24 throughout the day, published in every major newspaper in theUnited Kingdom, hit the internet pages of Fox News and CNN inthe United States and been translated into many languages. esctoday.com understands that Morrissey is one of a number of people in contact with the BBC as they continue to plan for their 2007 assault on the Eurovision Song Contest, but it has become increasingly clear that they are planning for 'something big' this year.
Traditionally, the United Kingdom was always installed as the favourite to win the Eurovision Song Contest until the early 1990s. They were keen not to lose money on the country, when each-way bets meant that they would have to pay a percentage to backers of the country if the United Kingdom finished in the top four, something the United Kingdom failed to achieved only once between 1959 and 1977. They achieved a top four finish a further 5 times in the 1980s and 4 times in the 1990s, with a win in each decade.
Since 1998, the United Kingdom has suffered a stark downturn in fortune. Some argue that their entries have been weaker than in previous years, others point to the trend correlating strongly with the change in the language rule allowing countries to participate in any language. The United Kingdom, Ireland and later Malta were said to have a natural advantage by being able to sing in the most well recognised and understood language amongst the international viewers. Since the change in language, the United Kingdom and Ireland have suffered their worst run of positions at the Eurovision Song Contest in history. Ireland only failed to finish in the top ten five times in 33 years prior to 1998. Since then, they have finished in the top ten only twice.
William Hill clearly think that the United Kingdom can overcome whatever reasons are behind the recent poor form at the competition and take the crown in 2007. "The UK's recent run in the Eurovision has been little short of pathetic and if the BBC manage to get Morrissey involved then perhaps at last we have a real chance," said a spokesperson for the company.
Read the news-breaking article here.
