X-Factor 2007 - Latest Odds

Its the Welsh robot guy, Rhydian, who seems to be running away with this years contest - probably because he's the only one that never misses a note, despite his bland brand of pop-opera being over-abused in recent years.

The Rhyddler is already odds-on favourite to win, despite Simon Cowell's desparate attempts to force an unwilling public to buy into dreadful girl group, Hopeless. It says something when cheesy and creepy brother and sister group Same Difference are much more entertaining.

Once again, Paddy Power have a number of available markets, but here's the Outright Winner Market

X-Factor 2007
X Factor Outright
Odds Taken from Paddy Power
Rhydian Roberts 8 - 15
Niki Evans 4 - 1
Hope 6 - 1
Leon Jackson 14 - 1
Same Difference 14 - 1
Beverley Trottman 14 - 1
Alisha Bennett 33 - 1

I'm a Celebrity - Latest Betting Odds

OK - so we'll start with I'm a Celebrity Get me Out of Here

Paddy Power have a number of markets available, but interestingly, their current favourite for outright winner is Cerys Matthews. Everytime I hear her speak, I just have to roll my Rrrrroad Rrrrage Rrrrrs

I'm a Celebrity 2007
Outright Winner
Odds from Paddy Power

Cerys Matthews 11 - 4
Christopher Biggins 4 - 1
Gemma Atkinson 7 - 1
Marc Bannerman 7 - 1
Janice Dickinson 7 - 1
Jason Brown 10 - 1
Katie Hopkins 10 - 1
Rodney Marsh 18 - 1
John Burton Race 20 - 1
Anna Ryder Richardson 20 - 1
Lynne Franks 50 - 1
Any Other (Not Listed) 6 - 1

For all other markets, click here for Paddy Power and follow the link from Novelty Bets

A Weekend of Reality TV

OK - so i've been away - again!

But with the plethora of reality TV its a bit of a betting extravanganza.

I'm a bit partial to X-Factor, but Simon Cowell's constant pimping of the dreadful Hope is turning me off.

Simply Come Dancing is having its fair share of controversy - but its better to knock out the favourites then defraud the phoning public in my opinion (not that they would, of course)

And then there's I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. I don't know anyone on that show - are they famous? Is that a celebrity chef? Where did they find him? And why on earth was he stressed cooking for 10 people - doesn't he do that for a living? Anyway, enough about him, its worth watching just for Lynne Franks' bizarre dancing and of course Janice Dickinson - from America's Top Model to ITV with Ant and Dec. Where's her career gone - probably the way of her face.

Any Dream Will Do - Latest Final Betting Odds

Its the final of BBC's Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat search for a star on Saturday and curly-haired Lee is clear favourite to take the crown. Not surprising, since Lee is already a seasoned West End performer still looking for his leading man break.

William Hill have put Lee as odds on 1/4 favourite - almost untouchable really, whilst wee Keith with the angelic looks and voice is at 10/3. Surprising final inclusion, but Joseph lookalike, Lewis is the outsider at 10/1

Lee Mead 1/4
Keith Jack 10/3
Lewis Bradley 10/1

William Hill offer a number of TV-related bets, including Big Brother. You can sign up there here

Big Brother News Flash! Emily Kicked out - time for a new bet

Big Brother has been hit by another racism incident - but this time they acted quickly and booted out posh girl Emily

Emily was already one of the favourites for eviction, but this premature eviction has put Shabnam into clear favourtism

But Paddy Power are going onen step further. They're refunding all bets made on Emily to be the first eviction - all bets on Shabnam will stand, but if she isn't the first evicted, Paddy's will refund all bets placed on her before 3am this morning - effectively giving a bunch of punters some freebie bets.

The incident is expected to be aired tonight and Paddy Power have reacted quickly to a flurry of betting activity, including odds that Big Brother could be scrapped before the end of the series - those odds were slashed from 10/1 to 9/2.

Other topical betting from the bookie include:

Will Emily's racial comments be aired?
1/10 Yes
5/1 No

Will Ch4 CEO Andy Duncan step down/be sacked in 2007?
1/2 No
6/4 Yes

Will Virgin Media pull out as sponsor?
1/5 No
3/1 Yes

Will Big Brother to be scrapped before the end of the series?
1/8 No
9/2 Yes

First Eviction
11/10 Shabnam
9/4 Charley
4/1 Lesley
12/1 Chanelle
20/1 Tracey
25/1 Amanda
33/1 Nicky
50/1 Sam
40/1 Carole
50/1 Laura
12/1 Any Other

Outright
5/1 Laura
8/1 Carole
10/1 Chanelle
10/1 Ziggy
12/1 Tracey
14/1 Sam
16/1 Nicky
18/1 Amanda
22/1 Lesley
50/1 Charley
80/1 Shabnam
5/6 Any Other (Not Listed)

Pop on over to Paddy Power to sign up and bet

Big Brother 8 is Back With a Vengeance - Latest Betting Odds

And so am I - finally - after a year's hiatus.

