American Idol is back for 2008 and the first round of auditions in Philadelphia and Dallas are history. While only a quarter of the auditions have been broadcast, oddsmakers at the largest online wagering website are posting odds and taking bets on some American Idol futures. Bodog (Bodoglife.com) is accepting wagers on the gender (male or female) of this years American Idol winner as well as who will first appear to mentor, perform or act as a guest judge. Bodog has also posted odds on guessing the audition site from which the winner will emerge.
While the real fun is placing bets on the chances of the individual performers, we don’t anticipate the wagering websites to post odds on specific names until the final round of 24 contestants. Until then, let’s take a look at what we can bet on and see if there are any clues.
In a recent news conference earlier this month, the face of American Idol Simon Cowell told the press, there are three or four very strong guys as well as three or four very strong girls in the competition this year. Of course Cowell’s comments are based on the entire early rounds of auditions. Keep in mind, the public has only seen 25% of those auditions.
Bet On: Will the winner of American Idol 7 be Male or Female?
Male -110 ($100 bet to win $100).
Female -130 ($130 bet to win $100).
I think a guy will win it this year although a female is slightly favored by the Bodog oddsmakers.
The next category is odds offered on who will first appear as a mentor, performer or guest judge.
Sanjaya Malakar 9/2: What have the oddsmakers been smoking? I don’t consider Malakar (last years joke) to be a good risk.
Blake Lewis 5/1: AI producers will want to feature Blake early because they are trying to push his new album.
Jordan Sparks 17/4: Last years winner is sure to appear sometime and for the same reason as her runner-up Blake Lewis. The question is when not if.
Liza Minelli 6/1: The 61 year old daughter of the late Judy Garland will be touring in Florida in March and is scheduled to be in Europe in May. It’s our opinion at Point-Spreads.com that Minelli will probably appear on the show later in the season if at all.
Michael Jackson 9/1: Producers would love to get Jackson for a ratings boon.
Paul McCartney 15/2: It would be a catch if AI producers could lure the former Beatle onto the show and the earlier the better. Our spy’s are looking into this one.
Gene Simmons 15/1: Very low value bet here. Its best mentors have some talent other than sticking out an unusually long tongue.
Bono-U2 8/1: As far as we know they are not on tour and will not be touring so it’s a possibility Bono might show up.
Bruce Springsteen 10/1
Justin Timberlake 11/1
Rihanna 7/1: good chance here. Who is Rihanna?
Britney Spears 50/1: They have got to be kidding.
Tay Zonday 100/1: Oddsmakers don’t like the chances.
The next wagering category is guessing the region to produce the winner.
West 2/1
South 1/1: Like the oddsmakers, we really like the talent that comes from the South region.
Midwest 5/2
Northeast 4/1
The last wagering category is guessing from what audition city will the winner emerge.
San Diego 3/1
Dallas 5/2
Omaha 6/1
Atlanta 2/1
Charleston 7/1
Miami 6/1
Philadelphia 5/1
