After two long years, Eurovision finally made its start in Rotterdam. The first semi-final took place last night with early favourites Malta, Lithuania and Cyprus amongst the qualifiers. Three of the automatic qualifiers also got their chance to shine on stage, including the new favourite. The semi has shaken up the odds, but the bookies are still backing Italy to take out the contest on Saturday.
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Eurovision 2021 odds: Italy is the favourite to win
Måneskin have been rising slowly ever since rehearsals started, with the band finally hitting the top just before the semi-final. It looks like the momentum has very much swung Måneskin’s way, with their odds at 38/5 a week ago shortening even further to 9/4. Their performance has also notched up over 200,000 views on YouTube.
This contest marks a decade since Italy’s return to the contest and they are very overdue for their third win.
Rounding out the top three are France and Malta. Destiny was the favourite from her song release but she has slipped down the odds since rehearsals began. However, the bookies have been impressed with her performance yesterday as she has climbed back from 41/10 to around 3/1 and briefly ended up as the second most likely act to win.
On the other hand, France’s Barbara Pravi has been shortening throughout the rehearsals and that trend is continuing as she has gone from 9/2 to 11/4. She is set to preview her song during the second semi-final, and a big reaction could cause her odds to shorten even further.
Ukraine continues to shorten, San Marino climbs following Flo Rida reveal
Easily the biggest mover from the first semifinal is Ukraine. The two-time winner was even predicted to not make the final back when Go_A’s entry “Shum” was released. The group’s energetic stage performances since rehearsals have since caused massive waves for Go_A. Coming from obscurity, they now sit at fourth place on the odds, at around 9/1.
Their performance also racked up an outstanding half a million views on YouTube. This is the second most of all the semi-final performances, sitting second to Russia, which has over 800,000.
Sitting at fifth place is Iceland. One of the earliest favourites of this year, Daði & Gagnamagnið have also gained momentum and now sit at 11/1. In sixth place is Switzerland. Gjon’s Tears had been a regular of the top three prior to the rehearsals but his odds have lengthened since then. From sitting as low as 4/1, Switzerland is now at around 14/1.
Further down the table, San Marino has benefited from the confirmation that American rapper Flo Rida will be appearing in Rotterdam this Thursday. San Marino have lept into the top ten, with their odds sitting at 50/1 and continuing to shorten.
Eurovision 2021 odds following the first semi-final
- Italy – 9/4
- France – 11/4
- Malta – 3/1
- Ukraine – 9/1
- Iceland – 11/1
- Switzerland – 14/1
- Bulgaria – 14/1
- Lithuania – 33/1
- Cyprus – 33/1
- San Marino – 50/1
Do you agree with the odds? Do you think we’re heading to an Italian win this Saturday? What did you think of the performances of Malta and Ukraine? Let us know!
Italy is overrated imo and swiss song is pretty similar to the last winner. I’m betting on malta
Ukraine!!!!! The best of this season. 🙂
Yes – Yes – Yeaaaa Italy !!!! ???
Ukraine act was the most original of all of them. But of course, originality is not the only winning ingredient. The effective fusion of the folklore motif with the hard beats and the synth bass is what won me over! Team Shum for sure!
Hoping for Italy’s win (finally!), it’s easily their best entry in recent history. I also feel like out of all the contestants, their performance just works the best and is close to perfection.
Ukraine is not my cup of tea and I also don’t see them doing well with the juries. Same with Italy unfortunately, so the trophy might go to a more commercial song like Malta or France but I’m reeeeally crossing my fingers for Italy. It’s time.
I will go to the church if they win to thank God!!!
Swiss song reminds me a bit of Dutch winning song. If you listen closely you can catch very similar notes.
It’s actually very disappointing this year that so many songs are similar to other famous songs. It’s a lazy job.
The thing is that Arcade is already itself very similar to other songs… That is Eurovision.
wow Ukraine could be a surprise winner like 2016. I don’t know how they do it every time and they get so much attention but kudos to them for working their asses off.
Sad that France is falling, i really hope it keeps the hype.
No, they can’t. After the yesterday’s hype, Ukraine has started to fall down in the betting odds, Switzerland has already surpassed them. Besides, after the experience in 2017, I’m not sure I wish Ukraine to be the host country next year.
