The UK's Eurovision entrant Sam Ryder is a tipped to rack up points at this year's contest and if he wins with his song 'Spaceman' he will be the first UK contestant to take victory since 1997.
Essex born Sam, 32, has been placing high on the expected rankings at this year's Eurovision contest, a welcome break for the UK who have seen several years of embarrassingly poor scores at the international music competition.
Sam, who found fame posting covers on social media site Tik Tok, will represent the UK at the 2022 contest this weekend.
The long-haired crooner will join the hopefuls battling it out at the Pala Olimpico Arena in Turin, Italy this weekend after rockers Maneskin took home the top prize at last year's contest.
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Data compiled on Betfair Exchange have revealed that the average odds of previous winners over the past decade have stood at 4/1, suggesting that an outsider could potentially secure the win this year.
Despite Ukraine being the firm pre-tournament favourite for the win with a 4/6 odds, the track record over the last decade show that the pre-empted favourites for the win have only taking home the victory for half of the contests.
Therefore it is not a foregone conclusion that Ukraine will leave victorious and the UK's entrant Sam will be hoping to earn enough points to get the win overall.
Sam is currently in second position according to the bookies with odds stacked at 8/1 for the win and his chances have improved hugely since the 69/1 odds for the Spaceman singer when the bookies first opened up their bets.
Italy, the hosts of this year's contest, are currently third favourite to win with odds of 17/2 and they could bag the win for a second year in a row if their entrant Mahmood & Blanco wow on the night.
Betfair spokesperson Sam Rosbottom said: “Sam Ryder has been backed by the punters to go all the way ever since our Eurovision market first opened. The UK were a whopping 69/1 to win the competition, but are now second favourites at 8/1 and it looks as though Ryder could be set to overturn last year’s disappointment of nul points.”
Sam is not just relying on the odds to bag the win as he has revealed his 'lucky charm' ahead of the contest this weekend.
When asked whether he had any rituals or 'lucky charms,' he shared that his luscious locks which he has become famed for will make his performance the best it can be. He said in response: "Is hairspray a lucky charm?"
Sam rose to prominence during the first lockdown with his renditions of popular songs on social media platform TikTok, with him having garnered more than 12 million followers.
He's revealed that although he was receiving significant attention with his account, it was after writing Space Man - his entry for Eurovision - that labels "offered [him] deals."
Millions of viewers across the world will tune in to Eurovision on Saturday 14 May and the UK are hoping to forget all about their nil point finish at last year's contest and fans will wait with baited breath to see if Sam steal the UK's first win in over two decades.
