The first rehearsals of the semi-finals for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest came to a close today. Now that rehearsal clips of 36 of this year’s 42 entries have been revealed, the betting odds have shifted quite dramatically. Here is an update on how the odds are looking so far.
Winner
According to Oddschecker, the current favourite to win this year’s contest remains Italy. Francesco Gabbani’s “Occidentali’s Karma” has been the favourite to win the contest since it won the Sanremo Festival back in February, and the best odds available for an Italian win are now at 3/4, with odds continuing to shorten. The second-favourite to win the contest remains Bulgaria, who’s participant Kristian Kostov currently has average odds of 9/1 to take the victory in Kyiv with “Beautiful Mess”. However, since Kristian’s rehearsal today his odds have started to drift slightly.
Rising in the odds since their first rehearsal is Portugal. Salvador Sobral has been in the top five with the bookies for the past few weeks, and has now risen to third place with best odds of 12/1. Sweden meanwhile has dropped slightly in the odds to fourth place, with best odds of 13/1. Armenia have risen in the odds to complete the bookies’ top five since their rehearsal on Monday, with best odds of 25/1.
Completing the top 10 with the bookies are Australia, Romania, Azerbaijan, France and Belgium. None of these countries are new to the top 10 since the pre-rehearsal odds, however it should be noted that Belgium’s Blanche has fallen from 5th to 10th with the bookies since her first rehearsal on Sunday.
At the other end of the bookies’ favourites are the current bottom five which, from 42nd to 37th, are San Marino, Lithuania, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Albania. As the bookies’ overall 42nd, the odds for a San Marinese victory are currently as low as 1500/1.
Semi-Final 1
Based on the bookies’ odds, the ten qualifiers from semi-final 1 would be Sweden, Armenia, Greece, Australia, Portugal, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Finland, Belgium and Cyprus. The only major change since prior to the rehearsals has been Finland’s rise to the bookies’ top 10, and Latvia’s fall to just outside the top 10. Belgium has fallen slightly in the odds since their first rehearsal. The Czech Republic is now the least favourite to qualify, with odds as low as 63/10. The favourite to qualify remains Sweden with best odds of 1/25. Robin Bengtsson also remains the overall favourite to win the semi-final, with odds as high as 3/1.
Semi-Final 2
The current favourite to qualify from, and also to win semi-final 2 remains Bulgaria. The best odds for a Bulgarian qualification are 1/25, and have shortened since the rehearsals began. The best odds for Kristian winning his semi-final are 10/11. The rest of the bookies’ top 10 for semi-final 2 are Denmark, Romania, Estonia, Israel, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Serbia and Austria. The only change to this top 10 is the addition of Israel and the loss of Switzerland, who now sit in 11th place. San Marino is currently the least favourite to qualify from their semi-final, with best odds of 81/10.
It remains to be seen how the odds will continue to change as the rehearsals continue, particularly after the big 5 and Ukraine have their first rehearsals on Friday. Be sure to check back with Eurovoix on Friday as we catch up with the bookies’ odds.
Source: Oddschecker