Ukraine was a great host. Other wealthier countries could learn from Ukraine how to host a successful event with little money.
I agree that the organisation of the contest was nice. But I don’t like if a host country forbids any contestant to participate because of political reasons (as it was with Yulia Samoylova.
Well, she kinda broke Ukrainian laws and Russia knew that.
From many artists, Russia choose the one that is forbidden to enter(on purpose), but you are still blaming Ukraine, that is unfair, honestly
She wasn’t forbidden to participate, she was forbidden to enter in Ukraine. It was offered to have an online performance, but she refused
I don’t understand why the roop is so low in the odds. Who agrees?
Makes no sense whatsoever. Should be in top 5.
DENMARK!!!
I do like electro-swing and Destiny´s singing and presence. Not a fan of Cypriote plagiate and Azerbaijan, but they delivered, so they really deserve to be in final. Sorry for Romania and Ireland, but they didn´t deliver. Glad for Belgium, it´s so particular and Gejke knows to sing. But I am rooting for Ukraine´s entry. Team Shum here.
thank you for support my country folks, yes we adore Eurovision and Go_A deserve to be in top 10, but we’re not gonna win and it’s absolutely fine, and jury will smash us anyway lol
I really want my country to be free of war and occupants before we welcome contest again and celebrate diversity 🙂
though im afraid it will not happen untill bloody P*tin’ dies…
My favs are Switzerland and Italy, but I wouldn’t mind Malta or France win too, they’re all amazing!
hugs and greetings from Ukraine
I feel your pain ??
I don’t know who was downvoting you for simply stating a fact? You’re not saying Lithuania won SF1, like the show. You’re saying they won in a fan group, which is factual and fair.
I’m so so happy for Go_A but I am also kind of afraid of possible hate towards Ukraine if they really were to win. It’s too soon and the folk singing is a bit divisive. Would be cool if they top the televote but end up second since there are many other acts deserving to win this year
don’t worry they are not going to win, and even if they win no one will hate them
Why would people hate them for winning? Also, Eurovision is not MTV.
Cyprus: Great performance and looks stunning on the TV screen. She can sing, dance, and look amazing at one go. Plus, love it or hate it, the song is GOOD. Ukraine: Probably the most talked-about act from Semi final one. Happy for them because they presented something authentic and had no pretense. I can see why they are being spoken of so postively. Azerbaijan: I was pleasantly surprised. Everything came together in a good way, and the song really has a lot of appeal. Not in my top 3, but it deserved to qualify, and would not be surprised if… Read more »
Cyprus is disappointing as their song sounds very similar to Gaga’s song.
The winner this year won’t have loud backing vocals to hide the fact that the singer can’t sing. Sweden may suggested it to bring performers who can’t hit a note *cough Anton ewald* but it’s a huge disadvantage. Look at Moldovas tape for instance, she looks like she is lipsynching
Also Croatia’s problem
if Go_A win, i’d really like to see the contest go to odessa. they were in the running in 2017 vs kyiv and it’s such a beautiful city, even jamala wanted it to be the host
They definitely wouldn’t return to Kyiv so soon after 2017 so Odessa would be the most likely bet.
Agree, but i would also love if it was held in Lviv
I would be ecstatic if France, Switzerland or Ukraine won. I’d be happy with Italy or Iceland. Bulgaria would be an anti climax. Malta would be a disaster.
Why would Bulgaria be anticlimactic? And why would Malta be a disaster? I’m genuinely curious!
What a childishly stupid ending to your comment. Just because one likes some songs does not mean you need to put others down. That belies a level of insecurity and immaturity. Why would Malta be a disaster? Is it going to wage a new world war or start a new pandemic? Those would be disasters not winning a blooming song festival. People really need to grow up.
I think the odds of 17/1 for Switzerland are totally ridiculous. The song topped the INFE poll by a large margin and was just pipped into second by Malta in the OGAE poll, what’s changed since then except some press polls during the rehearsals? They surely MUST be in the top 4 as both the INFE and OGAE polls have never been that wrong in recent years. At around 4/1 for a place they must be the value ew bet this year, especially as Italy never even made the top 6 in either of those polls.
