Eurovision Song Contest Betting

The Eurovision song contest is an annual competition that has ran for 53 years and is held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).  The contest has been shown live since its inception in 1956 and is one of the most viewed non sporting events in the world, audience figures continue to grow year on year and for the 2009 Eurovision Song contest, which takes place on Saturday 16th May, they are expected to exceed 600 million viewers.

The show has moved on from its cheesy pop songs and local oddities and now produces some of the most modern and vibrant European music available.

With so many countries taking part in the contest and its ever growing popularity, betting on the Eurovision Song Contest is big business, with an estimated €300 million expected to be bet on this year's competition over the internet.  The most popular bet is on which country will win and the odds for winning Eurovision can vary greatly, some countries such as the United Kingdom in the past were constantly placed in the top ten but in recent years the former Eastern Bloc countries often head the betting as Eurovision favourites. Whichever way you choose to place your Eurovision bet, be sure to check out the Eurovision free bet guide to see what offers are available. The best betting offer available for the 2009 event is a free bet of £30/€30 for all new customers betting on Eurovision at Paddypower.

Paddy Power Free Bet

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Eurovision 2009

Eurovision 2009 is set to take place in Moscow, Russia, as the winner of the previous years contest is automatically put forward as the host for the following year, sometimes due to cost and logistics the hosts can opt out and the runners up get the chance to host. 

The venue will be Olimpiisky Indoor Arena in Moscow a former venue of the 1980 Summer Olympics, the venue will hold up to 16,000 people each night.  The event itself will take place from 12th May, with two semi finals taking place before the feature event, the Final, taking place on the 16th May.

For the 2009 Eurovision song contest there will be 42 countries participating and therefore 2 semi-finals will be required like those of Eurovision 2008.

Our betting tips section has some of the musical highlights that will be on offer and we also have a spotlight on the United Kingdoms entrant Jade Ewen.

Click here to place your Eurovision 2009 Bet with Paddy Power

Latest Eurovision News

The two Eurovision Semi finals have finished and there have been a number of shock exits from the competition most notably Ireland and we also said goodbye to Latvia, Serbia, Poland, Cyprus, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and the Netherlands.

1st Semi Final - 12th May

The first semi-final took place in Russia with 18 acts performing their wares, only 10 are able to go through and they are as follows:

2nd Semi Final - 14th May 2009

Following the standard never ending voting, the ten successful acts were named and most of the favourites went through.

New Voting Policy

To combat the negative press reports of previous Eurovision contests concerning the block voting of the former Eastern European countries it has been agreed that juries will make a comeback to the contest.  A panel from each country will now be voting alongside the public at home. The executive supervisor of Eurovision, Svante Stockelius said: "Nothing is more democratic than the vote of the public. But a jury takes the opportunity to listen to the songs several times before they make up their minds. We believe a combination will make the show more interesting" .

Click here to place your Eurovision 2009 Bet with Paddy Power