Eurovision 2018

Automatic qualifiers have done the draw for which half of the show they'll perform in.
France, Germany, The UK and Spain all drew first half performance slots, along with Portugal who drew 8th position a few weeks ago in a separate draw.
Only Italy drew the second half.

3 of the past 4 winning songs (2017, 2015 and 2014) all won from first half slots but they were all in the second part of the first half, so an early draw is still not considered favourable. As the UK and Germany aren't in with any realistic shot of winning I suspect they'll both be given 1st-7th. France will almost certainly be given 9th-13th, and I'd say Spain probably will too.

Try_harder

I got Cyprus at 12/1 and Finland at 40/1 - guess Im a bangers man!

yerwanthere123

Disappointed about where France were drawn, but as above I think they'll be in the latter half of the first half. Not that I thought they had a realistic shot at winning anyway, but only way I could see it now is if they won the jury vote by a huge margin and came around 3rd in the public vote. I can dream I guess!

4068ac1elhodqr

Try_harder wrote: »

I got Cyprus at 12/1 and Finland at 40/1 - guess Im a bangers man!

12/1? Cool, the lady from Cyprus was underrated from the start, maybe not as much as FYROM, but she sure works it on the stage. Finland readily available at 51 (50/1) but isn't really on the radar.

Whitters22

Spain and Austria are the only two I've religiously listened to over the last couple of weeks. Hope they do really well!!

4068ac1elhodqr

Cyprus lady is on fire (Fuego), now the joint fav to win outright.
Isr without the love looper machine and lack of theatrics/dynamics, could be the showstopper for them.



Fuego
Fuego
Ah yeah ah yeah ah yeah, yeah ah yeah ah yeah
Fuego

dogcat

Question for you, if I put €5 on Cyprus @7/1 EW, does that mean I get €53.70 if Cyprus places in the top 4, without winning, or do I only get that if Cyprus wins?

Try_harder

dogcat wrote: »

Question for you, if I put 5 on Cyprus @7/1 EW, does that mean I get 53.70 if Cyprus places in the top 4, without winning, or do I only get that if Cyprus wins?

You would get about 13.75 back if they finished top 4 (1/4 odds)

If you'd asked me a week or two ago which song was going to come from nowhere like that, it would have been a good while before I'd have thought of Cyprus! To go from borderline qualifier to potential winner in such a short space of time is a big achievement*, so I guess the live performance must really have something special in it? It's not my favourite song in the contest by any means but I can certainly appreciate that it's catchy, and I'm now looking forward to seeing it live much more than I had been previously. Plus it's always nice to see a country that's never won be in the mix, so I wouldn't begrudge them a victory even if I think other songs are more deserving.

*either that or there's lots of money changing hands somewhere in the background....though I don't think Cyprus is that kind of country! :pac:

Try_harder

Deleted User wrote: »

If you'd asked me a week or two ago which song was going to come from nowhere like that, it would have been a good while before I'd have thought of Cyprus! To go from borderline qualifier to potential winner in such a short space of time is a big achievement*, so I guess the live performance must really have something special in it? It's not my favourite song in the contest by any means but I can certainly appreciate that it's catchy, and I'm now looking forward to seeing it live much more than I had been previously. Plus it's always nice to see a country that's never won be in the mix, so I wouldn't begrudge them a victory even if I think other songs are more deserving.

*either that or there's lots of money changing hands somewhere in the background....though I don't think Cyprus is that kind of country! :pac:

Malta would be dodgy money country lol

4068ac1elhodqr

Try_harder wrote: »

You would get about 13.75 back if they finished top 4 (1/4 odds)

Not even sure if it would be that much, prices are dropping fast and there hasn't been any value in them for some time now.

Little point in going e/w on the joint fav anyway, and would have to double stake 5win +5 (for the place part). Unless doing 2.50 e/w.

Instead listen to entrants <30days (next year) and pick a few catchy favourites out early.

Just sit back and watch those loverly firey ladies stamping their stilleto heels on the dancefloor 20:00hrs + CET. Well much later if the last song so likely closer to 22:00...

Try_harder

Cant wait to see Cyprus live tomorrow night!


Yeah yeah yeah, fire

4068ac1elhodqr

Cyprus 2nd Reh:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evz5Fy9d3SU

As you can see the ladies put on a bit of a 'show',
decent staging, effects, energy, pyrotechnics etc.

Only two concerns
i) Such the vigour of the ponytail swashing, one of the dancers could damage their neck.

ii) [Pre-Chorus]
I was looking for some high-high-highs, yeah
'Til I got a doze of you
You got me pelican fly-fly-flyin'

"Pelican flying"?

Try_harder

Love the cardboard cutout fans

dogcat

Some of you may enjoy this

https://twitter.com/eurovisionisbae/status/992259362151264261

Try_harder

Thats what I was hinting at!

yerwanthere123

Happy Eurovision day everyone! Not looking forward to the war-zone this thread will turn into when Ireland fail to qualify again :pac:

Try_harder

Cyprus 17/10 now on Betfair! Feugo!

4068ac1elhodqr

Try_harder wrote: »

Cyprus 17/10 now on Betfair! Feugo!

