Eurovision triggers betting interest surge
"Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year," said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform.
Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world's biggest televised live music event.
But bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years -- and this year in particular.
"We've already passed 2023's total activity and we're not even at the final yet," Huttunen told AFP by email on Friday.
"If this trajectory holds, we're on track to see a record-breaking Eurovision in terms of betting volume."
On the OCS platform, "Eurovision ranks as the number one non-sporting event for betting -- and in some cases it's outperforming smaller sports competitions entirely".
'Reacting in real time'
Sweden, represented by Finnish comedy act KAJ, has been pegged by bookmakers as the runaway favourite this year, putting Sweden on course to win a record-breaking eighth Eurovision.
Their quirky number "Bara Bada Bastu" about sweating it out in a sauna, is "already odds-on (10/11) to win, which is incredibly rare", Alex Apati, spokesman for the British Ladbrokes betting chain, told AFP.
OCS said its search data showed a 57 percent spike in betting-related searches just on Sweden.
Austria's JJ has meanwhile been gaining traction for his operatic ballad "Wasted Love", with his odds shortening to 9/4 and search volume increasing 44 percent over the past weekend, OCS said.
Bookmakers have France's Louane, with her ballad "Maman", in third position with a 10 percent shot at the title.
She is followed by "C'est la vie" by Claude of the Netherlands, and Finland's leather-clad Erika Vikman and her "Ich Komme" song about falling into the trance of lust.
Thursday's second semi-final, meanwhile, "definitely stirred things up", Huttunen said, pointing to "a noticeable spike in bets on Armenia" and also a "surge of interest in Ukraine".
"It's clear viewers are reacting in real time."
'Interesting angles'
For Ladbrokes, the UK's act is "the most popular pick in our book in terms of bets placed", Apati said in an email.
"But at odds of 66/1, they're incredibly unlikely to win this year," he said.
"They're actually considerably more likely to finish with zero points (12/1), or in last place (3/1), than they are to win it."
The betting interest meanwhile spreads far beyond simply trying to pick the winner.
"There's a lot of interest in the top five," Apati said.
"This is because Sweden are priced so short, punters are looking for value elsewhere."
"When the favourites are heavily tipped, savvy betters start looking for more interesting angles," agreed Huttunen.
Bookmakers have received bets on anything from the top performer within a specific region, like the Baltics or Nordic countries, to the winning performance language.
The language aspect is particularly interesting, Huttunen said, "since it taps into the cultural and emotional side of Eurovision, especially as more countries embrace native-language entries again".
After Eurovision removed the requirement for countries to perform in their native languages from 1999, most acts began performing in English.
But there has been an increasing shift back towards native language songs, with this year's contest boasting artists performing in 20 different languages.
High volumes of bets on that and other aspects show a "depth of engagement (that) tells us that fans aren't just watching for entertainment", Huttunen said.
"Eurovision has evolved into an event that's every bit as dynamic as traditional sport and betters are treating it that way."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fashion Network
15 hours ago
- Fashion Network
First-ever Hermès Birkin handbag to be auctioned in Paris in July
The first Birkin handbag, designed especially for Jane Birkin in 1984, will be auctioned in Paris on July 10, the last day of Haute Couture Week, announced auction house Sotheby's on Thursday. The large black leather tote, the original version of one of the world's most celebrated and expensive handbags, will be the 'signature item' in Sotheby's 'Fashion Icons' auction, as Sotheby's said in a press release. The handbag will be exhibited to the public at Sotheby's gallery in New York on June 6-12, ahead of its final presentation at the auction house's Parisian offices in the 8th arrondissement, on July 3-9. The 'historic handmade prototype,' engraved with the initials J.B., is distinctive for several peculiarities that make it a unique piece: its size, the closed metal rings, the non-detachable shoulder strap, and the incorporated nail clipper. Jane Birkin was undoubtedly a fashion icon, but she was keen on practicality above all. On a Paris to London flight, the British singer-actress, who died in 2023, complained with a fellow passenger of not being able to find a handbag that fit the needs of a young mother. The fellow passenger was none other than Jean-Louis Dumas, then boss of Hermès. A tote bag with a pouch for baby bottles was launched by Hermès in 1984, and was named Birkin. Forty years later, the Birkin leather handbag has become the French luxury house's most iconic product. It is manufactured in very small quantities to foster its exclusive image. Its prices can vary greatly, from a few thousand euro for the simplest models, to several hundred thousand euros for the most luxurious ones. In addition to the Birkin handbag, the auction will feature iconic items from runway shows by designers such as Christian Dior, John Galliano, Thierry Mugler and Alexander McQueen. The auction will start online from June 26, and will continue until the closing date of July 10.
