Italy’s Sanremo Festival, which celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2020, is always one of the most hotly anticipated events on the Eurovision calendar. Even though it runs over five nights, it never fails to have us on the edge of our seats and asking the bookies for the answers.
With 24 acts confirmed, who are the bookmakers’ favourites to win the festival?
Sanremo Festival 2020 Odds: Alberto Urso favourite to win
According to several betting outfits, including Unibet, the current favourite to take the Sanremo crown — with the option of heading to Rotterdam — is Alberto Urso.
The “Il sole ad est” singer is currently trading on Unibet at odds of 5:00.
Urso is a singer, tenor and multi-instrumentalist playing piano, sax and drums.
He is best known for winning the eighteenth edition of Amici de Maria De Filippi (They Will Be Famous) – the longest-running TV talent show in Italy. From then on, his stardom grew and he received a gold disc for his first studio album Solo.
Sanremo 2020: Other favourites
In second place is Anastasio. The “Rosso Di Rabbia” (Red With Anger) can be backed at odds of 6:00.
Marco Anastasio is a rapper and singer. He’s best known for winning the twelfth series of Italian X Factor in 2018 and topping the charts with his debut single “La Fine Del Mondo” (The End Of The World).
Next is Achille Lauro. If you want to place money on the “Me Ne Frego” (I Don’t Care) rapper, his odds are also 6:00.
Achille Lauro is known for his works in underground hip hop. He is no stranger to Sanremo, placing ninth in the 69th edition with “Rolls Royce”.
Sanremo 2020: Returning Eurovision acts
There are a couple of familiar faces this year. Two out of the 24 confirmed contestants already have Eurovision pedigree. But where are they in the bookies’ rankings?
Raphael Gualazzi finished a respectable second at Eurovision 2011. However, it seems that the bookmakers don’t believe lightning will strike twice as Raphael is 15th in the table. “Carioca” is trading at odds of 26:00.
Sanremo 2017 winner Francesco Gabbani is also trying his look once more. He was the clear bookies’ favourite to win in Kyiv. However, he ultimately came sixth, proving that the bookies do sometimes get things wrong. This year however, the bookmakers believe the Francesco has a chance to go to Eurovision again, putting him fourth in the overall odds.
Sanremo 2020: Female acts
You may have noticed that the bookies top three are all male. We wanted to give a shout-out to a few of the Donne Italiane that will certainly bring the house down at Sanremo this year.
Giordana Angi is sixth with odds of 11:00. Sanremo returnee Elodie has identical odds on Unibet. Watch out boys — these girls are certainly ones to watch!
Sanremo Festival 2020 Bookmakers’ Odds
- Alberto Urso 5:00
- Achille Lauro 6:00
- Anastasio 6:00
- Francesco Gabbani 8:00
- Enrico Nigiotti 9:00
- Elodie 11:00
- Giordana Angi 11:00
- Marco Masini 11:00
- Levante 18:00
- Penguins Tactical Nuclear 18:00
- Diodato 21:00
- Michele Zarrillo 21:00
- Tosca 21:00
- The Vibrations 26:00
- Raphael Gualazzi 26:00
- Piero Pelù 29:00
- Paolo Jannacci 31:00
- Bugo and Morgan 34:00
- Irene Grandi 34:00
- Riki 34:00
- Rita Pavone 34:00
- Rancore 41:00
- Elettra Lamborghini 51:00
- Junior Cally 51:00
Odds correct as of 23:00 CET 13 January 2019, via Unibet
How the odds work
A “fractional betting odd” is when you see two numbers separated by a slash, e.g. 9/1. Such odds let you work out how much money you will win on your bet compared to your initial stake. The number on the left is how much you will win and the number on the right is the amount you need to stake in order to win that figure.
Taking the 9/1 example, for every €1.00 you bet, you will win €9.00. This can also be calculated as a “decimal odd” — 1/(9 + 1)*100 = 10.00. The odds listed above take this format.
If you make a winning bet of €1.00 you would get back €10.00 — €9.00 in winnings plus your original €1.00
Bookies adjust the odds constantly, based on the amounts of money being bet by ordinary punters.
Of course, the odds will most probably change several times in the run-up to the festival. That’s what the bookies think at the moment, but what do you think? Let us know in the comments.
Often these Italian songs are much longer than 3.00 min. so they have to cut. It did Francesco not any good in 2017! This one is almost 4.00 min. Nice song, but you cannot cut a quarter from the song without losing quality!
You haven’t heard the song yet, nobody has…the one featured in this article is not the one he’s competing with.
Welcome back Francesco to Sanremo on its 70th birthday! I have been a fan of his music since Eurovision 2017 and love his diverse range of songs. Really looking forward (if not a little nervously!) to hearing ‘Viceversa’ and of course all the songs in his new album – best of Irish luck Francesco.
Looking forward to Sanremo 2020! I hope the music quality is at least as good as in the previous editions!!
First, we have to listen songs and their lives…. Then we just could talk about It.
I will only say : Elettra Elettra Lamborghini ??
Sanremo odd are ALWAYS pretty much wrong…
Rich people problems. The amount of money they take out to gamble at any form is mere pennies to them.
Why is this side-hobby given so much press coverage? Next thing you I’m gonna read comments on Youtube that goes along the lines of “Ooh, I like this song because it’s high in the odds” and “This is so unfair, y’all haven’t even heard of the songs and you’re placing my fave singer low in the odds. Eww….”.
And yeah. Ewww….
I’m not assuming anything till I hear all the song!
sanremo odds are rather meaningless, it’s a very unpredictable competition