They are an excellent bet to win the second semi final at 3-1
I bet Gjon wins the jury vote tonight , and could win the Televote tomorrow night ; he’ll easily beat Bulgaria and even if Iceland wins the TV vote they will be handicapped by the Jury
Yes it’s some kind of ridiculous, Gjon is still a serious contender for the victory. Let’s see if Switzerland will be back in the the top 3 after tomorrow’s show or bookies still blinded with Malta.
Italy or Malta please!
Ukraine was one of my favourites since the beginning, interesting lyrics good music good petformance, it’s now in high position with bookies as well. Eurovisionery song too contemporary contender as well as Italy and France
Why did y’all forget about France:((((( hope she still wins it
Because Barbara Pravi sounds and looks too decent, it must be something more weird like Italy, Ukraine or Russia to be adored by wiwi readers. By the way, you can downvote me as much as you want.
thats not true at all… if im not mistaken, france placed 2nd in the wiwi jury and is adored by readers on here (even tho its not my favorite) so to suggest theres a bias against france on here just makes you sound dumb
How many users did mention France as a country they would like to win in this post? But I didn’t mean only France, “ordinary pop songs” like Greece, Malta or Cyprus are even more looked down when you read the comments.
I agree with you both about France and the other countries. So I did not down vote you (and why should I, even if I disagreed with you?)!!! Preferred to comment rather than upvote you as my vote would have been lost among the many downvotes
Probably no one cares but Ukraine is Nr. 3 in Trending on YouTube in Austria
Nr. 8 in Belgium (Hooverphonic is first, obviously)
Russia is #4 trending in Austria, #5 in Germany
Also
#2 in Belarus
#3 in Estonia
#4 in Ukraine
#6 in Latvia
#13 in Georgia
#15 in Lithuania
#15 in Kazakhstan
#30 in Azerbaijan
etc.
Ukraine:
#1 – Ukraine, ofc
#3 – Austria
#3 – Iceland
#3 – Lithuania
#3 – Russia
#8 – Belgium
#8 – Germany
#9 – Estonia
#12 – The Netherlands
#14 – Sweden
#18 – The UK
#21 – Poland
#22 – Denmark
#41 – Czech Republic
on fire
Seeing Ukraine 4th makes me feel like this year isn’t as open as people say it is. I know people want an unexpected winner but it’s gonna be between Italy, France and Malta.
Also, don’t get me wrong, Ukraine may even win the televote but we all know juries aren’t gonna love it so they could do a Keiino moment.
Well, I was worried for Go_A before rehearsals and they really showed everyone what they’re made of, so I don’t care if they take the trophy to Kiev, they are the real winners for their kindness and selflessness, along with Montaigne, Lesley, Senhit, Manizha and more…
I think there will be a dark horse winner this year.
Lowkey imagine the power of a Top 3 made by Italy, France and Ukraine.. no English.. would be perfect.
Yes!! My perfect top 3 will be:
I also like English songs (Finland) but these three are wonderful and I think languages are all so fascinating… not only English.
(But I’m Italian so if you’re not and you like Italy, vote it please! I will vote France, Ukraine and Finland I think)
Italy is always a great contestant but I don’t think this is their year. After last night I’m afraid it will be Malta or even Ukraine again.
I’m not afraid it will be Malta, I HOPE it will be Malta!
Same here! That is 1 fantastic singer!
What I also find interesting is how even the distribution is in the TOP 10 hahaha
4 from SF1, 4 from SF2 and 2 from the big five
There is only one winner
CYPRUS !??
She deserves it!
I love that everything is still wide open, there are at least 5 countries in the running to win. It’s more exciting and it’s giving me 2011 vibes. I’m open for a surprise but I still hope it’ll be between France and Italy in the end 🙂
idk, it wouldn’t be fair as they automatically qualified for the final
El Diablo was fantastic last night, i just can´t understand how the performance made it drop like 5 place sin the odds?
The performance is great, but the song itself isn’t very strong.
Thought Ei Diablo was brilliant plus she is very easy on the eyes
Her mic was set too loud. That’s it
I kind of understand the hype for Ukraine, despite I always thought it was too screamy for my ears. The performance was great, no doubt about it. But am I the only one who found the two members moving those circles of light a bit ridiculous?
Off topic, one of the members of Icelandic group tested positive so they will have to use footage from rehearsals for tomorrow… ?
