Last year she climbed all the way to second place in the televote of the Melodifestivalen final.
And on Wednesday Swedish betmakers UNIBET seemed to think that Wiktoria can go one better at Melodifestivalen 2017, as they dubbed her joint favourite to win it all.
On February 25, shortly after the fourth heat, the “As I Lay Me Down” singer found herself joint-second favourite with Loreen with odds of 4.00. At that time Nano was in front with odds of 2.10.
But today Wiktoria has seen her odds fall to 2.50 — while Nano’s have risen to 2.50 — putting her level with the “Hold On” singer for the first time.
With “As I Lay Me Down” Wiktoria builds on the pop-country she laid down last year. However, this year’s performance lets her showcase her vocal ability even more with some stunning and stirring harmonies in the chorus, which feels very pure and somehow spiritual. The rest of the song is very girl-next-door pop. Last year she stood in place but this year she gets to move, adding likability and charm to the performance, which also sees her vogue and pout on an LED bed. This feels somehow warmer and more endearing than her performance of “Save Me”, which focused more on power.
There is great fluctuation in the market.
Just one hour prior to publishing this post, Wiktoria sat in the lead with odds of 2.60, while Nano had widened to 3.25.
Jon Henrik Fjällgren and Aninia — aka, Sami reindeer herder feat. boho singer with nose plate — have seen a huge rise in their fortunes, with bookies slashing their odds from 28 on February 25 to just 5.25 today. That’s moved them from eighth favourite to third.
Eurovision 2012 winner Loreen has fallen from second favourite to fourth favourite today, with her odds at 6.50.
Melodifestivalen 2017: Odds to win at March 1 at 11:30 CET
2.50 Wiktoria
2.50 Nano
5.25 Jon Henrik Fjällgren feat. Aninia
6.50 Loreen
10.00 Robin Bengtsson
16.00 Mariette Hansson
24.00 Benjamin Ingrosso
31.00 Ace Wilder
41.00 Owe Thörnqvist
71.00 Lisa Ajax
76.00 FO&O
91.00 Axel Schylström
101.0 Boris Réne
101.0 Dismissed
151.0 De Vet Du
151.0 Anton Hagman
If Jon Henrik and Aninia will win, Aninia will sing in english because she said that her role is to translate what Jon says. Why Sweden can’t see that this is the right choice? This year will be about IDENTITY, not about country music (Wiktoria) or historic events like you randomly opened the history book to find inspiration (Loreen, that doesn’t have a personal story like Jamala). In 2017 : France is so France with Alma Italy is so Italy with Francesco Belarus is so Belarus with NAVI Austria is so Austria with Nathan and his video Sweden will be… Read more »
it will be either Nano or Loreen to Kyev that’s the most probable outcome, but there are still people who like to believe that Jon henrik is a dark horse but it’s not. The Jury will most likely boost Mariette, Ace and they’ll probably send Loreen to the top (at least by a 25 margin). Then the public will vote still favoring entries like benjamin Ingrosso or Robin among the probable winner and even though they might select Jon henrik as runner up or 3rd, it would probably still not be enough to surpass loreen. My prediction would be either… Read more »
Wiktoria not winning will be the next big poll shock after the Brexit and Donald Trump victory.
Is her song outstanding enough to be the winner anyway?
Don’t sleep on Jon Henrik. If it weren’t for Måns or Mariette in 2015, the jury would have been ready to send something entirely different from what we’d expect them to send. Depending on who is on the panel, I think this time they’re ready to warm to Jon Henrik’s jojk tune.
And did I miss something, or did Jon Henrik make an even bigger move up the bookies’ list?
@Jonas
1944 has just a few words in Crimean Tatar, the rest of the song is in English, it’s different. I can’t connect with Jon Henrik’s joik.
Hey Henri, what about the reigning champion? If you can win in Crimean, you can win in Sami.
People should be aware that a song in Sami/Swedish has no chace of winning Eurovision.
Ace is so underrated 🙁
If Loreen doesn’t win I guess I wouldn’t mind Jon Henrik & Aninia, atleast it’s unique and powerful, unlike every other cheap uninspiring pop song in this contest.
Prediction for result in final 1.Wiktoria thanks to televote my prediction first with televote 2.Loreen thanks to juries my prediction first with juries 3.Nano thanks to televote 4.Jon 5.Robin 6.Ace thanks to juries 7.Owe thanks to televote 8.Mariette thanks to juries 9.FO&O thanks to televote 10.Benjamin thanks to televote 11.Axel 12.Boris Singer without thanks to televote or juries get similar points and similar position both with juries and televote, other wili get more from one of them juries or televote. If Wiktoria win, fight for victory between Italy, Russia, Australia/. Australia will be push so hard in points by juries… Read more »
Loreen for me, all the way!
