2026 Odds Review #5: 08/02

Things are starting to heat up now February is underway - better call the Brandsta City Slackers who passed through in second behind new favourite FELICIA from Melfest’s heat 2. There’s been much fan enthusiasm for that, enough to see Sweden pretty static high in the odds. Bringing the heat is something Antigoni is hoping to do with her ‘Jalla’ released earlier tonight which has seen Cyprus backed in a little. Continuing the high impact female theme this review has started on, the week began with Serbia’s song releases where Zejna looks a strong favourite for the ticket with the Loreen/Cold War crossover we’ve all been waiting for.

A lot of the talk around Poland so far has been over TVP supposedly scrambling to try and find a big name wildcard (Michal Szpak). True or not, that gambit looks over now and what they have confirmed in the lineup sees them at 100s+. Romania’s National Final has a few names from the past mixed in there but it’s the other Balkan returnee Bulgaria who have seen one of the biggest pushes in the market after Dara confirmed she’d accept the ticket and ‘Dream Team’ involvement locked down. That no-one else is showing such overt intention also helps.

What currently seems the biggest development of the week was Leleka’s comfortable win in Vidbir with market and fan favourite Jerry Heil finishing in 3rd. There’s been a small drift in the market but an acknowledgement even from the most pessimistic Ukraine will be somewhere in the top 10 and a danger higher up.

Lastly, commiserations go to Montenegro who have become the first country to hit the 1000+ bracket.

Next week we have two semis and then finals in Croatia and current 3rd favourites Greece. Mercifully, Estonia is one-and-done this year as is Denmark. Latvia have seen intermittent backing on the exchange and their Supernova also concludes next week giving us a minimum of 5 new confirmed entries.