The bookiesâ odds have now revealed who is most likely winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 this weekend.
According to Eurovision World, the favourites to win the competition have been revealed. Coming in first place is Croatia, whose entry Baby Lasagna currently has a 42 per cent chance at snagging the crown this year with their song âRim Tim Tagi Dimâ. This has jumped up from 36 per cent, following the second night of the semi-finals last night (May 9).
Croatia continues out in front by a considerable margin, now holding over a twenty-point lead on the second placed contender, which is now Israelâs Eden Golan with âHurricaneâ. That song, which has been at the centre of a storm of controversy, is now rated as having a 19 per cent chance of winning. This is a huge jump from earlier in the week, when it sat on just a two per cent chance.
Many have voiced strong opposition to Israel being allowed to compete in the 2024 edition of the song contest in light of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, but the song came through the semi-finals process on Thursday and is now considered one of the favourites to win. Golanâs performance at the dress rehearsal on Wednesday (May 8) had been booed by the audience.
Switzerlandâs Nemo, with their song âThe Codeâ, is currently in third place on 12 per cent, which is down from 17 per cent earlier in the week.
Tied for fourth place down on five per cent each are Irelandâs âouija-popâ entrant Bambie Thug, who will be the first Irish artist to reach the Eurovision final in six years with âDoomsday Blueâ, Ukraineâs Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil with âTeresa and Mariaâ, and Franceâs Slimane with âMon Amourâ.
Italyâs Angelina Mango had been riding high in third place with âLa Noiaâ having been given a 10 per cent chance of winning, but that song is now only rated with a three per cent chance, sitting in seventh place overall.
Netherlandsâ Joost Klein is in eighth with âEuropapaâ on two per cent, while a host of other countries are tied on one per cent chance, including the UKâs Olly Alexander. Hosts Sweden, Finland, Greece, Lithuania, Norway, Austria and Armenia are also given the same odds.
Find a list of the predicted Top Ten below:
The final lineup has now been completed, following Thursdayâs second semi-final. 26 countries will take part in the final â hosts Sweden, the âbig fiveâ of the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, and the 20 qualifiers from the semi-finals.
On the night, Sweden will perform first, with favourites Croatia having to wait until the 23rd performance to see if they can convert their hype into success. The UK will go in 13th, while Ireland will be in 10th. Israelâs Eden Golan will be the sixth performer.
Recently, the European Broadcasting Union put out a statement to warn against the âabuse and harassmentâ artists were facing for their participation.
The Deputy Director of the EBU wrote that whilst the EBU âstronglyâ supports âfreedom of speech and the right to express opinions in a democratic societyâ, âwe firmly oppose any form of online abuse, hate speech, or harassment directed at our artists or any individuals associated with the contest.
âThis is unacceptable and totally unfair, given the artists have no role in this decision.â
There has been significant protests about this yearâs Eurovision due to the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. Over 1,000 Swedish artists called for Israel to be banned this year, such as Robyn, Fever Ray, and First Aid Kit, whilst over 1,400 Finnish music industry professionals have signed a petition to ban the country from taking part of the contest as well.
Artists such as Olly Alexander have faced calls to boycott the event as well; the singer initially signed a statement last December calling Israel an âapartheid stateâ and accusing it of genocide.
However, after receiving an open letter from numerous queer artists and individuals to boycott Eurovision last March, a number of Eurovision performers â including Irelandâs Bambie Thug, Norwayâs GĂ„te, Portugalâs Iolanda and Alexander himself â responded to the letter saying they âfirmly believe in the unifying power of musicâ, with Alexander later confirming he would not be boycotting Eurovision.
Bambie Thug addressed the situation in a recent interview with NME, saying: âItâs a lot when I know that my heart is in the right place and when itâs not my decision. I have had to take a break from social media because it is weighing on me. A lot of stuff is completely nasty and uncalled for.
âAs artists, weâre easy targets, but at the end of the day, I have said that I donât think they made the right decision,â they continued. âI still stand by that. But people should be coming for the EBU and for the broadcasters, not us as artists. I stand by my statement and I am completely for Palestine, and I think itâs ridiculous that itâs gone on for so long. I think the world is quite removed from its heart and its consciousness right now.â
When asked if they would support RTĂ hypothetically choosing to boycott Eurovision, they replied: âItâs their decision. Iâm working for them, I would have no choice.â
Asked how else they intended to show their support to the people of Palestine on the night, Robinson replied: âWell, I canât say anything.â
Earlier this week (May 7), the EBU doubled down on their decision not to boycott Israel over the war in Gaza, saying that to exclude Israeli broadcaster Kan from the competition would have been a âpolitical decisionâ.
Speaking on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News, Jean Philip De Tender, the deputy director general of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said: âI fully agree it is a family event and the great thing about this music competition is that itâs all about values. Itâs about uniting onstage all of these young talents, these participants, and they do great. Itâs about diversity and inclusion.
âBut there are competition rules and you need to follow the competition rules and take decisions based on these competition rules. If you were to exclude Kan outside of these competition rules, that would have been a political decision, as such, which we cannot take.â
It comes after Eurovision organisers also recently confirmed that that they reserve the right to remove Palestinian flags and pro-Palestinian symbols during the contest.
The first wave of semi-final performances took place last night (May 7) in Sweden, and saw Bambie Thug become Irelandâs first finalist in the Eurovision Song Contest since 2018. That being said, the artist was forced to change the pro-Palestine message on their dress due to it âcontravened contest rules that are designed to protect the non-political nature of the eventâ.
Speaking of the change, Bambie Thug said: âIt was very important for me because Iâm pro-justice and pro-peace. Unfortunately, I had to change those messages today to âcrown the witchâ only (which was an) order from the EBU.â
Elsewhere at last nightâs semis, Croatia and Finland both made it through into the final, alongside delegates from Luxembourg, Serbia, Ukraine, Portugal, Lithuania, Finland and Cyprus.
The second half of the semi-finals will take place tomorrow (May 9), and will see 16 countries including Israel, Greece, Malta, Denmark and Belgium compete â with 10 heading through to the finale.
In other news, Pet Shop Boys have responded to comparisons of âItâs A Sinâ to Olly Alexanderâs Eurovision entry âDizzyâ.
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