Eurovision Betting – Trust Safura to Justify Azerbaijan Gamble

Don’t you just love these big betting events? The Cheltenham Festival, the Grand National, the World Cup, the Eurovision Song Contest. No, I haven’t lost my mind. Twelve months ago, the last named saw an almighty gamble landed when Alexander Ryback won Eurovision for Norway and the big hitters have already been out in force this year, even though open rehearsals for the event at the Telenor Arena in Oslo haven’t even begun yet. Now, one can understand the Norwegians knowing a good tune when they hear one. This, after all, is the country of Grieg! However, I’m not so sure about the musical heritage of Azerbaijan. I tried a search on the internet but all I came up with was margam which, apparently, is a mixture of poetry, yodelling and jazz! No disrespect intended, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what we’ll be subjected to when the talented Safura performs Drip-Drop on the stage at the end of the month. Co-written by established Swedish composers Anders Bagge, Stefan Orn and Sandra Bjurman, someone clearly thinks they’ve come up with something special because Safura is now no bigger than 5/2 to wow the international judges after sustained support. The Azerbaijani song does have to qualify from the second semi-final but, if the money is right, that should be a formality. Incidentally, Safura is a best 9/4 to win that semi-final with Betfred. This year’s Eurovision Song Contest isn’t going to be a one-horse race, however, as there has also been significant support for the German entry (9/2 with Betfred). Singing ‘Satellite‘, 19-year-old student Lena Meyer-Landrut has already broken German download records and should collect plenty of votes in Oslo. Israel’s organisers have pulled off something of a coup in persuading Harel Skaat to represent them this year. Skaat is a hugely popular artiste in his homeland and his international appeal will be enhanced by the decision to perform the Israeli entry in English but his odds have also tumbled to a best 8/1 (bwin). So what of the others? With Mike Stock and Pete Waterman as part of his song-writing team, you’d think Josh Lubovie would fancy his chances with ‘That Sounds Goods To Me‘. But Betfred‘s 200/1 quote says it all about the quality of the UK entry and it might be the case of following the money again with Azerbaijan.