Hyped to the max, someone was snoozing at powers earlier, as they had them at 4.5 just for SF1 (3pl) for a while, pulled back to 2.7 within the hour.

4.5 still wasn't great but for less than half the field at 3pl, fair enough.

She's like the wan off Cowells talent show, and with the backing singers/dancers. Effectively eastern euro p'catdolls tribute act.

Try_harder

Chris Wooden Motorbike wrote: »

Hyped to the max, someone was snoozing at powers earlier, as they had them at 4.5 just for SF1 (3pl) for a while, pulled back to 2.7 within the hour.

4.5 still wasn't great but for less than half the field at 3pl, fair enough.

She's like the wan off Cowells talent show, and with the backing singers/dancers. Effectively eastern euro p'catdolls tribute act.

Its catnip to the gays! And its got that Greek melody for a cultural reference

4068ac1elhodqr

Try_harder wrote: »

Its catnip to the gays! And its got that Greek melody for a cultural reference

Not sure what catnip is, but the lucious Eleni sure is easy on the eye for us straight chaps out there.

That 2 bar ethnic music loop in the track, can only be associated with folks that play an 'instrument of an unknown origin' outside shopping centres - across the width and breath of the country, in the hope of financial coinage reward.

In this instance it appears to be working for Cyprus, whom have now overtaken Isr, as the potential winner.

Try_harder

We could see an Albanian born Greek musician representing Cyprus with a song in English with a Spanish title win on Saturday in Portugal.

Try_harder

Sheep, douze points!

Mollyb60

RTE got in on the Eurovision predictions yesterday with their piece:
https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2018/0505/960293-eurovision-eleven-acts-in-the-run-for-glittery-glory/

They've listed most of the songs I actively dislike from the contest this year, including Netta (can we PLEASE stop talking about Netta?) the cringy Norway song and the bizzare country/western/Eurovision song Outlaw in em from the Netherlands. :rolleyes:

Very excited for the first semi-final tonight. The bank holiday has me all off so I didn't even realise it was tonight till my husband mentioned it this morning. A good start to the day!

gmisk

It looks like Macedonia are a long shot to even qualify alas
they are now a whopping 28/1 for top 10 boo
Azerbaijan still 7/1 for top 10

Poland though are now 15/2 for top 10 (I got them at 10/1!)

Semi Final 1 predicted qualifiers are
Israel
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Bulgaria
Greece
Austria
Lithuania
Armenia
Belgium

So that would mean Finland, Croatia, Azerbaijan and Ireland all out (as well as my beloved Macedonia).
So we will see!

In even bigger news CYPRUS are the new favourites to win ahead of Israel!

4068ac1elhodqr

The Macedonians must have had a very poor 2nd live rehersal, that has put them 2nd last in SF1 to qualify (even below Ire).

If they can get sound levels right, syncronisation and perform their catchy tune well 21:00 CEST, they should still pull through.
With upcoming NATO & EU membership the eurocentric judges will toss them out a few extra points anyway.

Cyprus is the story of the day, dropped like a stone last night from about 12 into 9, into 3, within hours.
And from mid-range 67 just 6weeks ago. Recent performances have been 'energetic' to say the least.

Azerbijiggystan usually do well in these things, and are still 200/1 shots.
The Czech lad 20/1 likely ruined his chances through inappropiate behaviour.
The only other wildcards of note were Romania 250/1, decent enough.
Liked also the Flatlanders country-rock, different but 100/1 now.

gmisk

Chris Wooden Motorbike wrote: »

The Czech lad 20/1 likely ruined his chances through inappropiate behaviour.

What did he do?
The only thing I really know about him is he hurt himself doing a backflip at rehearsal.

4068ac1elhodqr

gmisk wrote: »

What did he do?
The only thing I really know about him is he hurt himself doing a backflip at rehearsal.

Thik he said the loverly FYROM lady farted in her video, then went cranky during 2nd rehersals and damaged his back in the previous rehersal, so won't be dancing much for finals. Still, the teenage girls will send some votes his way.

Same price as Josef, and probably one of the lower risk entrants might be Bulgaria, very atmospheric and bucket loads of harmonies. Also, 5pl are now available.

Strazdas

Ryan is in with a great shout of qualifying from that #18 position. I've seen two clips of his jury final performance last night and he went big in the arena....loud cheers for the dancers coming on stage and when the snow starts falling.

I think Lithuania can join him in the final. A really heartfelt, emotional performance from Ieva and a big contrast to the loud, in your face midtempo and uptempo pop stuff.

gmisk

Strazdas wrote: »

Ryan is in with a great shout of qualifying from that #18 position. I've seen two clips of his jury final performance last night and he went big in the arena....loud cheers for the dancers coming on stage and when the snow starts falling.

I think Lithuania can join him in the final. A really heartfelt, emotional performance from Ieva and a big contrast to the loud, in your face midtempo and uptempo pop stuff.

I would still be pretty shocked if ireland qualify with that song....he is a great performer though and staging does look good so we will see.

So the biggest surprise not qualifier might be Saara Aalto for me...

The bulgaria song is excellent but might take a couple of listens for people to like it. Also the staging was very err green.