Remember those who compared Ukraine to Tulia because of the white voice? This is even funnier now.
Tulia’s staging was a mess.
Tulia were a mess in general
I think honestly Italy will win by just looking at the recent winners. Every year there is a new type of song winning. Also there will be more of a younger demographic watching the ESC because of COVID and the song in itself is just a party and very lively, so it fits with what Europe will need this year.
Even though I would also love France or Switzerland to win!
The indications are that Italy will win over all other countries this year, even though I think the song is a cheaper version of Lordi. With 23% chance of winning in betting odds no other country stands a chance, and if I remember well, odds were very accurate in the last few years, so maybe I better bet on them, at least I might win something.
Maneskin has a good stage presence but no way that the average viewer can connect with this. They didnt won with Grande Amore or Soldi, this aint the year
Soldi at least lost from another great song, not from a generic contemporary pop song…
Still don’t understand the hype of Grande Amore, it was too cliché of that particular style.
Did Latvia 2007 got praised like this ?
Sorry but ‘average viewer’ says nothing. We’ve had lordi, Jamala, Salvador sobral all win with genres that the average house mum doesn’t listen to. People will vote for things they usually don’t listen to if it creates a moment on the night itself and if the performance resonates with them. +You also have the 50% jury vote to take into consideration.
Do people really not like Switzerland anymore just because he does a little bit of choreography?
Hello Italy, welcome to Rotterdam! I have very uncomfortable question to you:
“The winner is Ukraine?”
“Ukraine of course”
I can’t believe the downvoting, some people just don’t have sense of humour… :))))
Yeah, ppl here r very serious unfortunately.
ITALIA this year.
Ukraine is great, but not a winner!
“E parla, @Amy purtroppo parla, non sa di che cosa parla…’ :))))
After yesterday, we can all scream loud from Italy: “Ucraina per la vittoria” (translation: Ukraine for the win)
As a Ukrainian I support Ukraine. But I Love Italy song. And will be happy if Italy (or maybe Lithuenia) will win.
cyprus was amazing!!!!!! my fave one from Sem-1!!!
I don’t know how Russia is so low in the betting odds…I can easily see Manizha winning the televote.
maybe cuz the energy and the whole attitude are not enough ? just another bubble that deflates…
The song doesn’t make it easy to connect with.
The song is definitely not for this contest. It’s not catchy enough and the whole thing has any success only because of her charisma and because Russia can qualify even with pretty bad entries (remember what they qualified with in 2010?)
My mum liked Russia the most last night actually and that’s really surprising because she’s normally a fan of the polished catchy sweden type of acts.
Yes, exactly this, I think Russian Woman will strike a chord far and wide. I was reading the comments and reactions on YouTube and Twitter—hugely positive response from across Europe.
Oh same! My mom loved Russia! And yes, she’s usually not into those kinds of songs.
I think Manizha did an amazing job, but Shum has the advantage in the ethnic category, at least with the public.
Russia always good at televotes because of russian diaspora. This year russians don’t like their own song as usually. But Europe likes it.
Am I the only one that likes Malta…?
No, and clearly you’re not alone. She qualified for the final so that says something. Ignore the comment section if you favor the Maltese entry otherwise all you’re going to read is that the song is overhyped, it’s overrated and the Maltese are basically buying everyone and anyone into making this their first ever win .. only because they are the third in the betting odds. The reason it is so high in the betting odds is because of Destiny of course and the song is catchy and a banger. For those who are going to comment about this. just… Read more »
Well said.go destiny. Bring it home you deserve it
I love the Maltese entry! There’s a lot of pretentiousness around it not being “authentic”. Everyone needs to lighten up a bit
Nope this forum seems to love bashing anything that destiny does and it’s quite frankly toxic and disgusting!
That is fantastic news!!! This is really well deserved!! Thy are my winners by far!
I’m really looking forward to saturday. All of the bookies’ current Top 8 have a realistic shot at winning. That’s gonna be superexciting.
Well, the stress of last night has worn off. Onwards and upwards.
Semi 2 will be awesome. Can’t wait to see Bulgaria and San Marino.
Ukraine rising in the polls is deserved, Shum is such a bop, yet didn’t sell out, it’s typically Ukraine, everything an entry should be in my opinion, not every song has to be a Melfest reject to be considered competitive.
Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia, Italy, San Marino, for the win!
Especially Ukraine, Italy and Russia for singing their languages and bringing their tradition.
Absolutely! This is what Eurovision is about for me, bringing your culture to the big stage through music.
It’s needed more in Eurovision these days.
You are right. however the Italian song is definitely not traditional.la chanson of France is traditional and reminds me if the great and not forgotten Edith Piaf.
I love both for those two different reasons, actually! I’d be happy if either one won 🙂 But there’s several entries that have a shot at it and would also deserve it tbh. This year is gooooood.
Ukraine this year is a master class of how to do Eurovision without going to IKEA to buy you staging and song.
Absolutely!!!
Will Finland qualify? The best song in 2021 by far, but maybe juries will put it in last place. I dont understand why juries have so weird opinions.
And they probably love Måneskin just because its Italy.
Don’t worry, they clearly will. I think televote alone could make it proceed.
Grande Amore won the televote and came third just because of the juries.
Do some research before commenting.
Juries ranked 17th Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro, while televoting ranked them 3rd.
Juries ranked 6th Il Volo, while televoters gave them the best score (in percentage) ever.
In 2017 and 2019, Italy was a contender for the win and got less points from juries than televoting.
Mmm juries really love Italy!
That is the only reason that makes me doubt about Italian victory. I feel that juries can again destroy their chances to win. If not the juries, Italy could win not only in 2015 but had a very good chances in 2017.
When it comes to Italy, I agree more with the juries. Italy is often overrated by the televoters for some reason. Especially 2018: Italy 2018 (don’t even remember the song title) didn’t quite have the success of Fuego after the contest despite almost the same televoting points. In that case, the juries’ judgment was much more aligned with actual popularity.
The juries have good music taste. All those songs were not that good. Francesca Michielin was your best in the last 10 years. Also Gabbiadini was okay
Oh absolutely disagree with you. Mahmood’s Soldi was Italy’s best entry prior to Maneskin. There’s a reason why Soldi almost won.
Did Soldi almost won? I completely forgot that. I thougt he was 5th or something.
Don’t know if Finland is the best of all but it certainly is more catchy than Italy. It’s a shame that Finland will struggle to get points just because the other rock song happens to be from Italy.
I still don’t understand why they need Flo Rida… His time is over.
Indeed, hadn’t heard of him in years…
Super weird that Russia goes down in odds -still believe its gonna be top 5 finish. Yet, we saw it a couple of times when “dark horses” were low at bookies (like Austia in 2018 was like 17-18 in odds)
My best guess is top 5 gonna be Italy, Malta, France, Russia & Ukraine. With France having the highest chances to win, as uries will definetly would boost it. So I would guess jury top would be France, Malta & Sweden :D, while votes would go to Italy, Ukraine & Russia
I hated the recent Italian entries (especially 2015), but I like this one much more and I also prefer it over Finland. Not sure if it’s a winner but for me, I feel like like none of the songs favored by the bookings sound like an authentic winner to me, except maybe France.
Ukraine is not authentic?
It indeed is, it’s even better in the longer 4 minutes version. I just mean that I don’t feel like there’s a song that screams “winner” on me
Every time when I saw people talking about how Malta is I couldn’t get it. Girl has a massive voice but the song is average and the stage concept nothing more than flashy. You give her a lot of press because of her appearance but body positivity has nothing to do with great performer and won’t win the competition. Stop creating this buzz. I assume what this final will show is that no matter how much lights, staging and press you create, people will vote for authentic performerce, not a product. That’s why Croatia lost – she was unbelievably inauthentic.… Read more »
I expect Malta to do well with juries as the song and singing are professionally made well, but failing miserably with televoting since the performance lacks soul and authenticity and is completely detached from the song and its message. John Ludvik kind of a moment.
Personally I never understood why Malta was considered a clear winner either? I’ve watched the semi-final performance a few times now and there’s no wow moment for me, like I just don’t get anything from it in that sense? The song itself is very standard, with a chorus that brings the energy down a little (kind of like their 2019 entry for me). I mean for sure, she has an incredible voice but if this song were sung by another artist, would it be considered a clear win? I’m not sure. Her voice is definitely what makes it I think… Read more »
I hope Italy wins.