Eurovision Song Contest 2008

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Main article: Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, which was hosted by Serbia. The semi-finals were held on 20 May and 22 May, and the final was held on 24 May 2008 in the capital, Belgrade. Russia was declared winner, with Dima Bilan's song Believe. The Belgrade Arena, venue for the Contest, is among the largest indoor arenas in Europe, with a total capacity of more than 20,000 seats. Serbia gained the right to host the Contest after Marija Šerifović won the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, Finland. The host broadcaster was RTS.

At a press conference in Helsinki in May 2007, Svante Stockselius, executive supervisor of the Contest for the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that the competition's format may be expanded to two semi-finals in 2008 or 2009.^[8] On 28 September 2007 it was announced that the EBU had approved the plan of hosting two semi-finals in 2008.^[9] The 2008 contest's official website opened on 15 January 2008. For the first time ever, Eurovision.tv will stream national finals on ESCTV with broadcasters' permission.^[10] On 30 January 2008, Eurovision.tv revealed the theme of the Contest: "The Confluence of Sound".^[11]

On 14 September 2007, the Mayor of Helsinki handed over the "Eurovision keys" to the Deputy of Belgrade. This ceremony is meant to be a tradition from now on, and the ring contains a key from every city that has ever hosted the competition.^[12]

Due to problems and riots in Belgrade following the declaration of independence by Kosovo on 22 February 2008, the EBU held a phone conference to decide if the contest should be moved to a different country. Ukraine was considered an option since they came second in Eurovision Song Contest 2007. YLE were another option, as they hosted last year's competition in Helsinki, Finland.^[13] ERT also offered the EBU to host the contest in Athens, Greece again.^[14] It was later decided that the contest would stay in Belgrade, with the EBU giving support. RTS would gain a guarantee of safety and security from the government of Serbia for all visitors and participants of the contest.^[15] The delegations of Croatia, Israel and Albania had special security.^[16] The show was hosted by Jovana Janković and Željko Joksimović.^[17] Jelena Tomašević represented Serbia with a song composed by Joksimović; this led to debate over his role in the contest.^[18]

Visual design

RTS ran a competition that led to the creation of the 2008 Contest's branding, logo and the stage.^[19] The theme of this year's Eurovision Song Contest is based around the "confluence of sound". This is symbolic as Belgrade lies on the confluence of two European rivers, the Sava and Danube. The logo chosen, a treble clef, forms the graphical basis of the design created by Boris Miljković.^[20]

The post cards in the first and second semi-final were based around the creation of the flag of the nation that was to perform next. The creation of the flag would occur by the interaction of at least two people. Each post card had a short story related to it regarding Belgrade and its people. During each postcard a short letter written by the musician of the upcoming performing country was displayed. All were in the national language of the artist’s country. The postcards were fittingly brought to an end by a stamp with this year's Eurovision logo.

According to RTS the stage represents native identities, history and modern themes, symbols and universally recognised messages. The confluence stage also contains a large number of television and LCD display screens. The stage had settings for all new electronic possibilities including some movable parts of the stage.^[21] It was designed by Chicago-based David Cushing.

The first semi-final was created around a city theme. The contest opened with a panorama of the city of Belgrade forming in the stage's background with two waves sliding down the stage to meet in the centre - at the confluence, the overall theme of the contest.

The second semi-final was based around the theme of water, which was enhanced by the look of the stage during the interval act where the water formed the main colours of the stage.

The final was based on the theme of the confluence. Construction of the stage lasted several days and was carried out by various teams from across Europe. Pyrotechnics were heavily used during the first semi-final particularly for entries from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Finland, Turkey, Czech Republic and Bulgaria. The stage received extremely positive feedback from the media and fans describing it as "one of the best looking stages in the history of the competition".^[22]

Format

Based on research conducted by the EBU's tele-voting partner Digame, the semi-finalists were sorted into the two heats through the drawing of lots, which was seeded to keep countries that have a significant history of voting for each other apart.^{[citation needed]} Each broadcaster had to broadcast the semi-final they are taking part in, with the broadcasting of the other semi-final being optional. The draw for the semi-final allocation occurred in the Belgrade City Hall on Monday 28 January 2008 at 13:00 CET and was conducted by dancers from the National Dance Ensemble KOLO. First, two envelopes with 'Semi-Final 1' and 'Semi-Final 2' were drawn. Then, three countries from each pot were chosen randomly to take part in the first semi-final and the other three in the second one. The country left in Pot 5 took part in the first envelope that is drawn. While, the country left in Pot 6 in the second one.^[23]

The automatic finalist countries chose whether they would broadcast both semi-finals or just one, but viewers from these countries could only vote in one. From the draw conducted, it was decided which of the five finalist countries would broadcast and have voting rights in either of the events. The semi-finals were webcast live through Eurovision.tv.^[24] The top nine songs from the televoting qualified for the final, and a tenth was determined by the back-up juries. Twenty-five songs competed in the final.^[3]

Semi-final allocation

On 24 January 2008, all 38 countries in the semi-finals were separated into the following pots based on voting history and geographical location:

Running order

The draw to decide the running order of the songs in each Semi-Final and the Final, was conducted at the Heads of Delegation meeting on 17 March 2008.^[25]

Individual entries

Template:Entries of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Participating countries

On 21 December 2007, the EBU confirmed that 43 countries would be present in Belgrade.^[26] San Marino, as well as the newest EBU member, Azerbaijan, had its debut at the 2008 contest. Austria did not compete; its broadcaster, ORF, said "we've already seen in 2007 that it's not the quality of the song, but the country of origin that determines the decision."^[5] Italy, who have not competed since 1997 and who would have been an automatic finalist, were again absent.

The following countries competed in two semi-finals which were broadcast live on Tuesday 20 May and Thursday 22 May 2008. In addition to this, automatic finalists Germany and Spain exercised voting rights and broadcast the first semi-final. France, the United Kingdom and Serbia exercised voting rights and broadcast the second semi-final.

Semi-finals

Semi-final 1

• The first semi-final was held on 20 May 2008
• Peach indicates countries which qualified for the final
• Flax denotes the entry chosen by the jury to go to the final

Semi-final 2

• The second semi-final was held on 22 May 2008
• Peach indicates countries which qualified for the final
• Flax denotes the entry chosen by the jury to go to the final

Final

The finalists were:

• the big four France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom
• the host country Serbia
• the top nine countries from the first semi-final plus one wildcard from the juries (marked in yellow)
• the top nine countries from the second semi-final plus one wildcard from the juries (marked in yellow)

The final was held on 24 May 2008 and was won by Russia.

