Yes he can! Based on tonight’s betting odds, Oscar Zia will easily qualify for the Melodifestivalen final with his Obama-inspired song, “Yes We Can”. Across four major betting agencies—bet365, betway, unitbet, and betfair—his odds are currently as low as 1/5. He’s the only contestant with odds lower than one with each of the bookies.
Second favourite Outtrigger is currently the only other contestant with any odds lower than one to qualify directly to Friends Arena. The group, whose disturbing performance includes a man in a straightjacket in a cage, has odds as low as 4/7.
The betmakers seem to think that last year’s finalists State of Drama are headed to Andra Chansen, along with Dr Alban and Jessica Folcker.
Things are slightly different when it comes to the fans. SVT has released the results of the fan vote, conducted among members of the press and others present in yesterday’s rehearsal. It’s a small sample size, but telling nonetheless. Oscar Zia once again came out on top—and by a huge margin. State of Drama came second, while Outtrigger and Shirley Clamp round out the Top 4.
You can see the complete odds and results below. To watch one-minute snippets from the dress rehearsal you can click here. And to listen to studio versions of the songs click here (coming soon).
Betting odds
From bet365, betway, unitbet, and betfair:
1. Oscar Zia 1/5, 1/5, 2/9, 3/10
2. Outtrigger 1, 3/2, 7/4, 4/7
3. State of Drama 6/4, 39/20, 23/17, 6/5
4. Dr Alban and Jessica Folcker 4, 13/4, 4, 14/5
5. CajsaStina Akerstrom 4, 17/4, 25/4, 3
6. Shirley Clamp 9, 6, 21/4, 4
7. Ace Wilder 8, 9, 14, 23/10
8. EKO 30, 34, 49, 29
Audience vote
1. “Yes We Can” – Oscar Zia, 41% (278 votes)
2. “All We Are” – State of Drama, 15% (102 votes)
3. “Echo” – Outtrigger, 12% (83 votes)
4. “Burning Alive” – ??Shirley Clamp, 10% (67 votes)
5. “Busy Doin ‘Nothin'” – Ace Wilder, 8% (53 votes)
6. “Around The World” – Dr. Alban & Jessica Folcker, 8% (52 votes)
7. “A Simple Song” – CajsaStina Åkerström, 6% (40 votes)
8. “Red” – EKO, 1% (10 votes)
Willy Lee Adams contributed this report from London. Follow him on Twitter @willyleeadams. You can also keep up with the latest Eurovision news and gossip by following wiwibloggs.com on Twitter and Facebook.
Photo: SVT
And again another semi final with an obvious entry going to the final and a second one going more or less surprisingly. Something sounds fishy here to me it’s becoming a pattern that is no coincidence at all. Oscar Zia was too damn clear (and using a prop used years ago by Nsync was just so boring …..) and this girl Ace Wilder is just an average boring entry too teenish for my taste. Again “Songbird” surpasses these 2 for me.
Judging on the 8 performances but mostly on the songs: 1) Outtrigger: Not my kind of music at all …. so I have not say but that this is not what I am interested to see in MF regardless how impressed the performance may have been … my ears totally refuse this. It’s a shame that there is so much belief in this to either go to the final or AC. 2) EKO: A nice piece of electronic midtempo number a bit reminiscent of what Margaret Berger did last year for Norway. But I was not so impressed with the… Read more »
1- Ace Wilder
2- State of Drama
3- CajsaStina Akerstrom
4- Shirley Clamp
5- EKO
6- Oscar Zia
7- Dr Alban and Jessica Folcker
8- Outtrigger
No, we won’t.
I dont understand how alot of people can think that he will make it to the final…
His song is ok, alright, but i cant take this song as a finalist material…
Anyways, hope that Outtrigger will get to the final :3