I won’t be totally crushed, in case Loreen doesn’t win, only if either Robin or Mariette do.
It’s a mystery why Ace Wilder isn’t picking up any momentum. To me, it should be a serious contender.
Robin Bengtsson is my other favorite. Clearly the best staged, and the song really is great and gets better with every listen. Sorry Loreen, still love ya.
@Tazmanian: Here’s the translation of JH’s song:
“In a world full of battles
of battles
Is an echoing run
hearts and passion for life
yes for life
We come together again
the time is now “
I’m personally rooting for my favourite Jon Henrik feat. Aninia to win. There’s something very special, magical and amazing about their performance! I think their rising odds (from 10th to 3rd in a week) are totally justified!
Noting past Melfests, I think they’ve a very good chance, along with Wiktoria. Not sure about Nano, but his hype has faded, as has Loreen’s, so not seeing them take it. Ace doesn’t do so well in tele-vote, and Robin’s song is unpredictable, along with Mariette. Owe could surprise! My top 3: Jon-Henrik, Wiktoria, Ace! 😀
Rooting for Wild Child and Ace. I hope she will do it despite the odds. Sweden, don’t wrong her a third time!
Actually in some betting polls Wiktoria is now the clear leader. I would much prefer her over Nano, her song is great! Much better than “Save Me!
I can’t really believe Nano and Jon henrik are her closest rivals, I think the final result won’t have them second or thir.
I also do believe the odds will change after AC and the weak leading up to final. I imagine Loreen odds will shorten when she qualifies while Nano will continue to rise. And Wiktoria will continue to shorten her odds
I really hope Wiktoria doesn’t win. Don’t get me wrong, I love her! And I do think she should go to Eurovision one day, just not with this song. It’s good, but not Eurovision-y at all in my opinion. I really don’t think Sweden would do well, and if I’m being honest, I think they’d struggle to qualify seeing what songs are currently in semi 1. My favourites are Nano, Mariette, Ace, and Jon (excluding Loreen because she’s currently in AC) but I don’t think Mariette or Ace stand a chance at winning unfortunately. I’m convinced that Wiktoria will win… Read more »
My favorites are Ace Wilder and Mariette but if the favorites in the odds are going to win I would prefer Wiktoria instead of Nano.
Odds will probably change the following days, as we don’t know the AC qualifiers yet.
About heading to familiar names (international juries) don’t forget last year Frans won MelFest and came 5th in Stockholm. So don’t exclude debutants.(ex: Nano).
About how international juries may vote, I think they’ll go for Loreen, Robin Bengtsson or Mariettte. I don’t believe Ace, Wiktoria or Lisa can win this thing.
Personal favourites:
Jon Henrik Fjällgren feat. Aninia (love it)
Loreen (great performance)
Mariette (love at first sight, or “listen” to be more accurate)
I would rather have Wiktoria representing us than Nano! Loreen is my favourite, way above the rest! But Robin and Wiktoria are my second choices. These three songs are also the ones I’ve listened to the most. But I’m not sure if Loreen will beat Anton in AC, because my fellow swedes have been voting quite unpredictable at times.
I can’t see neither Nano, Wiktoria or Jon Henrik winning. For me it’s a battle between Mariette, Ace Wilder, Robin Bengtsson and Loreen.
Actually, Unibet already sees Wiktoria as the clear favorite to win
Wiktoria goes for 2.15
Nano for 3.00
Apologies to Wiwibloggs, as the wrong e-mail had been used on my previous comment by accident.
@Alex: Broken grammar might be inconvenient, but it is not a crime. Many of us make typos, myself included. To use an idiom: Please check your attitude at the door.
Jon and Aninia have been my dark horse for victory ever since I saw their performance last Saturday. It stands out because it’s different than many of the other entries, and the whole performance concept is so magical. I just hope they get the love from the international juries this time and good support from the televote
If it is to be believed that Nano or even Jon Henrik are her main competitors, I’m rooting for Wiktoria all the way. I still think Ace is terribly underrated, Wild Child actually is my favorite song of hers. I can’t quite decide between Ace, Loreen and Wiktoria but if these odds are to be believe, Wiktoria all the way.
Wiktoria deserves it. It’s leading on Spotify for a reason.
She would stand out in a field full of unlikeable female singers with bad dated songs.
Nano can still win I guess.
Jon is also amazing and might surprise. His entry is so special.
Sadly juries will have much power on the final result sadly.
1. Loreen
2. JHF&Aninia
3. Ace Wilder
4. Mariette
5. Viktoria
Thank god Nano’s odds are rising (that’s the opposite of shortening, right?).
My personal favorites are Robin, Mariette and Wiktoria.
