Serbia's Marija Serifovic had been one of the favourites to win the competition from the outset. The odds with bookmakers came tumbling down after her semi-final success, and indeed the bookies called it right on the night: Serbia, Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus were all well fancied and at short prices, and they all did well. The only exceptions were Sweden - who came nearer the bottom than the top despite being among the alleged favourites to win - and Armenia, whose entry was regarded as a rank outsider at 125/1, although in the end it finished comfortably in the top ten and was even 4th at one stage in the voting. Perhaps the cruellest "special" bets available were for "Null Points" (the UK looked a reasonable candidate before being bailed out by Malta and Ireland) and the "Who Will Finish Last?" category. Here the UK and Ireland were hot favourites - and sure enough the Brits and Irish did occupy the last two places.
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