Iceland: First favourite to win Eurovision 2024 according to the bookies!

It took Iceland around 24 hours to climb to the top of the betting table in terms of the likelihood of winning Eurovision 2024. The news that among the candidates in Söngvakeppnin 2024, the country’s national final for the contest, there is a Palestinian artist among them, has sent Iceland’s odds plummeting and now the possibility of its first ever Eurovision win is more likely than ever, at least according to betting companies.

The announcement by Icelandic public broadcaster RUV that among the 10 candidates for the semi-finals of Söngvakeppnin 2024, there is also Palestinian Bashar Murad, brought a strong shock to the Bookers. Iceland may be thinking about their participation in Eurovision 2024 and even “threatening” to pull out of the contest, but the message sent out by the participation of a Palestinian artist in the country’s national final and Iceland‘s eventual representation in Malmö by him, is apparently enough in its favour to put it at the top of the betting in terms of the possibility of winning Eurovision 2024.

So Iceland have now passed superpower Ukraine who have been at the top for days now, and the UK who via BBC and with their superstar Olly Alexander as their representative are aiming very high this year, leaving them in second and third place respectively.

RUV revealed that they will make their final decision on whether or not to participate in the upcoming song contest after the end of Söngvakeppnin 2024, and in consultation with the winner. Iceland‘s national final concludes on March 2, so we will know then if Iceland will finally make it to this year’s competition or not.

Of course, in this year’s very fluid landscape, all of the above can easily be overturned. Either because Bashar Murad‘s song with which he will participate in the Icelandic national final will not be the expected one, or because the Palestinian artist will not win in Söngvakeppnin after all and will not be the one who will be nominated to represent Iceland in Malmö. In that case, everyone who rushed in the last few hours to put their money on a possible Icelandic victory will have blown their money.

The many swings we have seen at the top of the betting this year bode well for an exciting year where we will not know the winner early on, as has been the case in the past two seasons. Always, of course, under the condition that no one song will emerge as a standout and the betting companies will anoint it as the firm favourite, as happened with Stefania and Tattoo. We are probably heading towards a repeat of 2021, where things were not even clear in rehearsals, as we had 3-4 songs that were almost equally contested by bettors to win.

Do you think Iceland will be able to get their first win in May in Malmö? Tell us in the comments below!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments!