Odds Review: Week Ending 09/03
A busy week as expected and there's been so much on I'm almost forgetting where to start. That would be with Austria who have long been hovering around in the odds finally releasing their song 'Wasted Love'. I'm a cautious believer in the potential of this but it is an entry with a wide range and current 4.9 doesn't really tell the story, or mirror the generally mixed reaction amongst the betting folk. Czechia also released their final version around the same time and have made some Ill-advised decisions leading to a mega drift on them.
The UK's entry has been a horrifically kept secret this year and was also finally confirmed as Remember Monday with 'What The Hell Just Happened'. I get the impression the BBC were cautious on the reaction and really wanted the full package together before confirming the innevitable, unlike France earlier this year when Louanne was leaked. Heading to 100+ here.
Sweden yet again end the week as favourites despite (due to) throwing a curved ball with KAJ's upset there. After fighting off a mini panic-sell the mood amongst most is that the spoiler there has a higher ceiling overall and just how high they could go has been a big point of debate.
There's been a lot of talk about Portugal's various options and best choice this year but FdC presented a result no one is particularly happy with and have duly drifted to 500-1+. It's a result which shows their recent success has been in spite of a terrible scoring system there.
San Marino were far more predictable in sending Gabry Ponte's re-purpurposed Sanremo anthem. It briefly moved the market when that participation was revealed but they have pretty instantly rebounded straight back into the triple digits with their national final presentation not helping.
Finally earlier tonight Israel have revealed their entry which has bumped them up to third place in the odds. The market is very sensitive to Israel and a cloud of trying to second guess what televote support this could earn and what level of jury tanking will be reciprocated will become a lasting debate.
Other talking points from the week include Malta’s need to change ‘Kant’ -which 100% only means to serve singing, what else could it mean whilst Montenegro have supposedly done a revamp I guess I should check at some point. They and Croatia have also become the first to cross the 1000-1 barrier on betfair so congrats to them.
Next week the songs keep on coming with hosts Switzerland tomorrow morning after announcing the low profile Zoe Me the other day whilst Cyprus follow on Tuesday. Nothing else is scheduled until France next saturday who have dropped a couple of spots in the odds but are showing resilience there. Georgia are the other unknown determined to keep up the caucasus tradition of going last - if they are even going.
I’ll be catching up on the reviews throughout the week starting with Czechia tomorrow, by the time of the next update here on Sunday we’ll barring a miracle have heard the winner, if we haven’t already…
