The UK’s act is predicted to have a difficult evening in Vienna
Look Mum No Computer is not fancied to fare well in tonight’s contest(Image: Ian West/PA Wire)
The UK Eurovision act has been dealt a blow to their chances of winning hours before Grand Final. The showpiece event of the international stage contest will be held in Vienna tonight.
The final is taking place in Austria after JJ’s triumph in Basel last year with Wasted Love. Twenty five finalists will be taking to the stage in the Austrian Capital tonight as they aim to replicate JJ’s success. Britain is being represented by electronic singer-songwriter Look Mum No Computer.
However, the artist’s is not fancied to become UK’s first winner of Eurovision since Katrina and the Waves in 1997. At the start of the day, William Hill were offering odds of 125/1 for Look Mum No Computer to win.
But it looks set to be a difficult evening for Look Mum No Computer, if you follow the bookmakers, as these odds have plummeted in the lead up to the final. Betway is now offering odds of 250/1 for the UK to triumph in Austria tonight.
The odds are in favour of Finland to win as Betway is offering 10/11 for the country’s act, Liekinheitin, to win. Australia are also predicted to enjoy a good evening as the country is represented by Delta Goodrem at tonight’s show.
Betway is offering odds of 9/4 for the Australians to triumph. Although not a country in Europe, Australia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 10 times since its debut in 2015.
Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service, widely known as SBS, holds associate membership of the European Broadcasting Union. The broadcaster started showing the Eurovision Song Contest in 1983 and has transmitted the event every year since then. Eurovision has cultivated a dedicated and substantial following in Australia, and during its initial years, domestic broadcasts either featured no commentary or utilised footage from the BBC.
From 2010 to 2014, the Special Broadcasting Service offered Australian viewers the opportunity to participate in a televote during the Eurovision Song Contest final. These votes, nevertheless, were unofficial and bore no influence on the competition’s ultimate results.
In 2012, during the contest in Baku, the SBS commentary team and Australian delegation were allocated their own commentary booth for the first time, a provision that has continued annually ever since.
Australia’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015 was initially planned as a one-off appearance, with a return only possible if the nation claimed victory. Nevertheless, in November 2015, SVT announced that Australia would return in 2016, and the country has remained a fixture in the competition since then.
The event consistently achieves impressive television ratings for Special Broadcasting Service and has cultivated a substantial and devoted fan base throughout Australia.
Because the contest is held in Europe, Australian broadcasts typically air at approximately 5:00 a.m. AEST owing to the time zone difference. Eurovision also garners significant coverage from mainstream Australian media and sustains a fervent cult following amongst committed enthusiasts each year.
Eurovision gets underway at 8pm on BBC One.