Note: Official placements can be found here

Scoreboards

Semi-final 1

Semi-final 2

Final

12 points of the final

Commentators

• Image:Flag of Andorra.svg Andorra - Meri Picart and Josep Lluis Traball^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Armenia.svg Armenia - Felix Khacatryan and Hrachuhi Utmazyan
• Image:Flag of Austria.svg Austria - Andy Knoll^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium - Bart Peeters and André Vermeulen (VRT),^[31] Jean-Louis Lahaye and Jean-Pierre Hautier (RTBF)^[32]
• Image:Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Bosnia and Herzegovina - Dejan Kukrić^[33]
• Image:Flag of Croatia.svg Croatia - Duško Ćurlić^[34]
• Image:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic - Kateřina Kristelová^[35]
• Image:Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark - Nicolaj Molbech^[36]
• Image:Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia - Marko Reikop^[37]
• Image:Flag of Finland.svg Finland - Jaana Pelkonen, Mikko Peltola and Asko Murtomäki (Finnish) / Thomas Lundin (Swedish)
• Image:Flag of France.svg France - Jean-Paul Gaultier and Julien Lepers^[38]
• Image:Flag of Germany.svg Germany - Peter Urban^[39]
• Image:Flag of Greece.svg Greece - Maggira Sisters^[40]
• Image:Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary - Gábor Gundel Takács^[41]
• Image:Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland - Marty Whelan^[42] and Larry Gogan (RTÉ Radio 1)^[43]
• Image:Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia - Kārlis Streips^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Lithuania.svg Lithuania - Darius Užkuraitis^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Macedonia.svg Republic of Macedonia - Миланка Рашиќ^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Malta.svg Malta - Eileen Montesin^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Montenegro.svg Montenegro - Dražen Bauković and Tamara Ivanković^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands - Cornald Maas^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Norway.svg Norway - Hanne Hoftun and Per Sundnes^[44]
• Image:Flag of Poland.svg Poland - Artur Orzech^[45]
• Image:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal - Isabel Angelino^[46]
• Image:Flag of Russia.svg Russia - Dmitry Guberniev and Olga Shelest^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of San Marino.svg San Marino - Lia Fiorio and Gigi Restivo (for both radio and tv)
• Image:Flag of Serbia.svg Serbia - Dragoljub Ilić^[47]
• Image:Flag of Slovenia.svg Slovenia - Andrej Hofer^[48]
• Image:Flag of Spain.svg Spain - José Luis Uribarri^[49]
• Image:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden - Kristian Luuk and Josef Sterzenbach (semi-final),^[50] Kristian Luuk, Josef Sterzenbach and a brief appearence by Carl Bildt (final)^[51]
• Image:Flag of Switzerland.svg Switzerland - Sven Epiney (German),^[52] Sandy Altermatt (Italian),^[53] Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner (French)^[54]
• Image:Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey - Bülend Özveren^[55]
• Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom - Paddy O'Connell and Caroline Flack (semi-finals),^[56] Sir Terry Wogan (television), and Ken Bruce (radio) (final)^[57]

Spokespersons

• Image:Flag of Albania.svg Albania - Leon Menkshi^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Andorra.svg Andorra - Alfred Llahí^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Armenia.svg Armenia - Hrachuhi Utmazyan^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Azerbaijan.svg Azerbaijan - Leyla Aliyeva^[58]
• Image:Flag of Belarus.svg Belarus - Olga Barabanschikova^[59]
• Image:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium - Sandrine Van Handenhoven^[60]
• Image:Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Bosnia and Herzegovina - Melina Garibović^[61]
• Image:Flag of Bulgaria.svg Bulgaria - Valya Voykova^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Croatia.svg Croatia - Barbara Kolar^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Cyprus.svg Cyprus - Hristina^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic - Petra^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark - Maria Montell^[62]
• Image:Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia - Sahlene^[63]
• Image:Flag of Finland.svg Finland - Mikko Leppilampi^[64]
• Image:Flag of France.svg France - Cyril Hanouna^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Georgia.svg Georgia - Tika Patsatsia^[65]
• Image:Flag of Germany.svg Germany - Thomas Hermanns^[66]
• Image:Flag of Greece.svg Greece - Alexis Kostalas^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary - Éva Novodomszky^[41]
• Image:Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland - Niamh Kavanagh^[67]
• Image:Flag of Israel.svg Israel - Noa Barak-Weshler^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia - Kristīne Virsnīte^[68]
• Image:Flag of Lithuania.svg Lithuania - Rolandas Vilkončius^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Macedonia.svg Republic of Macedonia - Ognen Janeski
• Image:Flag of Malta.svg Malta - Moira Delia^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Moldova.svg Moldova - Sergiu^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Montenegro.svg Montenegro - Nina Radulović^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands - Esther Hart^[69]
• Image:Flag of Norway.svg Norway - Stian Barsnes Simonsen^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Poland.svg Poland - Radek Brzózka^[70]
• Image:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal - Sabrina^[71]
• Image:Flag of Romania.svg Romania - Alina Sorescu^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Russia.svg Russia - Oxana Fedorova^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of San Marino.svg San Marino - Roberto Moretti (president of the San Marinese jury)^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Serbia.svg Serbia - Dušica Spasić^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of Slovenia.svg Slovenia - Peter Poles^[72]
• Image:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden - Björn Gustafsson^[73]
• Image:Flag of Spain.svg Spain - Ainhoa Arbizu^[74]
• Image:Flag of Switzerland.svg Switzerland - Cécile Bähler^[75]
• Image:Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey - Meltem Ersan Yazgan^[76]
• Image:Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine - Marysya Horobets^{[citation needed]}
• Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom - Carrie Grant^[77]

