Odds Review #5: Week Ending 02/02
It’s been a contrasting week in the Eurovision market with a few countries making big gains in the odds with others heading the other way, yet we are seemingly no closer to identifying a real full blooded contender with strong consensus. That is because most of the positive news has been based on artist announcements and the drifts upon actual songs. France have been one of the notable climbers with the selection of Louanne confirmed after being leaked in Le Parisien. It’s a strong sign of intent from the country who have been thereabouts quite frequently.
Austria too have climbed up from the debts with JJ’s selection being seen as the sort of potentially stand-out, jury friendly that could have a high ceiling. Cyprus too have also climbed a few spots on the announcement of their writing team whilst Portugal too continue to sneak down- presumably due to the possibility of Joshua who fans seem the most keen on. Belgium are practically unmoved in the odds with Red Sebastian crushing the Eurosong field- despite a strong performance, there is something more style over substance around ‘Strobe Lights’ which is yet to really convince. I mention all of these together as in one way or another they are all Nemo-coded, as likely will be Czechia who continue to slip away.
Belgium however came out of their national final in far better shape than the rest this week with Greece selecting first and dropping from highs around 17 to 60 now which looks far more realistic. Slovenia have also fallen 10 places in the odds but it is Spain who have suffered the most falling a whopping 15 places from an already longshot position to written off 100+ territory. Serbia’s song reveal also failed to catch the eye.
Melodifestivalen also began in Sweden who remain market favourites with the shadow of Mans Zelmerlow still lurking a few weeks off.
Next week sees Czechia present an accoustic version of their entry in a Maltese semi final because, well, I assume they don’t deem it a significant enough place to debut their entry/the production isn’t finished but they still want some exposure in a small country voting in the same semi. Azerbaijan will also announce their act on Tuesday whilst we get songs and artists from Denmark on Thursday (although these will be pre screened to fans). Expectations for both remain low. Ireland select on Friday before Saturday brings finals in Ukraine, Latvia, Finland and Malta and we’re likely to see some amount of movement and speculation on all of those.
Here I’ll be working through the review backlog so check back here daily for my full thoughts on everything selected in the past week.
