Kildare is a big stronghold for Eurovision - but not much confidence in Ireland's entry to qualify for final

Kildare has emerged as a Eurovision stronghold, with the majority of bets being placed on this week’s song contest hailing from the Lilywhites, Irish bookie Paddy Power can reveal.

However, with the Eurovision Song Contest underway in Italy, the bookie revealed Ireland are massive odds on NOT to make it past the semi-final stage.

The betting firm also shared that almost half (46%) of all their customers are backing Ukrainian folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra, who are huge favourites (1/2) to win the contest outright. 

By comparison, no such confidence is being shown for the Irish entry by punters, with just 8% of those having a wager on the contest, backing Ireland.

In fact, according to the Paddy Power, it’s a 1/5 shot, reflecting a probability of 83.3%, that 23-year-old Derry native Brooke Scullion and her song That’s Rich won’t make it out of their group when they hit the stage with the second batch of semi-finalists on Thursday night. 

So, it will come as no surprise to learn that the bookies make them long shots at 300/1 to win this year’s contest outright.

"We hope we’re wrong, but it’s looking like That’s Rich could be a one hit wonder in that we’ll only get to see it performed on stage in Turin once. Brooke is as likely to belt out her song again in Saturday night’s final as Marty Whelan is of popping up as one of her backing dancers,” Rachael Kane, spokesperson for Paddy Power said.

 “As for the Lilywhites being revealed as Eurovision Song Contest superfans, it’s hardly surprising that they’ve turned their attention towards Turin, given GAA supporters from that neck of the woods in particular have been starved of success for the last couple of decades,” she added. 

Most popular selections for punters are Ukraine (46%), followed by UK (10%), Sweden (8%), Poland (5%) and Spain (4%).  

While Kildare natives emerged as the most likely to bet on the song contest, across the water in the UK, punters from Dorset and Suffolk were identified by Paddy Power as being Eurovision hotspots in terms of customer interest. And in Scotland, less surprisingly, it’s Edinburgh City.