Who is Eurovision favourite to win? Sweden and Finland…

Who is Eurovision favourite to win? Sweden and Finland 'too close to call' as new contender emerges

This year's Eurovision Song Contest looks set to go right down to the wire, with two countries well ahead in the odds and tipped to be locked in a head-to-head battle for this year's crown. But, a new contender has also emerged, after France's first dress rehearsal dazzled fans.

It's now been 12 months since Ukraine won Eurovision in Turin, thanks to their act Kalush Orchestra receiving a huge share of the public vote, to eclipse the United Kingdom's Sam Ryder, who had scored the best with the juries.

However, given what has been going in Ukraine over the last year or so, the European Broadcasting Union decided that Ukraine couldn't host and, therefore, the job of taking on the competition for 2023 fell on the shoulders of the UK and the BBC.

After many cities bid to host this year's Eurovision, Liverpool were chosen to do the honours and Merseyside is now alive and kicking with all the festivities that come with the world famous event.

The competition side of things will goy going with the semi finals, with Eurovision semi final 1 on Tuesday, May 9, before Eurovision semi final 2 on Thursday and the final on Saturday, May 13.

Who is the favourite to win Eurovision?

For a while now, bookies have made this year's title a two horse race between Sweden's Loreen, a former Eurovision winner and huge fan favourite, Kaarija from Finland. Both acts will perform in the first semi final and, just days before that, Finland dethroned Sweden for top spot on My Eurovision, the app that lets fans rank all of this year's entries from 1 to 37.

And France's La Zarra has seen her odds slashed, since her stunning dress rehearsal caused a real stir amongst fans online.

The latest odds from BetVictor, as of Thursday, May 11 were:

Sweden - 10/11

Finland - 11/5

France - 7/1

Ukraine - 10/1

Spain - 10/1

Norway - 16/1

Israel - 20/1

Austria - 30/1

Italy - 33/1

United Kingdom - 50/1

Czech Republic - 80/1

Germany - 100/1

Armenia - 100/1

Australia - 100/1

Croatia - 100/1

And, at the the time of writing, the odds with Betfair were:

Sweden 8/13

Finland 15/8

France 9/1 (were 17/1)

Spain 11/1

Ukraine 12/1

Norway 18/1

Israel 22/1

Austria 30/1

Italy 33/1

United Kingdom 45/1

Czech Republic 80/1

Ireland, Croatia 100/1

Armenia 125/1

Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Switzerland 150/1

Serbia, Georgia, Slovenia, Greece, Estonia, Denmark, Moldova, Portugal, Poland, Cyprus, Iceland 250/1

Albania, Romania, San Marino, Azerbaijan, Malta, Lithuania, Latvia, Belgium 300/1

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