With just one day before Romania's appearance at the Eurovision semi-final on May 16 at Malmo, in Sweden, Romanian contra-tenor Cezar Ouatu (in picture), seems to stand little chance of winning his semifinal, judging by the odds given by betting agency Stanleybet. The final is set for May 18.

While Ouatu was among the favorites at the betting houses during Romania's internal competition to choose its representative for the Eurovision contest, the odds of him winning the semifinal are 21 to 1. He however stands higher chances of coming out on one of the top three places after the semifinal on May 16: the odds are 4.33 to 1, according to Stanleybet. The contra-tenor Cezar Ouatu will represent Romania with the song It's my life. (listen to the song below).

The favorites in the race are Norway, with odds of 3 to 1 for winning the same semifinal, Georgia – 3.5 to 1 odds and Azerbaidjan, 6.5 to 1 odds.

Cezar Ouatu, nicknamed Cezar The Voice, was born in Romania in a family of musicians and discovered his unique voice when he was 20. He studied at the Giuseppe Verdi music school in Milan and in the last 10 years he has built an international opera career, with international prizes in Barcelona, Dresda, Milan, Monaco, San Marino. Last year, he decided to approach pop music as well. In 2013, apart from the Eurovision competition, Cezar will, collaborate with famous Romania soprano Angela Gheorghiu and with Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.

The song he'll be singing at Malmo in May was composed by Cristian Faur, who is not a stranger to the Eurovision competition. He previously composed the song Let me try for Luminita Anghel, who represented Romania together with Sistem at the Kiev gala in 2005.

Last year, Romania ranked 12th in the Eurovision final with the song Zaleilah performed by Mandinga.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Cezar the Voice on Facebook)