And how better to re-start as Channel 4 once again delves into the depths of human psychology and emotion, no matter how vapid or depraved it may be, with the joyous return of Big Brother

Paddy Power, as ever, is in the forefront of Big Brother Betting. Quite rightly too. They have 8 (yes, you read that correctly. EIGHT) different markets, including the wonderfully named, Bump and Grind

4 days into the competition, and with a single lad to tease and amuse the female house, its clear that this is the biggest Big Brother ever.

Its so important, Paddy Power have their own Big Brother expert - now there's a job to have on your CV - Sharon McHugh. Sharon commented: "Initially we expected betting to get off to a slow start as we felt the public would hold fire on betting until some of the boys went in, but how wrong we were. It seems the public have formed very strong opinions about the female cast already and it's very obvious which ones will get the boot and which ones will go the distance!"

And they're already reporting the stats:

Total amount wagered on Big Brother so far?
£200,000

Total number of bets placed so far?
17,000

The most popular market so far?
'Who will win' market. £150,000 is riding on the possible winner of this year's show.
£20,000 has already been staked despite the fact the nominees have not yet been announced.

Most Popular Housemate?
Laura, tipped as the early favourite.
3352 bets have been placed on her.
£40,000 has been placed on her to win.

Least Popular Housemate?
Charley. Just €768 in total placed on her with the number of bets totalling just 43! Charley is the favourite at 8/11 to be the first girl booted out of the Big Brother house.

Biggest market mover:
Carole and Charley for very different reasons.

Charley opened up at odds of 12/1 but she drifted in just three days to become the biggest outsider at odds of 80/1.

The bookies installed Carole at generous odds of 25/1 on launch night, but it wasn't long before she was one of the early favourites, with her price as low as 5/1 to win the whole thing. She has since settled at a slightly more appealing price of 7/1

Latest Betting from Paddy Power:

Big Brother 2007 Outright Winner
6/1 Laura
7/1 Carole
8/1 Ziggy
16/1 Nicky
16/1 Chanelle
16/1 Tracey
20/1 Emily
22/1 Sam
25/1 Amanda
28/1 Lesley
50/1 Shabnam
80/1 Charley
8/11 Any Other (Not Listed)

First Eviction
8/11 Charley
7/2 Shabnam
5/1 Lesley
16/1 Tracey
20/1 Emily
28/1 Sam
28/1 Amanda
28/1 Nicky
33/1 Chanelle
33/1 Laura
40/1 Carole
40/1 Any Other

Taylor vs Katharine for the American Idol Final

Its the Taylor Hick's Soul Patrol vs Katharine 'McPheever' McPhee in this year's American Idol final.

Elliot Yamin got booted last week in an extremely close contest with a few hundred thousand votes separating all three - out of 50 million votes.

The grey-haired white soul boy with his strange ticks and mannerisms, Taylor Hicks, is the odds on favourite to take the title. He's been strong every week - never being in the bottom two - whilst Katharine has had some ups and downs - until her excellent rendition of 'Somewhere over the Rainbow' which arguably was the performance that knocked out Yamin

Paddy Power has Taylor Hicks at 4/11 and Katharine McPhee at 15/8

Big Brother 7 - Latest Betting Odds

Big Brother 7 is finally upon us - and we're lapping it up. Over 8 million people watched opening night as the house invited us to gawk at the motley crue.

Early money is on Pete to win the contest - but its very early stages and there's some good odds to be had if you can predict the unpredictable that is Big Brother! The unknown 'golden ticket' winner is already second favourite at 6/1 - so anything goes and the odds are changing quickly

William Hill have some early odds

Big Brother 7 - Outright
Pete 4/1
Golden Ticket Winner 6/1
Imogen 13/2
Shahbaz 8/1
Sezer 8/1
Lisa 8/1
Mikey 9/1
George 9/1
Grace 10/1
Richard 12/1
Glyn 12/1
Nikki 14/1
Dawn 20/1
Bonnie 20/1
Lea 25/1

For more odds visit William Hill

Eurovision Song Contest - Latest Betting Odds

Move over Pop Idol, this is the song contest we wait for every year - Eurovision. A dose of Terry Wogan and preferably a good few glasses of something strong is all you need to get through it - and its perfect TV. Its the singing version of a train wreck as we try to stop looking and stick our fingers in our ears - but just can't...so you may as well have a bet.

