Germany would also like to see itself there. But when it comes to the betting odds for the ESC 2024, a neighboring nation is suddenly at the top.
Malmö/Bern - The Eurovision Song Contest is getting closer: On May 11th, the nations will fight for Europe's song crown at the ESC finals in Malmö; before that, most countries still have to qualify through the semi-finals on May 7th and May 9th. It would probably be easy to make it to the finals for a neighboring German nation that was all too often over there: Switzerland.
The last victory was half an eternity ago: in 1988, Céline Dion smashed her way to triumph. Since 1994, however, Switzerland can certainly be described as chronically unsuccessful. A top ten placement was only achieved three times during that time. In 2019 (rank 4) and 2021 (rank 3) there were even top results. But very often it was over in the semi-finals.
ESC 2024: Nemo from Switzerland is suddenly ahead in betting odds
This time, however, it could be a great triumph. As
esc-kompakt.de
and
srf.ch
reported, the country moved up to first place in the ESC betting odds 2024 on Monday (April 1st). And it's still there a week later: The website
eurovisionworld.com
collects the odds from various providers and puts Switzerland in the lead with a probability of victory of 24%, ahead of Croatia (16%) and Italy (13%).
The post is called “The Code” and comes from Nemo, a 24-year-old from Biel who, according to an interview with
tagesanzeiger.ch,
identifies as nonbinary. Nemo is happy about the hype: “That’s a really nice sign. People are excited, believe in the song and that motivates me a lot,” Nemo is quoted by SRF. But humbly it also says: “We are now concentrating on the performance, are rehearsing and still have a lot to do before Malmö.”
ESC 2024: Switzerland is already thinking about possible venues in 2025 if they win
But people in Switzerland are so confident that they are already thinking about a potential venue if the event is successful. According to delegation leader Yves Schifferle, Zurich, Bern, Geneva and Basel would be an issue, among others. The numbers-tested Swiss are already doing the math: “We’re already exchanging ideas with the Netherlands, Portugal and Italy to get an overview of what the ESC costs,” says Schifferle.
And Germany? There could be another disaster at the ESC. Among the 37 articles listed in the betting odds overview, “Always on the Run” by Isaak is in 31st place. Advantage: At least you don’t have to worry too much about possible venues and costs. The supporting program with Barbara Schöneberger is on the back burner.
(lin) Sources used: tagesanzeiger.ch, srf.ch, eurovisionodds.com, esc-kompakt.de