The Eurovision Song Contest is seen by many Europeans, and others around the world, as the most anticipated televised live music event. Every year, on a Saturday night in May, people gather in front of their TVs to watch a variety of artists that choose to represent their home countries in a pop song battle. Each participating country sends a rep to perform a full show that involves live music, dancing, fireworks, light shows, and glamorous clothes.
The winner is decided 50-50 by TV viewers that can vote using their mobile phones and an official jury. Then, the winning country becomes the official host of next year’s Eurovision contest. Although the event was initially organised only for European countries, its popularity has grown more and more each year. Therefore, other countries have been allowed to participate, such as Australia. Other countries, like China and Qatar, have also expressed their interest.
“Eurovision Song Contest Jury Final, 2016” by David Jones (CC BY 2.0)
How Betting Odds Get Decided
As is the case for all major competitions, online bookmakers have seen it as an opportunity to offer odds. People can place bets on a few categories, just like they can for sports events, but the most popular one is, of course, who the winner is going to be.
The odds are decided by bookmaker analysts that have a background in tracking these sorts of events. Then, online bookmakers gather the information and share it in the form of betting odds. Because of that, the odds might differ from one provider to the other. On top of that, those that have followed the competition closely, and have done so for a few years now, know the odds can change drastically once the competition begins.
“Eurovision 2018” by AXBM (CC BY-SA 4.0)
This Year’s Favourites
For 2021, the Eurovision betting odds have been decided for some time. So far, the five favourites for the title are Malta at 11/4, with Destiny’s ‘Je me casse’, Switzerland, with ‘Tout l’univers’ by Gjon’s Tears, France, with Barbara Pravi’s ‘Voilà’, Bulgaria, with Victoria’s ‘Growing Up Is Getting Old’, and Italy, with ‘Zitti e buoni’ by Måneskin. All of these entries are from countries that have either never won or haven’t won in over 30 years.
Just like mentioned above, odds can change at any given time. This was the case for Malta this year, which jumped from second to favourite to win the competition when no one was expecting it. However, it has been proven throughout the years that being a favourite in betting odds doesn’t actually secure the win. For example, at the final in Helsinki in 2007, the favourite to win was Switzerland, while the country that ended up winning the competition – Serbia – was only ranked 3rd.
The Eurovision Song Contest is a highly anticipated event because it brings together countries in a beautiful setting, filled with glam and music. Because it is such a fantastic spectacle, it has experienced large interest from fans who wanted to be offered betting odds. Ultimately, online bookmakers have started following the event, providing attractive betting options for everyone.
