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Eurovision 2014 odds: UK singer Molly Smitten-Downes at 9/1 to win ahead of final

Bookmakers have said who they will be voting for ahead of tonight's final

Heather Saul
Saturday 10 May 2014 09:15 BST
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The 59th Eurovision song contest is finally upon us and the nation's hopes will be pinned on Molly Smitten-Downes tonight.

Bookmakers have placed the UK in fifth place, with William Hill putting the odds at a respectable 9/1. Lagging behind is Norway, at 33/1, while Belarus and San Marino have some serious catching up to do at 250/1.

But while she may have the support of the bookies, the same cannot be said of the Prime Minister, who admitted he had no plans to watch the Eurovision tonight.

David Cameron was unable to identify who was representing the UK in the competition yesterday and when asked if he would be watching later, responded: "probably not, if I'm absolutely honest."

Instead, he was more concerned as to whether Terry Wogan was still presenting the show, who was replaced by Graham Norton in 2008.

Sweden is currently the hot favourite to win among bookmakers, with odds of 11/4 placed in their entry Sanna Nielsen.

If Molly does emerge triumphant with her performance in Copenhagen this weekend, it will be the first time the Eurovision has been taken home by the UK in 17 years.

Ahead of tonight’s showdown, Molly told Digital Spy: "Armenia is my biggest competition. It's a wicked track and the production is awesome. I feel like, as a song, it's not as good as some of the others, like Norway's 'Silent Storm', which has great lyrical content.

The 27-year-old from Leicester was plucked from relative obscurity by the BBC to represent the UK with her song Children of the Universe. She landed her place in the final because the UK is one of the competition's five big players who, along with the host nation, get an automatic place.

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Tonight's show, which will be broadcast live on BBC1, has a potential global TV audience of 120 million.

Spokesman Rupert Adams said: "We have never seen so many bets on the Eurovision Song Contest - records could be broken and there is even a chance we will see a UK winner."

Latest odds:

:: 11/4 - Sweden

:: 3/1 - Austria, Netherlands

:: 9/1 - UK

:: 14/1 - Hungary, Ukraine

:: 20/1 - Greece

:: 25/1 - Denmark

:: 33/1 - Norway

:: 40/1 - Azerbaijan, Spain

:: 50/1 - Finland

:: 66/1 - Malta, Romania

:: 80/1 - Italy, Poland, Switzerland

:: 100/1 - Iceland

:: 125/1 - Russia

:: 150/1 - France

:: 200/1 - Germany, Montenegro, Slovenia

:: 250/1 - Belarus, San Marino

Additional reporting by PA

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