After the surprise elimination last week in “The X Factor Australia” when one of the favoured contestants, Reigan Derry got the boot instead of the underdogs like Brothers 3 or Marlisa Punzalan, the betting odds for this week’s Grand Final seem like a tricky proposition in predicting the champion for the reality singing contest which ends on Monday. Sports/entertainment betting odds have pegged Dean Ray as the favourite to win the X Factor crown this season entering the final day of competition.

To refresh everyone’s memory, Derry came in with a 4.25 wagering line as opposed to Brothers 3 at 1.60 and Marlisa Punzalan at 3.85. That Sunday’s performance and fan votes changed the tide for Brothers 3, who qualified directly to the final with Punzalan and Derry duking it out in the previous sing-off for the final spot in the Grand Final. Punzalan made the cut to boot out Derry.

There’s every reason to believe that the betting odds won’t fail this week. To note, Dean Ray was priced at 13.00 at that point and he remains the odds-on favourite to win “The X Factor Australia” season 6 crown with the new betting odds released for the Grand Final.

“The X Factor Australia” Outright Winner Betting Odds (via sportsbet.com.au)

Dean Ray (1.75)

Brothers 3 (3.50)

Marlisa Punzalan (4.00)

For the uninitiated in sports/entertainment betting, the simple formula is as follows: X (Amount of Bet) times Betting Odds equals Payout.

This means, that for every $100 bet on Dean Ray (1.75) will net a payout of $175 (or winnings of $75); the same bet on Brothers 3 (3.50) wil net a payout of $350 (or $250 winnings) and if Marlisa Punzalan (4.00) pulls off the upset, her backers will net $400 or a big $300 winnings.

There are two line of thoughts running hours after the final Sunday performance of the trio and hours before the champion is named; first, did Dean Ray stamp his class in the most recent performance? Or have the group Brothers 3 and Marlisa did enough to convince the fans otherwise?

The trio’s stirring rendition of David Guetta’s "Lovers on the Sun" impressed all the judges— Ronan Keating, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Redfoo and Dannii Minogue and most likely have confused the fans even more. It was back to the roots for the trio as well as they sang their “audition songs”, the pieces which put them in the show and gave them a legit shot in becoming an “X Factor Australia” champion. The Top 3 also performed with special guest artists— Marlisa performed “Never Be the Same” with Jessica Mauboy; Brothers 3 sang “Like a Drum” with Guy Sebastian; and Dean Ray impressed with “Dear Darlin” with Olly Murs.

Read the full recap of the “The X Factor Australia” Grand Final by IBT Austalia’s Anne Lu here.

The Case for Dean Ray Winning “The X Factor Australia” 2014

Dean Ray (under Natalie Bassingthwaighte) has been consistently at the top of the rankings week-in and week-out. Except in the ninth live show when he was chosen among the Bottom 2 (against Caitlyn Shadbolt), he was never in real danger of getting the early boot in the competition. The judges praised him in the final performance on Sunday with Redfoo calling him “a world class act” and Keating saying that the performance was perfect.

“You officially are the definition of a star... when you look up The X Factor in the dictionary it says Dean Ray,” Bassingthwaighte declared via the show’s official website about his ward.

The Case for Brothers 3 or Marlisa Punzalan Pulling Off the Upset in “The X Factor Australia” 2014

For their part, Brothers 3 and Marlisa Punzalan appears to have done enough to convince the fans to vote for them. Marlisa was expectedly commended by her coach, Keating, who said that “as a mentor I couldn’t have asked for a better contestant.”

“How much you’ve grown and how much you’ve developed over the course of this whole show... I think what you’re doing is really special.” Bassingthwaighte said of the group. It remains to be seen if that development will lead them to the “The X Factor Australia” 2014 title.

While the judges have similar positive opinions, the decision now comes down to the millions of Australian fans of the show and they still have a chance to vote for the winner this season.

The trio returns to the stage Monday night starting at 7:30 pm when they perform and re-live their highlight moments of “The X Factor Australia” season. They will be joined by other Top 13 qualifiers for the highly-anticipated group performance along with guests Mauboy, Murs and Sebastian plus the popular Taylor Swift, who is pegged to perform her hit, “Shake It Off”

The “X Factor Australia” champion will earn a recording contract with Sony Music. Can Dean Ray prove that he’s the ultimate favourite in this competition? Or will one of Marlisa Punzalan or the Brothers 3 pull off the surprise for the second straight week?

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