Bookmakers: Portugal rapidly closing in on Italy

The race to victory in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 is far from over. Where we went into Eurovision week with Italy miles ahead of the pack, last nights seems to have stirred things up more than just a little, especially for the bookmakers…

Portugal or Italy?

Answering the question of who’ll take the crown on Saturday is impossible for now. What we do however need to ask ourselves is where the shift is coming from. Portugal’s Salvador Sobral’s odds have slashed down to 15/8, coming from 12/1 earlier this week. If you’re not familiar with bookmakers: Odds of 12/1 mean you’d get an additional €12 for every €1 you put on Portugal in case they’d actually win the contest. Now, you’d get less than €2 for every €1: Approximately €1,88. In easier language: The chances of Portugal winning the contest have increased massively.
On the other hand, Italy have been drifting. They used to be on odds of 8/11, meaning you’d get an additional €0,73 for every €1 if they’d win. Now, you can get as much as €1,20 for every €1. Still, very decent odds and a very likely winner, but not as likely as it used to be. This could be due to Italy’s rehearsal clip last night.

Blanche’s resurrection

Blanche was the main topic of conversation in the past week. Her rehearsals were not generally liked by many and her odds drifted. From a top five position, Belgium slowly, but steadily left the top ten. Looking at the charts all over Europe, Belgium now has the best scoring entry of all competing countries this year. That has also made sure Blanche is now rising up again in the betting odds, coming as far as fourth, behind Italy, Portugal and Bulgaria. Remarkable is also the rise of the United Kingdom. Lucie Jones had been on the rise ever since her first rehearsal, but seeing the three minute footage really caused a drastic shortening of her odds. Coming from below the top fifteen, the United Kingdom have now entered the top five and continue to shorten their odds.

Sweden and Armenia drifting

Remarkable also is how Armenia and Sweden, two pre-contest favourites, now keep drifting. Sweden, coming from third earlier this week, are now down to sixth with every betting office decreasing their chance of victory. The same goes for Armenia, who, for a short spell last night, are falling from also a third place, now to a seventh place.
The top ten is currently completed by Romania on #7, The Netherlands on #9 and France closing the top 10, followed in eleventh and twelfth by Denmark and, perhaps surprisingly, Moldova.
What do you think? Can Salvador Sobral go all the way to bring Portugal their first ever victory? Or will Italy take the crown? Or maybe you think there’s another country likely to win? Let us know below in a comment, on Facebook or on Twitter.