Eurovision 2026: Favourites

Eurovision 2026 Favourites

Below you can find the current Eurovision 2026 favourites, including performers, songs, and the latest betting odds shaping the race for the top spot.

Place	Country	Performer	Song	Odds
1 🥇	🇫🇮 Finland	Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen	Liekinheitin	6/4
2	🇬🇷 Greece	Akylas	Ferto	7/2
3	🇩🇰 Denmark	Søren Torpegaard Lund	Før Vi Går Hjem	7/1
4	🇫🇷 France	Monroe	Regarde!	8/1
5	🇦🇺 Australia	Delta Goodrem	Eclipse	11/1
6	🇮🇱 Israel	Noam Bettan	Michelle	21/1
7	🇸🇪 Sweden	FELICIA	My System	29/1
8	🇷🇴 Romania	Alexandra Căpitănescu	Choke Me	34/1
9	🇮🇹 Italy	Sal Da Vinci	Per Sempre Sì	34/1
10	🇺🇦 Ukraine	LELÉKA	Ridnym	34/1

Disclaimer: Odds correct at time of writing. Always check 7bet.co.uk for the latest prices. 

From scorching pop-rock to more lyrical and emotional ballads, 2026 promises to be a wonderfully varied contest. Let’s analyse each one of the TOP 10 performances and what makes their entry special.

Semi-Final 1 Favourites (Tuesday, 12 May)

The first Semi-Final will take place on 12 May. While 15 total countries are set to perform, the 1st semis will showcase four of the competition’s TOP 10 outright odds favourites. 

The Big Four countries (France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom) and the host nation, Austria, qualify automatically for the Grand Final, but everyone else must earn their place. So, let’s see who the early favourites acts are, according to the Eurovision 2026 first semi-finals odds. 

 

🇫🇮 Electrifying and Operatic Finland: Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen – “Liekinheitin” (“Flamethrower”)

 The Nordic countries have been a dominant force in the Eurovision over the past 20 years. It’s Finland, however, that will enter Vienna as the clear favourite in the early books. It’s a position that would have seemed improbable given that their duo comes from entirely different musical worlds.

Linda Lampenius is a classical violin virtuoso, renowned internationally. Pete Parkkonen, on the other hand, is a pop and soul vocalist who rose to fame on Finnish Idol. 

Together, they have created something that feels genuinely distinct: a pop-rock track fused with classical violin, soaring vocals and raw, addictive energy. The title Liekinheitin translates to “Flamethrower” and seems to be very fitting. The story here is toxic attraction. A person who runs burning hot but suddenly turns ice cold. 

“Liekinheitin” dominated Finland’s UMK 2026 national final and has since topped local charts. Keep an eye out for this one as the Finns will bring out pyro elements to stir things up.

 

🇬🇷 Raw and Ambitious Greece: Akylas – “Ferto” (“Bring It”)

 Greece is the 2nd favourite in the overall tables. Their status is built on an entry that’s super explosive. Ferto is a high-energy banger that blends super modern hyper-techno production with contemporary Greek flavour. However, don’t be blinded by the high-BPM façade. “Ferto” carries a deeper message: a young man’s thirst for success so that he can provide for his mother.

Akylas is a self-made artist who had humble beginnings, singing on cruise ships before viral TikToks landed him on Greece’s The Voice. The singer built his identity around self-expression, which is super obvious in every bar of Ferto.

The song swept the national finals back home, topping the international jury, the Greek jury and the public vote simultaneously — a clean sweep that rarely happens.

 

🇮🇱 Sensitive and Multilingual Israel: Noam Bettan – “Michelle” 

 Israel is right in the mix within the TOP 10, arriving in Vienna with a multilingual, contemporary pop track, built around a strong hook and a cosmopolitan appeal. Michelle lyrics have Hebrew, English, and French verses, giving it a crossover quality that may appeal to both televoters and juries.

Noam Bettan earned his place at Eurovision by winning HaKokhav Haba, Israel’s long-running national selection show. It’s worth mentioning that in recent years, Israel has had performances that beat their outright predictions, finishing in the TOP 2 in both 2024 and 2025. 

 

🇸🇪 Catchy and Polished Sweden: FELICIA – “My System”

 It’s becoming an unwritten rule that Sweden sends in a song that almost has a mandatory duty to be in the TOP 10 of the Eurovision Song Contest. Books imply that 2026 won’t change that with FELICIA’s “My System” hovering around 7th in the preliminary odds tables.

FELICIA won Melodifestivalen 2026 with a catchy, polished pop track that dominated both the jury vote and the public vote. It has some techno elements to energise the crowd, a very flashy on-stage choreography and a melodic hook. Seemingly, the Swedes have once again relied on their formula for success, so don’t dismiss them early.

Winners seven times in total, most recently in 2023 and 2024, Sweden remains a force to be reckoned with.

 

Semi-Final 2 Favourites (Thursday, 14 May)

The second Semi-Final odds show that we will have 3 acts from the early TOP 10. Overall, books imply that this one is arguably the tighter of the two semis in terms of spread of talent. Thus, you have some genuinely surprising entries in the mix.

 

🇩🇰 Atmospheric and Theatrical Denmark: Søren Torpegaard Lund – “Før Vi Går Hjem” (“Before We Go Home”)

 Denmark’s 7/1 position in the market is one of the more fascinating stories of this year’s contest. Why? The reason is how Søren Torpegaard Lund got into ESC 2026. He began as a relative outsider, even in Denmark, before building extraordinary momentum, where the artist landed both the jury and the public vote unanimously. 

