Eurovision 2018

The start of Eurovision week: What are bookmakers thinking?



Four days ago, we last had a look at Oddschecker. After everyone had rehearsed at least once, we could see that the odds had been shaken up. Now, it’s the season to be jolly as Eurovision week has started. Tonight, the jury final of semi 1 is going to take place. Time for us to take another look… What are bookmakers thinking at this point?

Current favourite: Israel

Best odds: 15/8 – Shortest odds: 13/8 – First rehearsal’s best odds: 5/2



The favourite is still there. Netta from Israel is in a solid lead. After the first rehearsal, her odds drifted a little. However, after the second rehearsal, those odds started to shorten again. Now, there’s no bookmaker where you can double your money with an Israeli victory. Is she a safe bet for victory?

A good second: Estonia

Best odds: 7/1 – Shortest odds: 5/1 – First rehearsal’s best odds: 14/1



She goes down and she goes up. Right now, she’s right back up! Elina Nechayeva from Estonia drifted quite a bit after the first rehearsal. She fell down to sixth place with odds of 14/1. If you believe in an Estonian victory, we hope you took your chance back then, as her odds are now back to 7/1 at best.

Right up there: Norway

Best odds: 7/1 – Shortest odds: 5/1 – First rehearsal’s best odds: 7/1



Norway’s Alexander Rybak was in second place. Now he’s in third, but that’s not down to his odds. He’s looking stable at the moment. The former Eurovision winner has once again turned himself into a favourite for Eurovision victory. Can he become the next Johnny Logan?

The newbie: Cyprus

Best odds: 12/1 – Shortest odds: 8/1 – First rehearsal’s best odds: 20/1



She was at 100/1 before the rehearsals. The press centre exploded when her first rehearsal came on and that meant Eleni Foureira was slowly creeping up to the top ten. After her second rehearsal, she stormed through. Cyprus now find themselves in fourth place and their odds are continuing to shorten across the board. Will they become Netta’s most prominent competition? Time will tell…

Entering top ten: Moldova

Best odds: 50/1 – Shortest odds: 25/1 – First rehearsal’s best odds: 80/1



Together with Eleni Foureira and Madame Monsieur, DoReDoS are the only acts to have won the press poll for both their first and second rehearsal. Their chances have improved significantly. Coming from 150/1 before the rehearsals, you can now find them at 25/1 with some bookmakers.

A fallen favourite: Australia

Best odds: 66/1 – Shortest odds: 16/1 – First rehearsal’s best odds: 33/1



It’s been a downhill battle for Jessica Mauboy. She has gone from being the second favourite to win the entire contest to a right hand side finish on the scoreboard, if we were to believe the bookmakers. She now finds herself in fourteenth place with odds as far as 66/1. Will Australia miss out on the top ten for the first time..?

The full ranking with Oddschecker

Below you can find the full ranking of all 43 entries with Oddschecker. We have once again included the best odds and the shortest odds possible. The odds displayed below are from 7th May, just before the first dress rehearsal.

Country Best odds Shortest odds
1. Israel 15/8 13/8
2. Estonia 7/1 5/1
3. Norway 7/1 5/1
4. Cyprus 12/1 8/1
5. France 14/1 7/1
6. Czech Republic 15/1 10/1
7. Bulgaria 18/1 10/1
8. Sweden 25/1 12/1
9. Italy 45/1 25/1
10. Moldova 50/1 25/1
11. Belgium 66/1 40/1
12. Finland 66/1 33/1
13. Spain 66/1 33/1
14. Australia 66/1 16/1
15. Germany 80/1 50/1
16. Greece 80/1 50/1
17. Denmark 100/1 66/1
18. Hungary 100/1 66/1
19. Lithuania 100/1 66/1
20. Belarus 100/1 50/1
21. Ukraine 100/1 50/1
22. Austria 100/1 50/1
23. Portugal 100/1 66/1
24. The Netherlands 125/1 66/1
25. United Kingdom 200/1 50/1
26. Russia 200/1 100/1
27. Azerbaijan 200/1 80/1
28. Ireland 300/1 100/1
29. Switzerland 300/1 100/1
30. Armenia 300/1 100/1
31. Croatia 300/1 100/1
32. Latvia 300/1 100/1
33. Serbia 300/1 150/1
34. Poland 350/1 100/1
35. Romania 400/1 200/1
36. Malta 500/1 150/1
37. Albania 500/1 200/1
38. FYR Macedonia 500/1 100/1
39. Georgia 500/1 150/1
40. Montenegro 500/1 250/1
41. Slovenia 500/1 250/1
42. Iceland 1000/1 200/1
43. San Marino 1000/1 250/1

Eurovision 2018: How Do The Odds Look For The Semi-Final One Participants?

Who do the bookmakers think will qualify from the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest this year?

Tomorrow the first semi-final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Lisbon, Portugal. While the important jury show takes place, we take a look at who the bookmakers predict will qualify to the Grand Final, which takes place on Saturday.



Who will qualify for the Grand Final from Semi-Final 1?

1. Israel – Netta Barzilai – Toy
2. Cyprus – Eleni Foureira – Fuego
3. Estonia – Elina Nechayeva – La Forza
4. Czech Republic – Mikolas Josef – Lie to Me
5. Bulgaria – Equinox – Bones
6. Greece – Yianna Terzi – Oniro Mou
7. Austria – Cesár Sampson – Nobody But You
8. Lithuania – Ieva Zasimauskaite – When We’re Old
9. Armenia – Sevak Khanagyan
10. Belgium – Sennek – A Matter of Time
11. Azerbaijan – Aisel – X My Heart
12. Switzerland – Zibbz – Stones
13. Finland – Saara Aalto – Monsters
14. Belarus – Alekseev – Forever
15. Croatia – Franka – Crazy
16. Albania – Eugent Bushpepa – Mall
17. Ireland – Ryan O’Shaughnessy – Together
18. FYR Macedonia – Eye Cue – Lost and Found
19. Iceland – Ari Ólafsson – Our Choice

The countries in bold are the ones that bookmakers predict will qualify.

