Eurovision 2022 Odds: Ukraine big favourites to lift title but are UK a surprise each-way bet?

In 2021, 183 million people tuned in to watch the Eurovision Song Contest. One hundred. And eighty-three. Million. If that were a population, it would be the eighth-biggest country on the planet. Take that Bangladesh. A similar figure will be tuning in this very weekend with a quiver of questions hopefully euphoniously answered at the PalaOlimpico in Turin: who will be the first to start the predictable plethora of political protests; what really happens if you give a wolf a banana; and, ultimately, who will take the crown from Italy and their ragu rock band Måneskin, champions in ‘21 with a 524-point haul? If those ponderings are read with puzzlement, well my friend, mon ami, paisan, maybe Eurovision just ain’t for you.

Or maybe you’re interested in where to place your well-earned coffers? Twenty-six musical acts will battle it out for one of the most prestigious, or at least widely recognised, prizes in world music, the Eurovision crown. Right now, it seems that Ukraine could submit a mixtape of feral dogs barking and still win, such is the support and sympathy for the beleaguered nation. Their entry, folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra, is across-the-board 1/3 favourites for the winner’s trophy. 

The United Kingdom have long been seen almost as the unwelcome guest at this brazen celebration of the bombastic, like a Buddhist at a rave, represented by a year on year points tally that would make Derby County ‘08 feel some level of sympathy. But now rejoice, Kingdomites, for this year - in pursuit of a first title since Katrina and the Waves in 1997 - the UK are now second in the running at 6/1 (with E/W paid out on 4 places with bet365, or Enhanced Win at 13/2), based on the strength of Sam Ryder’s Space Man, which is licking the national airwaves.

To be fair, the UK can’t do any worse than the null points of poor James Newman in the last edition of the competition (unless minus points are chucked in at the last moment?). You can find the United Kingdom at around 8/11 to finish in the top four, or 7/4 to be the top of the ‘Big Five’ countries, with bet365. Here you can find Italy favourites in this particular market, at 8/13, with their duo Mahood & BLANCO attempting to make Måneskin proud. Notably, the host country’s entry Brividi currently having been streamed the most out of any of the songs you’ll be bopping along to on Saturday night, according to Spotify data, being the top song in 70% of the participating countries (aside from home entries), equating to 28 out of 40 participating countries. That’s five times as many times as Sweden’s Cornelia Jakobs with Hold Me Closer, which trails in second place (7/1 for the win, 4/6 for a Champions League spot). And it was that very same data analysis that predicted Italy’s Måneskin’s victory just 12 months ago. Expecting lighting to strike twice? La dolce banger is fourth favourite for outright, at 12/1 (14/1 enhanced).

The 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest will take place on May 14 in Turin, Italy.  Viewers in the United Kingdom can catch it on BBC One from 8pm, with the event once again being narrated by Graham Norton.