David

Ireland won't win... The only reason, as people have already mentioned, that they are so high in the odds is because so many deluded Brits have been putting a bet on them. Definitely no chance of winning.

Right here's my inaccurate as ever semi final two prediction... Estonia 176Denmark 134Bosnia-Herzegovina 123Latvia 104Sweden 91Austria 91Ukraine 78Israel 72Ireland 62Belarus 55Cyprus 52Romania 46Bulgaria 46Netherlands 39Slovakia 34Slovenia 33Moldova 29FYR Macedonia 7Belgium 4

They get released after the final. The above could be correct, as reports regarding which country has won the exclusive jury vote that took place a few years back were sometimes accurate, but I'd be more tempted to say that's just someone guessing tbh...

I'm sure Ireland were at like 40/1 a few days ago as well weren't they? The only explanation can be that loads of Brits have been putting money on them winning. Is there any way of seeing other countries' bookmakers?!

Ridiculous odds for Ireland seriously. Update... SkyBet: France 6/4 Azerbaijan 7/1 Ireland 8/1 United Kingdom 8/1 Estonia 8/1 William Hill: France 7/4 Ireland 6/1 United Kingdom 8/1 Azerbaijan 10/1 Estonia 10/1

Amazing show tonight! Can't believe some of the qualifiers! Major shock at Switzerland going through in particular, but so glad they did! From my original predictions, I got 7/10, and from the ones I did tonight after all songs had been sung I got 8/10. Unbelievable that Norway and Turkey are out. That must be the first time since...1999 that Turkey haven't been in the final? Wait, no I've just looked and it's the first time since 1994! :o

Me? What do you mean by this Tyron!!!

Ok...here's my brave set of predictions. Azerbaijan 144Russia 126Hungary 123Norway 98Greece 88Turkey 85Iceland 83Finland 60Serbia 59San Marino 56Lithuania 55Poland 54Armenia 54Albania 49Georgia 30Croatia 27Portugal 19Switzerland 8Malta 0I wasn't looking at all the points as I went through, and this is how it ended up. Being a bit brave/stupid putting San Marino at tenth I know, but I genuinly do think it'll be a bit of a bloodbath between them, Finland, Serbia, Lithuania, Poland, Armenia and Albania. I'm fairly confident of the top seven qualifying though.

So is it just me who is left incredibly underwhelmed and a general feeling of "meh" after listening to this?

Ok...so I think France may win now. It was played as the last song when I was out last night, and it suddenly struck a chord with me! Amazing! And the rehearsal is pretty fantastic too.

This is amazing... I kind of don't want her to become too well known in the UK though. I quite like her being exclusive and only known to a select few over here.

I'm a fan of 'Popular', but I think Saade's first rehearsal was pretty awful myself... Nowhere NEAR as good as the one I have on my preview DVD, which I'm assuming was the MF performance. Just watching Austria's performance too, no surprise their odds have shortened slightly. Good rehearsal!

23 posts later, and I'm still unsure about what ESC EXPERT is trying to "prove". :(

Same! I knew we weren't going to win in 2009, but I knew top five was a massive possibility, so I was totally pleased with that! We needed that high finish too, just to remind everyone that we CAN do well. Not that it's made a blind bit of difference though, as despite everyone remembering it at the time, last year's failure has led everyone to completely forget about Jade's success.

I just don't see televoters voting in their droves for it, I really don't. I would say it'll do fairly well with the juries, but even so, as we've seen over the past two years, the juries aren't all too dissimilar from the average televoter. I still think we're going to win it! Imagine if we had a Katrina style win?! I think I'd hyperventilate!!!

Wynter Gordon getting some success AT LAST!!!

Not necessarily... I *think* Norway had much shorter odds in 2009, and Greece had longer odds than the UK do at present. I personally can't see France winning myself...

Haha I know. Betfair always has odds like that though. You get the general idea though! Azerbaijan's rehearsal hardly blew the roof off either did it? :mellow:

After the first couple of days of rehearsals, here is how things are looking... Betfair... France 333/100 United Kingdom 13/2 Estonia 38/5 Azerbaijan 119/10 Sweden 133/10 Hungary 133/10 Bosnia-Herzegovina 81/5 Germany 81/5

Drop Dead Beautiful, Selfish and He About to Lose Me all far too low here! Till the World Ends ftw as well please!

I genuinly think I'd be in tears for a good few days... :cry: If 1998 happened now, I'd be pretty gutted, although that did seem worse on Malta! 1988 would be just UNBEARABLE though.

I'll genuinly be gutted if we finish second. 16th time?! Third would be preferable!

I still think we're going to win. The only threats imo are France and Azerbaijan, and from the three we've got the most universal song. And a decent position in the draw. Azerbaijan are a possibility to do really well, but from everyone that I've played it to, no one has really seemed particularly impressed. In fact, most prefer Slovakia... Let's be honest, if Azerbaijan and Slovakia were sending each other's acts, the Azeri odds would still be as high as they are and Slovakia's still as low.

It'd be catastrophic if she didn't make it out of the semis! Luckily she's in the easier of the semi finals, and has a good position in the draw too. The only countries I see having a greater chance of qualification that Kati are Norway, Russia, Finland (maybe), Azerbaijan and probably Greece too. I suppose Turkey will qualify, Albania more than likely will, Armenia could do, but surely Hungary will be filling one of the final two slots!

Mehhh not a fan I'm afraid Pavel. :( Not really listened to it much though, so will give it a few more goes!