Jon Henrik & Aninia will win, their odds have dropped a lot (probably the most).. Its probably between them, Wiktoria and Nano.. seeing how things are evolving I think Loreen may be eliminated in AC.. neither Mariette, Ace nor Robin Bengtsson has a chance of winning this year
Not chance to Wiktoria flop like Anna in 2010. Not good songs in that semi so far yes that we have in that semi countries with good record of qualification for final Australia, Azerbaijan and countries who floop in semi only 1 time Sweden, Greece, Armenia, much more than in second semi where we have Russia and Romania who are not floop so far and Seriba who are flop only 2 time when they finished on 10 and 11 place in semi. For me only Finland, Moldova and Slovenia have good song.
Eh, it’s so freaking generic.
Alex
You must be benned from this bloggs not me, becuase you are evil in every comment you wrote to me. I wrote will , and maybe sometime made mistake when I wrote that word.
Wiktoria¨s song sounds so dated, like Taylor Swift in 2009.
I prefer Mariette.
I have a feeling that Wiktoria would be another Anna Bergendahl
I honestly don’t see what’s so special about Wiktoria’s song. It’s really nothing special. However, I really hope Loreen can pull of a win, it would be amazing to see that performance on stage in Kiev. If not her, then Jon Henrik. I think we’ve had jojk at Eurovision only once, and this would also contribute to the diversity of songs. @PP do you even try to spell “will” right anymore? It’s not “wili”, “wil”, “willi”, “wilil”, it’s “will”. How hard is it to write it correctly? Jeez… Also I see your other account has likely been banned, thank god… Read more »
Jon Henrik and Aninia. They have a song like in Game of Thrones
Well, Loreen won’t winn how much I want her to! And in that case I might go totaly opposit and wote for our charming Owe. Just for the reason that in this dark times we need entertainment and joy and my 8-year old daughter would go banans of joy But I would not be surprised if Owe would change the lyric to the flirst he wrote about our friend mr Trump, but wasn’t allowd by mr Björkman! Please wiwibloggs, make an interwiev with Owe about his first text! There are a clip at SVT gomorgon Sverige were he read the… Read more »
“As I Lay Me Down” is BOOOOORING!!!!!!!!!!! So maybe we should send it so we dont win this year. It’s time for a country to win, who never has won before.
Sweden needs to choose: Wild child, A million years, Hold on, As i lay me down, Statements or En värld full af strider and I’ll be happy.
As i lay me down: 4.5/5
If it was possible i would sent these 4 acts home in andra chansen:
16-DeVetDu 15-Owe 14-Boris 13-robin
I think we will have situation like in 2005 , 2014 that 2, 3 to 5 points wilil be between winner and runner up.
My prediction TOP 5 with international juries
1.Loreen
2.Wiktoria
3.Nano
4.Jon
5.Ace
TOP 5 with televote
1.Wiktoria
2.Nano
3.Jon
4.Loreen
5.Owe
combined resultt
1.Wiktoria
2.Loreen
3.Nano
4.Jon
5.Robert
I want Jon Henrik to win so badly.
Mariette, Robin and Loreen would all be ok.
Wiktoria is one of the worst for me. I still don’t get her appeal at all!
I want a good song to win rather than an artist just based on popularity.Songs which I like are ‘As I lay me down’ , ‘Hold on’ , ‘A million years’ , ‘Wild Child’ and ‘Hearts Align’.
Wiktoria and Loreen are my favourite from Sweden. Nano is as like as music from gospel choir. I don`t like gospel so I hope Wiktoria would win.
perhaps loreen’s odds will shorten once she beats anton in andra chansen.
Actually I would love for Owe Thornqvist to win, just so that ESC can have something totally different from Sweden for a change, and not cheesy plastic pop!
Song-wise, Loreen is the winner. There ain’t no doubt about that.
(I can’t stand Jon Henrik’s singing partner. Nano has an annoying instrumental chorus. Mariette’s song is all plastic. Robin swears too much. Lisa doesn’t give an Ajax, and Wiktoria needs to practise her vocals…)
*…have* I genuinely hate all these misspells I make when writing on a stupid cellphone!
@Polegend – Same two favorites 🙂
Are there really fans who *want* to see Sweden tanking by sending Owe? I just think it would be cute and memorable to see a guy singing on ESC stage at the age of 88. Wouldn’t mind Sweden being in top 5 again with him. Personally, I can more easily see them flop with generic pop few of the contestants hace.
It is the uniqueness of her act, the special effects, her looks & devotion which makes Wiktoria outstanding. I believe she could even win Eurovision if she would bring the same energy like last weekend to Kiev!
If Wiktoria wins, she is going to flop harder than Anna Bergendahl.