Eurovision Song Contest / Andrew French / 18 May 2010 / 1

Eurovision convert Andrew French can't wait for the campest night in the calendar - and it's not just for the costumes and dreadful tunes, he's found a punting angle too.

It's probably fair to say everyone has guilty pleasures when it comes to music. Those albums or artists tucked away on the ipod or only listened to on solo car journeys.

Now, I wouldn't confess to having any albums of music from the genre of music I am about to confess to being a fan of, nor have I even bought as much as one track. But as an event, I love it.

Yes, I am a fan of Eurovision.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that the first Eurovision I can really remember, 1976, saw Brotherhood of Man win for the UK with Save All Your Kisses For Me. Five years later and we won it again thanks to Bucks Fizz and their famous 'skirt ripping' routine for Making Your Mind Up. So, maybe in my early years, I was spoiled by our relatively good strike rate.

But I think I was actually hooked on the whole show. The wooden presenters, the hugely varying quality of song and performer, Terry Wogan's wise-cracking commentary. It was a bit like a musical version of It's A Knockout, as the whole of Europe came together to compete on what was very often a far from level playing field.

What made it far from level were the vagaries of the scoring system. Back in the day, there was always the rogue jury who, out of nowhere, would suddenly give a 10 or a 12 to a country that had previously been scoreless. And even in those days, there was the tendency for countries with borders or close relationships with others to 'look after' their friends.

Of course, that has seemingly got considerably worse in recent years, and the UK has suffered as a result. To say we can't win Eurovision ever again is taking it a bit too far, but we'd have to come up with a song of 'Waterloo' proportions to even be a contender.

This year the UK has enlisted the song-writing talents of Pete Waterman and Mike Stock, two thirds of the 'Stock, Aitken and Waterman' pop phenomena of the 1980s that brought us No.1 hits such as Kylie Minogue's I Should Be So Lucky and Too Many Broken Hearts by Jason Donovan. Hmmm. I remember other acts in their stable, and just thinking about 'I'd Rather Jack' by the Reynolds Girls sends shivers of fear down my spine.

Waterman and Stock have penned That Sounds Good To Me - sadly, having seen Josh Dubovie performing it on TV, I can't imagine too many Europeans thinking it sounds that good to them. It's a nice enough song, but given the hurdles the UK have to overcome, it would be a miracle if it were to win. The [210.0] available to back the UK on Betfair is probably a bit skinny.

If you fancy a punt, then you could do a lot worse than considering Slovakia at [48.0]. Their entry, 'Horehronie' by Kristina, will need to come through the first semi-final to make it to the big night. But online Eurovision forums seem to like it and the ratio of female winners has dipped in recent years so you could suggest we are overdue one.

If you think it's too much of a lottery to try and name the winner, how about backing Slovakia to make the top-four at [8.6].

Naturally, I shall be drawing up scorecards for proper marking of each act - now just to find any family and friends who want to come round that night . . .

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1. Falko | 25 May 2010

   Is there a possibility to bet on the songcontest on betfair ? Where can i do it

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