Eurovision

🇪🇺 XTRA Odds: A first look at the 2021 favourites

Switzerland and Malta in a close race for first place

It’s time for XTRA Odds! With 39 out of a possible 40 entries now confirmed, it’s a good moment to have a look at who’s hot and who’s not. In 2019, we introduced XTRA Odds to keep you up to date with the latest trends with bookmakers. This year, we’re back once more and will provide you with a weekly update. Today, we make our baseline measurement: Where do we stand, roughly two months before the Eurovision Song Contest 2021?

How do these work?

Now, before we kick off with our analysis, we need to look at how these odds work. Basically, the lower your Eurovision odds, the higher the chance of victory.

A quick example: Currently, France are noted as third favourites to win. They have odds of 8/1. That means that for every €1 you bet, you win an extra €8 if Barbara Pravi does indeed win the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam. Contrary to those odds are the odds for Albania. Anxhela Peristeri finds herself in last place at the moment, with odds of 250/1. If Anxhela were to win Eurovision 2021, you’d get €250 for every €1 you bet.

Shortening and drifting

Bookmakers are out there to make a profit. That’s why the more likely events will pay out less than something rather unlikely. It’s important to note that bookmakers don’t just decide how to rate each song – it’s not like they rank the songs by their own personal taste. They respond to what is happening in the market. The flow of money is key here. If a lot of people start putting money on Cyprus to win, it will start shortening – once again, when people bet, it’s looking like a more likely event, so the odds drop. At the same time, if the money flow stops, odds will start to drift, as it seems less people believe in a certain event. The more money goes into bookmakers, the more reliable the odds can be. Early in the season, hardly any money goes in.

Obviously, betting agencies don’t just look at their own screens. They will always keep an eye out for the other bookmakers. They will then follow the trend, to make sure their own balance is fine. When looking at other factors, they will also take into account how the country has performed at Eurovision. That’s why you’re more likely to see Russia and Sweden up there than Albania and San Marino.

For our analysis of the betting odds, we’ll be looking at the odds provided by EurovisionWorld.

Odds Analysis: 21 March

In every article we post about the odds, we’ll analyse the changes we’re seeing, trying to find out where it comes from. However, analysing a baseline measurement means we need to look at the big favourites – establishing who are close together at the top, but also which countries are lower on the list than they usually are. So here goes!

  • 🇲🇹 Already somewhat of a favourite last year, it’s Destiny from Malta in first place. Her odds are almost even to Gjon’s Tears’, so there’s a good chance that Malta and Switzerland will continue to battle for that #1 spot. Je me casse has gone down well with the fans and it shows. Last year, Destiny found herself in the lower end of the top ten after she released her song.
  • 🇨🇭 Currently in second place, we see Switzerland. Their entry, Tout l’univers by Gjon’s Tears is receving a lot of backing right now. You can still get a bet in at 7/2 for Switzerland, which isn’t bad for a favourite. It shows us the race is still wide open, but for the third year in a row, the Swiss are proving they’ve learnt how to do Eurovision recently. They are incredibly close to Malta, but it seems momentum is on Destiny’s side now and Gjon’s Tears’ odds are drifting ever so slightly.
  • 🇫🇷 There’s a bit of a trend going on with French lyrics being predicted to be successful this year. Behind the French language song from Switzerland and the French title from Malta, we see… France! Barbara Pravi has been around for a while and seems to be the early favourite to keep momentum going. Her odds are shortening again and she might be creeping closer to Destiny and Gjon’s Tears with her Voilà.
  • 🇲🇩 Natalia Gordienko was in the bottom eight last year for the bookmakers, but this year, Moldova has more support. Their new song Sugar has made it to #14. She is one of the two acts that seemingly improved most after returning to the contest in 2021. Can she gain even more momentum in the next weeks?
  • 🇸🇲 Obviously, we have to mention San Marino. Whether Flo Rida will be there or not, Senhit has surprised us all. Adrenalina, a song written by an experienced Eurovision team, has taken the fans by storm. It’s still in second place on the MyEurovisionScoreboard App and they find themselves at #12 with the bookmakers – much higher than last year’s #33. It is also the highest San Marino have been in the odds since the release of Crisalide (Vola) by Valentina Monetta in 2013.
  • 🇬🇪 Georgia on the other hand is the country with the biggest decline despite keeping the same artist. Germany have also dropped from #10 to #31 comparing 2020 and 2021, but they’re not sending the same singer. Tornike Kipiani however is returning for Georgia. His song You is down in 32nd place, much lower than his 2020 entry Take Me As I Am was at this point in the season.

Our baseline measurement

As we’ll be looking at the changes over the next few weeks, it’s important to determine our starting point. For that, we’ll list the 39 entries and see how they’re doing below. We’ll highlight some of the interesting cases from the national final season here as well. Countries are ranked by the shortest and longest odds available.

For this, we have used the available odds on EurovisionWorld.com. We advise you to look at the odds there if you’re interested in those. We will only focus on the ranking of each country in our article.

Disclaimer: Odds can change fast! If you look at the current odds, you may see changes in the upcoming days. We will provide you with an update next week.

CountryEntry21/03
1. MaltaDestiny – Je me casse1
2. SwitzerlandGjon’s Tears – Tout l’univers2
3. FranceBarbara Pravi – Voilà3
4. BulgariaVICTORIA – Growing Up Is Getting Old4
5. ItalyMåneskin – Zitti e Buoni5
6. SwedenTusse – Voices6
7. LithuaniaThe Roop – Discoteque7
8. IcelandDaði og Gagnamagnið – 10 Years8
9. CyprusElena Tsagrinou – El Diablo9
10. FinlandBlind Channel – Dark Side10
11. NorwayTIX – Fallen Angel11
12. San MarinoSenhit – Adrenalina12
13. RussiaManizha – Russian Woman13
14. MoldovaNatalia Gordienko – Sugar14
15. GreeceStefania – Last Dance15
16. RomaniaROXEN – Amnesia16
17. AzerbaijanEfendi – Mata Hari17
18. BelgiumHooverphonic – The Wrong Place18
19. UkraineGo_A – Shum19
20. CroatiaAlbina – Tick-Tock20
21. United KingdomJames Newman – Embers21
22. AustraliaMontaigne – Technicolour22
23. AustriaVincent Bueno – Amen23
24. IsraelEden Alene – Set Me Free24
25. PolandRafał – The Ride25
26. LatviaSamanta Tīna – The Moon Is Rising26
27. PortugalThe Black Mamba – Love Is On My Side27
28. DenmarkFyr og Flamme – Øve Os På Hinanden28
29. The NetherlandsJeangu Macrooy – Birth Of A New Age29
30. IrelandLesley Roy – Maps30
31. GermanyJendrik – I Don’t Feel Hate31
32. GeorgiaTornike Kipiani – You32
33. SerbiaHurricane – Loco Loco33
34. North MacedoniaVasil – Here I Stand34
35. BelarusGalasy Zmesta – TBA35
36. EstoniaUku Suviste – The Lucky One36
37. SloveniaAna Soklič – Amen37
38. Czech RepublicBenny Cristo – Omaga38
39. SpainBlas Cantó – Voy A Quedarme39
40. AlbaniaAnxhela Peristeri – Karma40

What do you think about the current odds? Can Destiny take us to Malta for the very first time? Let us know!

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