Eurovision Song Contest Betting Odds (2008) Have Russia The Favorite

The Eurovision Song Contest betting odds were still being offered by online gambling firms like Sportingbet.com.  And while Russia sat as the favorite country to take the prize, there were technically no stand out favorites and whilst the reward for a Russia win would even stand to pay out well - €7 for every €2 bet.

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union, and the bragging rights have helped make the event a massive success.  How big?  It is one of the most-watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally.

The Contest has been broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1956 and is one of the longest-running television programmes in the world.  Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition. Each country participates via one of their national EBU-member television stations, whose task it is to select a singer and a song to represent their country in the international competition.

The semi-finals begin Tuesday and the final will take place on Saturday, concluding a one-two-three punch of huge television contest finals over the course of many days that include Dancing With the Stars (USA) and American Idol.  Betting on all of these events is expected to take in millions for online gambling websites over a period of time that would normally be considered a draught, not withstanding the Champions League being played on Wednesday night.

And while Russia may be the favorite, The United Kingdom has some of the longest odds ever for the competition.  Sportingbet.com has made Andy Abraham of the UK a huge 300-1 longshot.

Eurovision Song Contest Betting Odds courtesy of Sportingbet.com are featured below:

Russia 7/2
Serbia 11/2
Armenia 6/1
Ukraine 6/1
Greece 9/1
Sweden 14/1
Spain 18/1
Ireland 22/1
Turkey 25/1
Bosnia-Herzegovina 33/1
Latvia 33/1
Romania 33/1
Bulgaria 40/1
Finland 50/1
Norway 50/1
Azerbaijan 66/1
Georgia 66/1
Portugal 66/1
Switzerland 66/1
France 80/1
Iceland 80/1
Germany 125/1
Israel 125/1
Malta 125/1
Poland 125/1
Slovenia 125/1
Albania 150/1
Denmark 150/1
FYR Macedonia 150/1
Andorra 200/1
Belarus 200/1
Belgium 200/1
Croatia 200/1
Estonia 200/1
Hungary 200/1
Moldova 200/1
Netherlands 250/1
Cyprus 300/1
Lithuania 300/1
United Kingdom 300/1
Czech Republic 500/1
Montenegro 500/1
San Marino 500/1

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Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com

Originally published May 19, 2008 3:26 pm EST