Eurovision Song Contest / Chicken Dinner / 30 April 2009 / Leave a comment

After years of sending any old reality TV reject or random group of misfits halfway across Europe to be humiliated, the UK have finally decided to take the Eurovision Song Contest seriously again, writes Chicken Dinner.

Andrew Lloyd Webber has written this year's UK entry - Its My Time - and helped identify Jade Ewan as the woman who can make the UK a force to be reckoned with again. Betfair punters have been swayed by the wave of optimism and the UK finds itself in the unfamiliar position of fourth favourite [22.0], a drastic improvement on last year's [270.00].

Of course, the fact most voters would probably rather spend an hour with a swine flu victim than pick up the phone and support the UK means that victory remains very unlikely. There have, however, been changes to the voting system this year to try to prevent the Eastern Bloc countries from helping out their neighbours after last year's winners Russia were gifted 12 points by Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus and Armenia. In this years final, televoting will count for just 50 per cent of each countrys vote, with a jury of national music experts controlling the other 50 per cent.

Norway [2.9] are currently favourites, which supports the belief that reintroducing juries will minimise political voting. Their entry, Fairytale, was written and composed by 22-year-old Alexander Rybak, who will be accompanied on stage by folk dance group Frikar. The Belarus-born singer gains points for playing the violin, but his voice starts to grate after a while. Only once in the last 18 years has a male solo artist triumphed.

Second favourites Greece [8.0] have finished in the top three in four of the last eight years and will be confident of doing so again this year with their slice of pure Eurovision cheese. Like Norway, they have invested their hopes in a solo man, Sakis Rouvas , but their entry This Is Our Night is a safer pop song which is rounded off nicely with some terrible dance moves. Rouvas is the Greek equivalent of Ricky Martin and has already proven his popularity with Eurovision voters by finishing third in 2004. On that occasion, his entry Shake It received 12 points from the UK.

Turkey [11.5] have opted for style over substance this year. Their entry Dum Tek Tek is upbeat but bland, while the singer they have chosen, Hadise, has a reputation for racy performances (her music videos have been criticised in some Turkish quarters for being over-erotic.) That strategy could prove effective though, as five of the last seven winners have been women, while the last two female champions were in the same age range as 23-year-old Hadise: Marija Serifovic (22, 2007) and Helena Paparizou (23, 2005).

The UK are either being set up for yet another big fall or are finally ready to emerge from the Eurovision wilderness. The last two winners have been ballads, singer Ewan is easily the best British representative of the decade and the presence of Lloyd Webber playing piano on stage could further boost prospects. However, as the UK have failed to even make the top fifteen in any of the last six years, talk of victory is premature even with the voting system tweaked. A second top 10 finish in eleven years [2.04] could be on the cards though.

One of the best things about Eurovision is that it gives smaller countries like Luxembourg, who normally only experience the spotlight when their football team reaches new levels of ineptitude, the chance to taste success. Fifth-favourites Azerbaijan [26.0] are the minnows to keep an eye on this year. They made an impressive debut in eighth last year and in each of the last eight years a previously uncrowned nation has been victorious. Their song Always by AySel and Arash is fairly catchy.