Chiara shrugs off prediction of sixth place

British bookmakers William Hill have placed Chiara's song Angel in sixth place, offering punters odds of 12/1, and placing Greece in first place with odds of 9/4 to win the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev on May 21.

Greece was also the favourite last year and continuously topped William Hill's list but it was Ukraine that clinched the coveted award.

Another international bookmaker, bet365, is also predicting that Helena Paparizou's song My Number One will win with odds of 5/2, while placing Malta in fifth place with odds of 10/1.

But as punters place their bets, Chiara shrugs off the predictions, preferring to ignore them and focus on her performance.

"I have to admit I like Helena's song and it's very popular among the competing countries but my favourite is another ballad by Glennis Grace, who is representing the Netherlands in the semi-finals - it's closer to my heart and style," she said.

Expert onlookers are predicting that this year could very well turn out to be "the clash of the power ballads". Assuming that Glennis reaches the final with ease, "2005 could well see the Dutch and Maltese competing for the Eurovision crown".

"I guess we just have to wait and see. I have decided not to give too much attention to bookmakers - it's not like they hit the nail on the head all the time," she said.

Chiara is right: if history is anything to go by, bookmakers do not always get it right.

In 2002 William Hill had placed Ira Losco's song 7th Wonder in fourth place and she went on to clinch the second place. In 2000, when Claudette was competing with the song Desire, these same bookmakers had placed Malta in 13th place but Claudette finished eighth.

"Whatever the polls predict, it's your three-minute performance on the night that counts," she said as she hurried to pack her suitcase for the next leg of her promotional tour.

Chiara yesterday left for Croatia and she will be visiting Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK before returning home early next week.

"I am living out of a suitcase at the moment and it has been an exhausting yet very satisfying few weeks. I hope that these trips will have made a difference that translates into support on the night," she said.

So far the feedback she has received from competing countries has been extremely encouraging and she has been nicknamed The Voice by her rivals.

An added bonus is that people remember Chiara from her performance back in 1998, when she had come within a whisker of winning with her song The One That I Love.

Before flying off to Croatia, Chiara took the time to launch the single of Angel on Sunday with a CD that contains two more tracks - Another Piece of My Heart, penned by Anders Dannvik, and Don't Wanna Let Me Go written by Marc and Dirk Paelinck.