Eurovision 2013: Scandinavian entrants the early favourites

Emmelie de Forest represents the early favourite Denmark

With the Eurovision Song Contest just over a month away we asked Dan Bettridge to review the early favourites in Betfair's Winner market...

Forget fiscal cliffs and Eurozone bailouts, there's an altogether more enjoyable reason to look to the continent next month when purveyors of plinky-plonky Europop gather in Malmo for the 58th instalment of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Sweden of course scooped the prize last year, but who are the favourites this time around? Join us as we cast our eyes over some of the main contenders.

Denmark - 3.65n/a

The favourite in the early running is Denmark's 'Only Teardrops' a folksy number which the locals no doubt hope will bring the top pop prize back across the resund Strait come mid-may. It's undoubtedly one of the most polished songs in the competition. It's not the most memorable of tracks though, but it does have pedigree having been co-written by Lisa Cabble, whose previous contributions to the contest "Fra Mols til Skagen" (1995) and "New Tomorrow" (2011) both finished in fifth place. Perhaps its biggest strength however lies in 19-year-old songstress Emmelie de Forest, a captivating and intense performer whose floaty dresses and bare feet clearly recall last year's eventual winner Loreen. It's arguably not as good, but at 3.65n/a punters clearly fancy it to go all the way.

Norway - 7.06/1

It looks like 2013 will be another strong year for Scandinavian entrants with Norway joining Denmark and Sweden amongst this year's early favourites. The Norwegians have been on many betters' radars ever since Alexander Rybak's landslide victory in 2009, but this year's entry looks like it might finally deliver on some of that promise. 'I feed You My Love' is an unashamed piece of electro-pop, a broody synth-heavy song performed with ice queen like coolness by Margaret Berger. Like last year's winner Euphoria, it's a well-produced piece of pop; the type of song you can imagine finding life beyond the fish bowl of continental competition. It's got plenty of quality and a heap of early hype, but whether that translates to success in Sweden remains to be seen, particularly as voters have tended to favour more uplifting numbers in previous years.

Netherlands - 13.012/1

Hard as it may be to believe, the Netherlands tend to fair even worse than England when it comes to the Eurovision song contest. The Dutch haven't qualified for the live televised finals since 2004 and last won the whole shebang all the way back in 1975. As a result it's somewhat surprising to see them mixing it up with some of this year's musical favourites. But in 'Birds', a haunting ballad performed by Anouk (a sort of diet Alanis Morissette), they've undoubtedly found their best entry in recent memory. The song itself is likely to be a hit with jurors, whilst the televoting public will I suspect warm to its singer. However at 13.012/1 the market definitely reflects uncertainty over the Netherlands' Eurovision pedigree.

Sweden - 17.016/1

The question on many punters' lips will be whether Sweden can follow up the euphoria of Loreen's win last time out by scooping the Eurovision gong for the second year in succession. Robin Stjernberg's 'You' is undoubtedly one of the better songs that will invade your earholes in this year's competition, but it faces an uphill struggle if Sweden is going to retain its title. After all, out of the 57 previous contests only Luxemburg, Ireland and Israel have won twice in a row, which explains why confidence isn't exactly skyhigh in the markets.

Ukraine - 17.5n/a

Ukraine were amongst the first entrants to show their hands for this year's contest, announcing back in December that Zlata Ognevich will represent the nation's hopes with 'Gravity'. The song itself is one of the more saccharine entries from this year's contest; a mediocre musical number that you've forgotten before the singer's even stepped off stage. However it's amongst this year's favourites for two reasons. First is Zlata herself, a singer who'll probably prove to be amongst the best vocalists in this year's contest and one who's as easy on the eyes as she is on the ears. The second is Ukraine's ever burgeoning block of voting allies, whose partisan support should put it there or there abouts when the finals get underway in Malmo.