The bookies’ odds have now revealed who is most likely winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.
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 36 per cent chance at snagging the crown this year with their song ‘Rim Tim Tagi Dim’. This has jumped up from 27.9 per cent, following the semi-finals taking place last night (May 7).
Croatia continues out in front by a considerable margin with an almost ten-point lead on second place entry Switzerland’s Nemo, whose song ‘The Code’ has maintained the same odds, and is predicted to have a 17 per cent chance of winning. Meanwhile, Italy’s Angelina Mango remains the third spot with ‘La Noia’ having a 10 per cent chance of winning – down two per cent since the semi-finals.
Rounding out the top five is Ukraine’s Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil with ‘Teresa and Maria’ at eight per cent and Ireland’s ‘ouija-pop’ entrant Bambie Thug – who last night became the first Irish artist to reach the Eurovision final in six years –and has shot up to fifth place with six per cent for ‘Doomsday Blue’.
Ninth place is taken by Greece, and this year’s host country Sweden is joint with 10 other countries for ninth position. this comes as the nation, alongside the UK’s (represented by Olly Alexander), Greece, Finland, Lithuania, Norway, Belgium, Armenia, Georgia and Austria have all been listed as having a one per cent chance of taking him the victory. Find a list of the predicted Top Ten below:
- Croatia – Baby Lasagna – “Rim Tim Tagi Dim” – 36%
- Switzerland – Nemo – “The Code” – 17%
- Italy – Angelina Mango – “La noia” – 10%
- Ukraine – Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil – “Teresa & Maria” – 8
- Ireland – Bambie Thug – 6%
- Netherlands – Joost Klein – “Europapa” – 6%
- France – Slimane – “Mon amour” – 3%
- Israel – Eden Golan – “Hurricane” – 2%
- Greece – Marina Satti – “Zari” – 1%
- United Kingdom – Olly Alexander – “Dizzy” – 1%
Recently, the European Broadcasting Union put out a statement to warn against the “abuse and harassment” artists were facing for their participation.
The Deputy Director of the EBU wrote that whilst the EBU “strongly” supports “freedom of speech and the right to express opinions in a democratic society”, “we firmly oppose any form of online abuse, hate speech, or harassment directed at our artists or any individuals associated with the contest.
“This is unacceptable and totally unfair, given the artists have no role in this decision.”
There has been significant protests about this year’s 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 “apartheid state” 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 – including Ireland’s Bambie Thug, Norway’s Gåte, Portugal’s Iolanda and Alexander himself – responded to the letter saying they “firmly believe in the unifying power of music”, with Alexander later confirming he would not be boycotting Eurovision.
Bambie Thug addressed the situation in a recent interview with NME, saying: “It’s a lot when I know that my heart is in the right place and when it’s 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.
“As artists, we’re easy targets, but at the end of the day, I have said that I don’t think they made the right decision,” they continued. “I 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 it’s ridiculous that it’s gone on for so long. I think the world is quite removed from its heart and its consciousness right now.”
When asked if they would support RTÉ hypothetically choosing to boycott Eurovision, they replied: “It’s their decision. I’m working for them, I would have no choice.”
Asked how else they intended to show their support to the people of Palestine on the night, Robinson replied: “Well, I can’t say anything.”
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 “political decision”.
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: “I fully agree it is a family event and the great thing about this music competition is that it’s all about values. It’s about uniting onstage all of these young talents, these participants, and they do great. It’s about diversity and inclusion.
“But 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.”
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 Ireland’s 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 “contravened contest rules that are designed to protect the non-political nature of the event”.
Speaking of the change, Bambie Thug said: “It was very important for me because I’m pro-justice and pro-peace. Unfortunately, I had to change those messages today to ‘crown the witch’ only (which was an) order from the EBU.”
Elsewhere at last night’s 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 – with 10 heading through to the finale.
In other news, Pet Shop Boys have responded to comparisons of ‘It’s A Sin’ to Olly Alexander’s Eurovision entry ‘Dizzy’.