Broadcasting

Semi-finals broadcasts

As stated above, a country only has to broadcast the final and the semi-final when it is one of the competitors. The United Kingdom,^[78] San Marino, Greece, Croatia,^[79] Ireland, Germany,^[80] the Netherlands,^[81] Norway,^[82] Malta,^[83] Serbia,^[84] Finland,^[85] Bosnia and Herzegovina,^[86] Denmark,^[87] Portugal,^[88] Cyprus,^[89] Israel,^[90] Estonia,^[91] Turkey,^[92] Latvia,^[93] Slovenia,^[94] Russia,^[95] Ukraine,^[96] Lithuania, the Czech Republic,^[97] Andorra,^[98] Albania,^[99] Bulgaria, Iceland,^[100] Sweden,^[101] Romania^[102] and Australia confirmed they would broadcast both semi-finals.

International broadcasts

Image:Flag of Australia.svg Australia 

Although Australia is not eligible to enter, the contest was broadcast on SBS. The first semi-final was broadcast on Friday 23 May at 7:30 p.m. local time, with the second semi-final on Saturday 24 May 2008 at 7:30 p.m. local time, and the Final on Sunday 25 May 2008 at 7:30 p.m. local time^[103], amongst a weekend of Eurovision-themed programming.^[104] SBS local host, Julia Zemiro, provided introductory and concluding segments with SBS otherwise broadcasting the BBC's coverage and commentary.^[105] In recent years the contest has been one of SBS's highest-rating programmes in terms of viewer numbers.^[106]

Image:Flag of Austria.svg Austria 

In Austria, ORF broadcast the contest live and received extremely high TV ratings, despite its withdrawal. However, it did not broadcast the semifinals on 20 and 22 May, though Austrians were able to watch these on German television via ARD.^[107]

Image:Flag of Italy.svg Italy 

San Marino RTV, which broadcast the full event, is available in some parts of Italy: Romagna (and a small part of Emilia, including Bologna), northern Marche, and southern Veneto, including Venice.^[108]

Image:Newworldmap.svg Worldwide 

A live broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest was available worldwide via satellite through European streams such as TVRi, ERT World, Armtv, TVE Internacional, TRT International, TVP Polonia, RTP Internacional, RTS Sat and SVT Europa. The official Eurovision Song Contest website also provided a live stream without commentary via the peer to peer medium Octoshape.

High-definition broadcasts

RTS broadcast the event in 1080i high-definition (HD) and 5.1 Surround Sound. The new high-definition television system was in place at the Belgrade Arena by April 2008.^[109] This is the second year that the event was broadcast live in HD. BBC HD broadcast the contest in High Definition in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Swedish broadcaster SVT broadcast both the semi-final and the final on their HD-channel SVT HD. Lithuanian broadcaster LRT broadcast both the semi-final and the final in 1080i high-definition (HD) on their channel LTV. The same occured on Swiss HD channel HD suisse; on this channel viewers were able to choose the language of the commentary while viewing a semi-final or final of the Eurovision Song Contest. However, all other countries broadcast the show only in standard definition, and the event will only be available to buy on a standard-definition DVD; it will not be released on Blu-ray Disc.

Maps

     Did not qualify for the final      Did not participate      Ineligible to participate

Gallery

Notes

External links

• Eurovision Song Contest
• Radio Television of Serbia: Eurovision Song Contest (Serbian)
• Official Serbian Eurovision website (Serbian)
• Watch for free