Author: Richard West-Soley

Richard West-Soley

Senior Editor

Richard's ESC history began way back in 1992, when he discovered the contest could fuel his passion for music and languages. Since then, it's been there at every corner for him in some way or another. He joined the esctoday.com team back in 2006, and quickly developed a love for writing about the contest. In his other life, he heads the development team at the learning resources company Linguascope, and writes about all aspects of language learning on the site Polyglossic.com.

Odds Monitor: Israel returns as former favourite snatches crown

Punters managed to predict the top two of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest final – only the wrong way round. Contest winner Netta had enjoyed the top spot in the…

Odds Monitor: Cyprus, Israel and Ireland top the table before final showdown

Cyprus is odds on favourite to be a first-time winner in tonight’s Eurovision Song Contest final with Eleni Foureira and “Fuego”. Cyprus shot up the favourites table as a former…

Odds Monitor: Ireland catapulted to third behind Cyprus and Israel

Eurovision Eve has been a dramatic day in the odds, as former long shot Ireland is catapulted into the top three favourites to win. While Cyprus holds a firm grip…

Odds Monitor: Eight out of ten for the bookies as Netta climbs back to second

The odds proved to be a slightly better barometer of success in tonight’s Eurovision semifinal, with bookies foretelling eight out of the ten lucky finalists. Serbia and Slovenia were the…

Odds Monitor : Could this be the lucky ten tonight?

Bookmakers have another chance to prove their mettle tonight, as ten more qualifiers will be picked from the second Eurovision semifinal in Lisbon. On Tuesday, they did moderately well, predicting…

Odds Monitor: Cyprus comfy in first while Lithuania goes top five

Buoyant from semifinal success, Cyprus sees off all competition for the favourite position today, settling well into its new leading role. On odds as short as 2/1 (William Hill), Eleni’s…

Odds Monitor: Seven out of ten for the bookies on a night of surprises

It was close, but no cigar for the bookies tonight, who got seven out of ten qualifiers correct in the first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. As decent…

Odds Monitor: Could this be tonight’s top ten?

Odds meet reality for the first time tonight, as nineteen countries battle for ten places in the first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. Cyprus now tops the table…

Odds Monitor: Cyprus overtakes Israel as the favourite to win

Fans are waking up to a surprise in the betting odds this morning with a break in the deadlock of recent weeks. Cyprus’ Eleni has overtaken Israel as the overall…

Odds Monitor: Estonia edges into second place behind Israel

Estonia edges past Norway tonight to snatch a very narrow second favourite position behind Israel. Norway feels the pressure on both sides right now, as Cyprus also draws ever closer…