Eurovision Betting: Denmark the favourites after first semi-final

Ryan Dolan's act will be one of the highlights this year

It is Eurovision week and the first semi-final of the competition took place last night. Richard O'Hagan takes a look at the British and Irish entries and offers some other tips for the contest.

If it is May, it must be Eurovision Song Contest time again. This year, the competition is taking play in Malmo in Sweden and yesterday evening saw the first of two semi-finals to determine the 26 finalists for Saturday's big show.

Great Britain have gone back to the 1980s for this year's entry, calling up the Welshwoman with the powerful lungs and enormous hair, Bonnie Tyler. 'Believe in Me' was written for her by acclaimed songwriter Desmond Child, who has composed Top 40 hits for artists as diverse as Kiss, Ricky Martin, Aerosmith and Kermit the Frog. The British camp have been careful to keep expectations low following last year's overhyped and underwhelming Engelbert Humperdinck number, but picking a vintage performer has become something of a gamble in recent Eurovisions, as the voters tend to go for either the younger acts or the quirkier ones (for example, Lordi in 2006). At odds of 90.089/1 Tyler's not only a big outsider, she should probably be grateful that Britain is one of five countries guaranteed a bye into every Final.

Britain's record in recent Eurovisions isn't that great, with no win in the last 14 contests. Ireland, on the other hand, has a far greater pedigree. With seven victories, the Emerald Isle has won more often than any nation. However, it is even longer since they topped the table, last winning in 1996. There's been a perception in subsequent years that the Irish were not fielding their strongest acts in order to avoid winning, largely because the cost of staging the event (as each winner must do the following year) is so high. These rumours have, of course, always been denied by the Irish, but they are among those who have to take part in the semi-finals, which means that last night we were treated to the first sight of Ryan Dolan and his backing troupe of semi-naked, leather-trousered drummers. One thing that the British haven't really learned is that sometimes winning Eurovision can be as much about the spectacle as the song (surprising, given the skirt-ripping antics of Bucks Fizz) and Dolan's act is classic Eurovision. He's currently 70.069/1 to win, but expect that price to shorten in coming days. Perhaps more realistically, he's 3.711/4 to finish in the top 10, a price which looks a steal at the moment.

The winner of the first semi-final - and the hot favourite to win overall - is the Danish entry. Emmelie de Forest's 'Only Teardrops' ticks all of the right boxes for a winning Eurovision entry in the current era. It is theatrical, with a huge finish which will almost certainly involve bigger pyrotechnics and more glitter than we saw last night. It is sung by a young woman who combines the stage presence of a Florence Welch with looking a little like a young Cosette from Les Miserables. At 1.9720/21 to win she is a very short price in this market and although the song is a definite candidate for the win, don't back her until that price is over 4.03/1.

Also going through from the semi-final was the Dutch entry, 'Birds' by Anouk. It is the first time in nine years that the Netherlands have made it to the final, and it is clear that they have put a real effort into this number, calling upon one of their leading singers and a top songwriting/production team to turn out a song which has a real chance of winning this contest, certainly better than the 36.035/1 it is currently priced at.

The second semi-final is tomorrow evening, when ten more acts will be chosen to take part in the Final. Norway,  Georgia and Azerbaijan are strong favourites to qualify, but have a look at San Marino, who are handily priced at 5.69/2. Valentina Moletta is their representative for the second year running. She just missed out on last year's final and 'Chrisalide (Vola)' is a better song than then and was written by the man who wrote the winning entry in 1982, Nicole's 'A Little Peace'.

Recommended Bet:

Back Ireland at 3.9n/a to finish in the top 10