According to Coral Bookmakers, it will be “incredibly” surprising if the UK or Ireland finish highly in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
With just over a week to go until the semi-finals are held in Rotterdam, Coral spokesman Harry Aitkenhead has said neither country has “much hope at all” of finishing with a high score.
It might not be surprising after the UK finished dead last back in 2019 with Michael Rice’s song Bigger Than Us scoring just 11 points.
Meanwhile, France and Malta are being billed as joint favourites to scoop the coveted Eurovision crown.
“France have now joined Malta as the joint favourite for the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest with just over a week to [go] until it all kicks off,” Harry said.
(Image: WireImage)
“We can’t choose between the two for who will go into the competition as the leading contender.”
He added: “We aren’t giving the United Kingdom or Ireland much hope at all and will be incredibly surprised to see either finish high up the leaderboard.”
Coral now has Malta and France both billed as 3-1 favourites.
The UK, meanwhile, is at 50-1, with Ireland trailing behind at 66-1.
(Image: BBC)
Other contenders for the crown include Switzerland, Italy, Bulgaria and Iceland.
The UK is awarded automatic entry to the competition as one of the ‘Big Five’ – despite not having won since 1997.
The country gets to skip the semi-finals and progress straight to the Grand Final as it is one of the biggest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union.
In total, the UK has won five times, most recently in 1997 with Love Shine A Light by Katrina and the Waves.
(Image: Victor Frankowsk)
Ireland, meanwhile, has risen to victory seven times, most recently in 1996 with Eimear Quinn’s The Voice.
Its only top 10 result in the last 13 years was Jedward’s 8th-place hit Lipstick.
This year, UK act James Newman hopes to get us on the left-hand side of the leaderboard with his upbeat dance track Embers.
“If you listen to the charts right now, it’s all that kind of upbeat, positive music, and I wanted the song to kind of represent the UK in that sense as well – the idea of Embers is the spark in the fire that’s never burnt out,” he told Sky News.
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He thinks he’s “nailed the song” this year, and hopes to raise the country’s profile in this year’s contest.
And to prep for it, he insists ice baths are the way to go.
James told the Daily Star Sunday: “I love ice baths. I do them regularly. They always get me in the right frame of mind.
“I get nervous before every performance. And I know that before Eurovision my body is going to be freaking out.
“So I’ll be asking for fresh ice to be delivered every day and then I can do one in my hotel room.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