Only ten artists will qualify from each semi-final. The second semi-final is set to take place on Thursday 10th May, and the final on Saturday 12th May. A total of 26 countries will take part in the Grand Final. The shows will take place at the Altice Arena in Lisbon. This is the first time Portugal has hosted the contest.

Lithuania enters top five with bookmakers



Bookmakers soon respond to everything happening in a semifinal. One of the most remarkable happenings after the first semifinal tonight is the rise of Lithuania’s Ieva Zasimauskaite. The Lithuanian songstress now finds herself in fifth place.

From 100/1 to 12/1

After the rehearsals, people were admiring Lithuania for the beauty in their performance. During Ieva’s performances, emotions were often seen in the press centre. Those emotions were also visible tonight. In the last lines of her performance, Ieva Zasimauskaite found it hard to hold back her tears.

Those emotions got through to the viewers at home. Lithuania have made it through to the Grand Final of the contest and might be in for their best result ever. That record is currently in the hands of LT United. They scored a sixth place in 2006 with “We Are The Winners”.

Just after the first rehearsals, Lithuania wasn’t a hugely popular bet. They were in 22nd place with odds of 100/1, if you were lucky. Now, a little over an hour after the semifinal, Lithuania’s odds have shortened considerably. If you’re lucky, you can now get a bet of 12/1. One should expect these odds to shorten even more throughout the night.

Looking good for the non-performers

Interestingly, two of the other countries shortening considerably with Oddschecker at the moment didn’t even perform tonight. Both Norway and France are on a good run. Norway might just overtake Cyprus for that #1 position.

France were drifting a little after their second rehearsal. It’s now looking much better for them, with odds as short as 5/1 being offered for a French victory.

Other favourites from this first semifinal are seemingly struggling. That, however, is not unusual after a show. Cyprus, Israel, Czech Republic and Bulgaria are all drifting at the moment.

Wow, I didn't believe that her position will rise up so high. However, we don't have so many good songs this year and Ieva has something that their ordinary lyric song is so different. We will have great evening tomorrow!

All the dreams was destroyed today. Ieva got 4th singing position and that means her chances to win or at least to fight for Top 5 are now minimized a lot..

Betfair – Cyprus’ ‘fuego’ brings fire & fury to Eurovision 2018 trading

The final week of pre-event trading for Eurovision 2018 (Lisbon 12 May), has seen Betfair place Cyprus’ Eleni Foureira’s ‘Feugo’ as 11/10 market favourite to win the 63rd edition of the Pan-European song contest.

Eleni Foureira’s ‘Feugo’ has flipped-the-script on Eurovision 2018 trading, as the Cypriot entry was 100/1, just ten days ago.

However, Betfair details that Eurovision punters have backed ‘Feugo’ following Foureira’s well-received pre-event rehearsals.

Cyprus’ move to the top of Eurovision bookmaker rankings, comes at the expense of Israel’s Netta Barzilai’s ‘Toy’, which had been the previous outright 5/4 event market favourite (current price: 3/1).

Reports from Lisbon, detail that Netta Barzilai has underperformed in pre-show rehearsals, underwhelming Eurovision test audiences.

“Cyprus has overtaken previous favourites Israel, with entrant Netta’s unconvincing rehearsals’ performance of Toy seeing the entry drift out to 5/1, before coming back into 3/1 second favouritism thanks to getting a highly advantageous second half slot in the draw” details Betfair Spokesperson, Katie Baylis.

With a live TV audience of approximately +200 million viewers, watching and judging an international song contest, bookmakers expect a helter-skelter evening of Eurovision trading.

The pressure is now on Eleni Foureira to deliver Cyprus’ first ever Eurovision victory, however, could European pop heavyweights France (5-time winners) and Sweden (6-time winners) spoil a Cypriot pop party!

“France are our third favourites at 12/1, with Germany at 14/1 and Sweden at 16/1 rounding our top five in Eurovision betting” Betfair adds.

Betfair – Eurovision Winner 2018

11/10 – Cyprus
3/1 – Israel
12/1 – France
14/1 – Germany
16/1 – Sweden
20/1 – Italy
20/1 – Ireland
22/1 – Lithuania
25/1 – Norway
30/1 – Australia
33/1 – Estonia
40/1 – Czech Republic
50/1 – Bulgaria
50/1 – Finland
50/1 – Moldova
50/1 – Hungary
60/1 – Denmark
66/1 – Austria
80/1 – Spain
100/1 – Ukraine
100/1 – Netherlands
200/1 – United Kingdom
200/1 – Slovenia
200/1 – Portugal
250/1 – Albania
300/1 – Serbia

Yeah, while Israel or Cyprus are going to sing at the end of this event... We will see 😁 I don't imagine which song is going to win this year but I don't like Israel at all

Cyprus seems legit winner. They have everything and the singer charisma for scene looks perfect too.

Yes, she does and I agree with you. But this performance is a copy paste of Beyonce...

What do you think that Isreal won the song contest? I agree with Sobral who thought that Eurovision is going to change after he won last year. However, it didn't happen...

Too much shit in Eurovision. I heard that the vote system had technical difficulties also and some things like Austria votes by jury and televote for Sweden were very strange for me personally. Maybe I'm just really disappointed but that's what it is.