2018 - Sofabet.com

Eurovision in Concert 2018

Posted by Daniel

The Eurovision market on Betfair has the jitters. It feels like there’s a swift reaction to every bit of news or concert footage. Market leader Israel traded as short as 2.6 as Netta took to the stage in Tel Aviv. After an understandably nervous and excitable first live performance of ‘Toy’, the price drifted to […]

London Eurovision Party 2018

Posted by Daniel

We’re in the middle of Eurovision preview party season: Riga, London and Moscow last week will be followed by Tel Aviv tomorrow, then Amsterdam on Saturday and finally Madrid. A reminder that what transpires on a tiny stage in a small venue in front of excitable fans often has little bearing on the main event. […]

Eurovision 2018: Running order for the semi-finals

Posted by Daniel

Eagerly anticipated by the betting community and fans in general, the official website has just published the running order for both semi-finals, found here. Azerbaijan open the first heat, which we round off with Cyprus. Meanwhile, the first dish of the second heat is Norway, where we finish with Ukraine.

A reminder that song […]

Eurovision 2018: Summary of the market leaders

Posted by Daniel

With the semi-final draw published next week, and the London Eurovision Party on that Thursday, now seems a good time to take stock and assess the top of the outright market. I consider there to be some red herrings among them, though an open mind has to be kept at the pre-rehearsal stage.

I think […]

Eurovision 2018: Netta Barzilai’s ‘Toy’ and other recent selections

Posted by Daniel

When Netta Barzilai dropped her ‘Toy‘, all hell broke loose in the outright market and our comments section. There’s actually light and shade in the Israeli song, and as Eurovicious pointed out, a useful 30-second intro that welcomes us to the looper. But the danger with televoters is an initial reaction of ‘WTF’ based on […]

Eurovision 2018: Melfest, and recent selections

Posted by Daniel

Happy Melfest day! Since 2016, app voting in the final (indicated by the beating heart on TV screens) has had the effect of levelling off televoting scores (Swedish viewers can give up to five app votes for each act), allowing the international juries to wield huge power with their more differentiated points.

There’s been a […]

Eurovision 2018: Eesti Laul, and recent selections

Posted by Daniel

The are five national finals tonight, though the betting community will also have eyes for Melodifestivalen’s Second Chance round. It’ll be interesting to see how the outright market reacts to Eesti Laul and the presumed coronation of Elina Nechayeva’s ‘La Forza‘. Her success in Estonia has become something of a foregone conclusion.

On this […]

Eurovision 2018: The German national final, and recent selections

Posted by Daniel

Eurovision selection season now steps up a gear, though who knows when we’ll get clarity on the leading contenders. At the time of going to press, five countries vie for favouritism in the Betfair outright market – no clear-cut frontrunner has emerged.

Finland is one of those five, and tomorrow we’ll hear the last of […]