France 24
17 hours ago
- France 24
Art that speaks for the sea: Mandy Barker's mission to end fast fashion waste
10:14 In this special edition for World Oceans Day, we spotlight the urgent, haunting work of Mandy Barker, the award-winning British photographic artist using sea-salvaged fashion waste to expose the truth about plastic pollution. Her cyanotype series "Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections" reimagines the work of 19th-century botanist Anna Atkins, replacing seaweed with clothing scraps collected from 121 beaches around the UK. The result is both poetic and jarring, earning praise from none other than Sir David Attenborough, who supports Barker's work for its power to inspire real change. Also on the programme, we share the mesmerising photography of Jean Gaumy, an official naval artist and member of Magnum Photos, whose decades-long career documenting life at sea continues to shape how we see the ocea – from polar expeditions to submarine missions. Together, their work is a wake-up call – and a visual love letter – to the world's most vital ecosystem.
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Studio Ghibli marks 40 years, but future looks uncertain
But the future is uncertain, with latest hit "The Boy and the Heron" likely -- but not certainly -- the final feature from celebrated co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, now 84. The studio behind the Oscar-winning "Spirited Away" has become a cultural phenomenon since Miyazaki and the late Isao Takahata established it in 1985. Its popularity has been fuelled of late by a second Academy Award in 2024 for "The Boy and the Heron", starring Robert Pattinson, and by Netflix streaming Ghibli movies around the world. In March, the internet was flooded with pictures in its distinctively nostalgic style after the release of OpenAI's newest image generator -- raising questions over copyright. The newly opened Ghibli Park has also become a major tourist draw for central Japan's Aichi region. Julia Santilli, a 26-year-old from Britain living in northern Japan, "fell in love with Ghibli" after watching the 2001 classic "Spirited Away" as a child. "I started collecting all the DVDs," she told AFP. Ghibli stories are "very engaging and the artwork is stunning", said another fan, Margot Divall, 26. "I probably watch 'Spirited Away' about 10 times a year still." 'Whiff of death' Before Ghibli, most cartoons in Japan -- known as anime -- were made for children. But Miyazaki and Takahata, both from "the generation that knew war", included darker elements that appeal to adults, Miyazaki's son Goro told AFP. "It's not all sweet -- there's also a bitterness and things like that which are beautifully intertwined in the work," he said, describing a "whiff of death" in the films. For younger people who grew up in peacetime, "it is impossible to create something with the same sense, approach and attitude", Goro said. Even "My Neighbor Totoro", with its cuddly forest creatures, is in some ways a "scary" movie that explores the fear of losing a sick mother, he explained. Susan Napier, a professor at Tufts University in the United States and author of "Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art", agrees. "In Ghibli, you have ambiguity, complexity and also a willingness to see that the darkness and light often go together" unlike good-versus-evil US cartoons, she said. The post-apocalyptic "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" -- considered the first Ghibli film despite its release in 1984 -- has no obvious villain, for example. The movie featuring an independent princess curious about giant insects and a poisonous forest felt "so fresh" and a change from "a passive woman... having to be rescued", Napier said. Natural world Studio Ghibli films also depict a universe where humans connect deeply with nature and the spirit world. A case in point was 1997's "Princess Mononoke", distributed internationally by Disney. The tale of a girl raised by a wolf goddess in a forest threatened by humans is "a masterpiece -- but a hard movie", Napier said. It's a "serious, dark and violent" film appreciated more by adults, which "was not what US audiences had anticipated with a movie about a princess". Ghibli films "have an environmentalist and animistic side, which I think is very appropriate for the contemporary world with climate change", she added. Miyuki Yonemura, a professor at Japan's Senshu University who studies cultural theories on animation, said watching Ghibli movies is like reading literature. "That's why some children watch Totoro 40 times," she said, adding that audiences "discover something new every time". French connection Miyazaki and Takahata -- who died in 2018 -- could create imaginative worlds because of their openness to other cultures, Yonemura said. Foreign influences included writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery and animator Paul Grimault, both French, and Canadian artist Frederic Back, who won an Oscar for his animation "The Man Who Planted Trees". Takahata studying French literature at university "was a big factor", Yonemura said. "Both Miyazaki and Takahata read a lot," she said. "That's a big reason why they excel at writing scripts and creating stories." Miyazaki has said he was inspired by several books for "Nausicaa", including the 12th-century Japanese tale "The Lady who Loved Insects", and Greek mythology. Studio Ghibli will not be the same after Miyazaki stops creating animation, "unless similar talent emerges", Yonemura said. Miyazaki is "a fantastic artist with such a visual imagination" while both he and Takahata were "politically progressive", Napier said. "The more I study, the more I realise this was a unique cultural moment," she said. "It's so widely loved that I think it will carry on," said Ghibli fan Divall. "As long as it doesn't lose its beauty, as long as it carries on the amount of effort, care and love," she said.
