Thea Garrett, the 18-year-old singer representing Malta in next week's Eurovision Song Contest, is being largely ignored by bookmakers who have tipped Azerbaijan, Germany and Israel to vie for first place.

According to most bookies, Thea, who will compete in the first semi-final on Tuesday with her song My Dream, is very unlikely to win the contest and will need quite a bit of luck to qualify to the final round. To do this she will need to be among the top 10 out of 17 countries but most bookies say she is more likely to be in the bottom seven, even though most of the favourite songs are competing in the second semi-final.

The songs to watch out for during the semi-final are those of Greece, Slovakia and Belgium. But these appear in only a few prediction websites as possible top 10 contenders for the final round.

Thea's first rehearsal did not see her ratings improve much, with most betting websites predicting she will place anywhere between 20th and 30th place.

The UK's Online Betting Guide is one of the most hopeful and described Thea as a girl with a good voice who should pass to the final but will not win.

William Hill says she has a 50/1 chance of winning the semi-final and a 100/1 chance of winning the contest.

Oddschecker.com predicts that Malta would place 12th in its semi-final or 27th overall.

But Thea is no stranger to harsh odds.

In the local contest, where she took part this year for the first time, the local Eurovision contest experts did not take much notice of her and many wrote her off as a good singer with a weak song but with lots of potential for the future.

Many predicted that those with more experience, such as Claudia Faniello and Lawrence Gray, would be the ones who would represent Malta this year.

Instead, Thea emerged as the dark horse thanks to her strong performance and impressive voice, so she's not really worried about how people are betting.

Her next rehearsal on the Oslo stage will be held tomorrow.