Før Vi Går Hjem — “Before We Go Home” — is a contemporary pop song in Danish with an electro edge and some intimate elements that make the performance feel cinematic. Søren is a musical theatre-trained performer, and this song definitely allows him to display his best attributes. 

 

🇦🇺 Soaring and Picture Perfect Australia: Delta Goodrem – “Eclipse”

 Australia really loves Eurovision. To prove their affection for the contest, the Land Down Under sends one of the biggest names from the entire billboard. Delta Goodrem is loved worldwide, having sold over 9 million albums and building a career that has taken her to stardom in Australia and beyond. 

Eclipse is a beautiful ballad, blending delicate piano elements with impressive vocal crescendos. It carries the kind of restrained emotional ambition that juries tend to reward. Whether it translates into votes from TV audiences is up for debate. What’s not up for debate, however are the qualities of the song and the performer. 

 

🇷🇴 Provocative and Powerful Romania: Alexandra Căpitănescu – “Choke Me”

 

While the country has produced quite a handful of Euro and global pop sensations over the years, its results in the ESC have been mixed. In 2026, the tide seems to be turning as Romania returns to the contest after a 2-year absence with one of the most talked-about and controversial songs for reasons that go well beyond just music.

“Choke Me” is a nu-metal track that showcases Alexandra Căpitănescu’s extraordinary vocal range. She delivers both low-metal growls and operatic trills, blending some pop elements to help audiences ease into the genre. 

The song’s title is controversial. However, Căpitănescu’s take is that it’s metaphorical and talks about being overwhelmed by emotion rather than anything literal. Whether the controversy proves to be a help or a hindrance on the Eurovision stage remains to be seen. So, if you love the kind of entry that divides opinions fiercely, look out for Romania. 

 

🇺🇦 Soulful and Folk-Rooted Ukraine: LELÉKA – “Ridnym”

Ukraine has made a habit (it seems) of sending emotionally charged titles to the Eurovision. “Ridnym”, loosely translated as “Native” or “Belonging”, squarely fits that tradition. 

LELÉKA won Vidbir 2026 with a song that was subsequently updated with an even stronger bandura presence (a traditional Ukrainian harp-like instrument) ahead of Vienna. This was done in order to amplify the folksiness of the performance for the big stage. Ukraine has won the contest twice in the last decade and will likely carry enormous goodwill among European audiences. 

 

Big Four Auto-Qualifiers in the TOP 10

Two countries from the Big Four (Italy and France) automatically qualify for the Grand Final and are present among this year’s TOP 10 early favourites. Let’s get to know them.

 

🇫🇷 Stylish and Magnetic France: Monroe – “Regarde!”

 

France is the highest-rated auto-qualifier for 2026, according to the early numbers at 7bet, and has been holding strong positions from the moment the song was revealed.

From a purely spectator-esque standpoint, Monroe’s Regarde! (“Look!”) It is a polished, modern French pop track that sits in the sweet spot between jury credibility and televoter accessibility. Sometimes that’s enough to allow a performance to rake in really good scores from both sides.

“Regarde!” has a strong identity – unambiguously French in attitude and execution. While France hasn’t won the ESC since 1977, they always deliver a confident entry, performed with conviction above all else. Let’s see if Vienna can bring even bigger success back home for them. 

 

🇮🇹 Warm and Crowd-Pleasing Italy: Sal Da Vinci – “Per Sempre Sì” (“Forever Yes”)

 

For a while, Per Sempre Si was the most-streamed Eurovision 2026 song on YouTube. Sal Da Vinci is a Neapolitan singer who’s a household name in his home country. An entertainer at heart, Da Vinci delivers a song that’s full of warmth and classic Italian pop elements.

Per Sempre Si translates as “Forever Yes” – and it’s that feel-good optimism that audiences or large parts of them tend to gravitate to. That can be especially true with a contest like the one this year – heavy with controversy and tension. We’d like to remind you that Italy won Eurovision in 2021, and the Italian diaspora generates a strong televote block across Western Europe, so don’t count them out. 

 

How Have Early Favourites Fared at Eurovision in Recent Years?

While the bookmakers do a lot of analytical work, they’re not always right. The history of the ESC is full of instances where the juries and televoters rewarded the unexpected. Here are some of the most notable examples:

• 2023 – Loreen (Sweden) was the overwhelming favourite, carrying between 50% and 60% implied probability of victory. The pop diva delivered, winning comfortably.
• 2024 – Croatia’s Baby Lasagna and Israel’s Eden Golan were leading the markets. Neither won. Switzerland’s Nemo came out and stunned Europe and Australia by taking the trophy. That’s a stark reminder of the fact that the gap between the chasers and the leaders isn’t always as large as it may seem at first.
• 2025 – Austria’s JJ won, but the artist was far from the lead in the early odds. 

The contest’s history suggests that the live staging and rehearsals in early May will be the real market-mover, and those watching rehearsals closely often get the best read on who will truly challenge on the night.

 

How to Watch the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest in the UK?

For UK audiences, all three shows: Semi-Final 1 (12 May), Semi-Final 2 (14 May) and the Grand Final (16 May) will be broadcast live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Commentary is provided by the one and only Graham Norton. The Grand Final is scheduled to start at 8:00 PM BST. 

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