Daz Sampson is representing the UK with Teenage Life and you can get him at 12/1 with Paddy Power

The favourites however are Sweden at a short 11/4 with Greece closely followed at 7/2

However, its always worth checking out some of the outsiders - Eurovision's politics and strange voting often picks up some of the lesser-fancied songs

Who will win Eurovision 2006
Odds Taken From Paddy Power

Sweden 11 - 4
Greece 7 - 2
Bosnia-Herzegovina 6 - 1
Romania 6 - 1
Finland 10 - 1
Russia 10 - 1
United Kingdom 12 - 1
Germany 14 - 1
Ireland 16 - 1
Ukraine 16 - 1
Lithuania 25 - 1
Norway 25 - 1
Croatia 33 - 1
FYR Macedonia 33 - 1
Switzerland 50 - 1
Latvia 66 - 1
Armenia 80 - 1
Denmark 66 - 1
Turkey 66 - 1
Moldova 100 - 1
France 100 - 1
Malta 100 - 1
Spain 125 - 1
Israel 125 - 1

For a £10 free bet when you first register, visit Paddy Power

Doctor Who Exterminates the Rest at the BAFTAs

The latest incarnation of the time travelling Doctor won 3 BAFTAs last night - including Best Drama Series. Doctor Who also won the Pioneer Audience Award and the Dennis Potter Award for outstanding TV writing.

Bleak House followed the Beebs swoop on the awards by taking 2 for 'Bleak House', whilst Noel Edmonds couldn't quite make his comeback into a fairytale. He lost out to Jonathan Ross's chatshow, Backstage

Here's all the awards:

WINNERS

BEST ACTOR
Mark Rylance - The Government Inspector (C4)

BEST ACTRESS
Anna Maxwell Martin - Bleak House (BBC1)

BEST ENTERTAINMENT PERFORMANCE
Jonathan Ross - Friday Night With Jonathan Ross (BBC1)

BEST COMEDY PERFORMANCE
Chris Langham - The Thick of It (BBC4)

BEST SINGLE DRAMA
The Government Inspector

BEST DRAMA SERIES
Doctor Who (BBC1)

BEST DRAMA SERIAL
Bleak House (BBC1)

BEST CONTINUING DRAMA
EastEnders (BBC1).

BEST FACTUAL SERIES
Jamie's School Dinners (C4)

HUW WHELDON AWARD FOR BEST SPECIALIST FACTUAL
Holocaust - A Musical Memorial Film From Auschwitz (BBC2)

FLAHERTY AWARD FOR BEST SINGLE DOCUMENT
Make Me Normal C4

BEST FEATURES
The Apprentice (BB C2)

BEST SPORT
The Ashes: Englan Australia (C4)

BEST NEWS COVERAGE
Ten O'Clock News: July 7, 2005 - London Bombs (BBC1)

BEST CURRENT AFFAIRS
Dispatches: Beslan C4

BEST INTERACTIVITY
Coast (BBC2)

LEW GRADE AWARD FOR BEST ENTERTAINMENT
The X Factor (ITVI)

BEST SITUATION COMEDY
The Thick Of It

BEST COMEDY PROGRAMME OR SERIES
Help (BBC2)

PIONEER AUDIENCE AWARD
Doctor Who

DENNIS POTTER AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING WRITING
Russell T Davies (Doctor Who)

OUTSTANDING FACTUAL SHOW PRESENTER
Jamie Oliver

American Idol - 5 to Go - Latest Betting Odds

The American public finally decided they'd had enough of cute but dumb Kellie Pickler and we can take the ear plugs out now after 2 horrendous performances in the last 2 weeks.

With only 5 left, we're now getting serious, and with Simon taking back his harsh review of Katharine McPhee's rendition of Whitney she's once again seen as a strong candidate to win - albeit bland. Katharine is 15/8 second favourite whilst remain stays fast as heavy favourite at 6/5.

Grey-haired Taylor Hicks still has a huge following and is very backable at 5/2, whilst elliot who's the darkhorse of the competition is a 12/1 longshot. Paris, who's been in the bottom 2 recently remains the outsider at 25/1

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