Alexander Rybak wins the Norwegian national final by a landslide.
In some ways it is. The juries will cast their votes tonight based on the performances during the 2nd dress rehearsal. Therefore by the end of tonight 50% of the Eurovision final votes will have been decided before the live televised show has even begun (although the results won't be revealed until the end of the show, along with the televotes).
Since the MGP final Alexander Rybak has been the overwhelming favourite. He won with 747,888 votes. The second place song only got 121,856! Every fan poll, including the respected OGAE poll, puts Norway at the top. Even the crowd at the Douze Points final held at Retro Bar in London voted Rybak their winner, and they've never successfully chosen the winning song! He's been the bookies' favourite from the beginning and his odds are now as short as 20/21, the shortest ever for a Eurovision final (Dima Bilan was at 4/1 before the final last year)! The Google Eurovision predictor which shows how popular each artist is based on search results has Rybak at the top, closely followed by Hadise. It seems every indicator is pointing to a Norwegian win this year.
I've been certain of a Norwegian win for months but Sakis' amazing performance last night sowed a few seeds of doubt in my mind. The act that may have sealed victory for Norway was the drawing last night of their position in the final. Norway will perform 20th. It's generally accepted that songs which perform towards the end of the show have an advantage.
At the end of the BBC broadcast last night Sarah Cawood suggested to UK final commentator Graham Norton that Greece might just win but Graham said,
"[Greece] is good, it's good, but something
like Norway is just more special".
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