Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the sixth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which is the world's largest song contest for children.[2] It was held at the "Spyros Kyprianou" Athletic Centre in Lemesos, Cyprus and hosted by Alex Michael and Sophia Paraskeva. It was won by the Georgian trio Bzikebi, with the song "Bzz..". This is the first song to win any Eurovision Song Contest in an imaginary language. Ukraine took 2nd place and Lithuania finished 3rd.[3] Bzikebi also became the first group act to win Junior Eurovision.

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Fun In The Sun
Dates
Final	22 November 2008
Host
Venue	Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Centre, Limassol, Cyprus
Presenter(s)	Alex Michael Sophia Paraskeva
Directed by	Klitos Klitou
Executive supervisor	Svante Stockselius
Executive producer	Munro Forbes
Host broadcaster	Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC)
Opening act	Dance act featuring Yiorgos Ioannides and Mariam Venizelou.
Interval act	Dima Bilan, Evridiki & Dimitris Korgialas
Reprise act	All participants performing "Hand in Hand"
Website	junioreurovision.tv/event/lemesos-2008
Participants
Number of entries	15
Debuting countries	None
Returning countries	None
Non-returning countries	Portugal  Sweden
Participation map      Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 2008
Vote
Voting system	Citizens of each participating country vote by telephone and SMS message, which counts for 50%. Each country's 10 favourites are awarded 1 to 8, 10 and 12 points based on the number of votes. Results 1–5 are automatically displayed on-screen, then each country announces 6–8, 10 and 12 points. A jury in each country also has a 50% say in the outcome.[1]
Nul points	All countries get 12 points from start
Winning song	Georgia "Bzz.."

The theme of the event was "Fun in the Sun",[4] despite the fact that there were thunderstorms in Lemesos the day of the contest. The stage, which was designed by George Papadopoulos,[5] was nominated for the prestigious international "Live Design Excellence Awards".[6] The design is an abstract composition and consists of a round stage representing the island of Cyprus, real water along the front of the stage, two jetties, the waves breaking and moving away from the island and five sailing boats with oars. During the competitive performances, a beach ball with the design of the performer's national flag would be floating in the on-stage pond while they were performing.

For the contest, various changes to the rules were made. One was that adults could assist children to write the songs submitted to their national broadcaster; previously only children could write the songs, with no assistance from adults. Another change was only six people could be on stage during a performance, instead of eight. The most significant change, however, was only half of the vote was decided by the tele-voters. Before the 2008 contest tele-voters completely decided the whole result. The other half of the result was decided by a jury of adults and children.[7][8]

Location

Further information on the host city: Limassol

Stockholm

Kiev

Limassol

Locations of the bidding countries. The eliminated countries are marked in red. The chosen host country is marked in blue.

Bidding phase and host selection

On 27 May 2007, the Eurovision Steering Group decided to award CyBC of Cyprus the rights to host the 2008 contest, over bids from TV4 of Sweden and NTU of Ukraine, the latter of which would later host the 2009 edition.

Venue

Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Center, in Limassol. Venue of the 2008 Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

The Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Center[9] (Greek: Αθλητικό Κέντρο "Σπύρος Κυπριανού"), also known as Palais des sports, is the biggest and the most imposing multi dynamic indoor athletic arena in Cyprus. It is named after the late president of Cyprus Spyros Kyprianou. This project was conducted by the Cyprus Sports Organisation and was constructed north of the city of Limassol near Kato Polemidia and by the side of Limassol - Troodos road. Construction of the project began in late 2002 and was completed at the end of 2005 at a total cost of approximately CY£8.5 million.

Format

On 10 September 2008, the hosts were announced as Alex Michael and Sophia Paraskeva; both presenters with Cypriot backgrounds.[10]

On 13 October 2008, the draw of the running order took place live on CyBC 1. This involved drawing the first and last countries and performers, and then drawing countries into various 'pots' to decide when they would perform.[11] The full running order was announced on 14 October 2008.[12] The stage was constructed between 30 October 2008 and 14 November 2008.

Voting

As in all previous Eurovision Song Contests each country gave their top 10 countries songs points from 1 point for their 10th favourite song up until 8 points for their 3rd favourite song. Then 10 and 12 points were given for the second favorite and favorite respectively. But, the difference between this contest and other past contests is this is the first Eurovision Song Contest that implements a jury vote that counts for half of each countries vote.[13]

Participating countries

Fifteen countries took part in the 2008 Junior Eurovision Song Contest: Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Macedonia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine.[14] Portugal, which had taken part twice since 2006 announced that it was no longer interested in the contest and withdrew along with Sweden, a founding country in 2003, which left because of other broadcasting plans during the time of the event.[15][16] Portugal would return in 2017 after winning the adult contest for the first time that same year.[17]

On the other hand, Israel and Bosnia and Herzegovina announced their intention to participate, but decided both to withdraw before the contest. Welsh language broadcaster S4C considered the possibility of participation, but in the end it was decided they would not to participate in the competition, because their debut was rejected because Wales isn't a sovereign state. Only the BBC has the exclusive right to represent the United Kingdom.[18] Wales later debuted in the 2018 contest.

Azerbaijan announced its intention to take part also, but withdrew from the contest in early October. According to İctimai Televiziya və Radio Yayımları Şirkəti, the network was unable to select and prepare children for such a high scale event without proper help from other governmental structures and bodies. The broadcaster also confirmed payment of a fine to the EBU due to its late withdrawal.[19] Poland had also considered participation but decided that it would not take part this year.[20] The 2008 contest was the first Junior Eurovision Song Contest to have no debuting countries.

Final

For the first time, each country decided their votes through a 50% jury and 50% televoting system which decided their top ten songs. The only country that did not use this system was Ukraine who calculated their vote using a jury. Ukrainian broadcaster NTU opted not to broadcast the contest live, but to air it deferred on Sunday 23 November as Saturday 22 November was Holodomor Remembrance Day in the country.[21]

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Language	Place	Points
01	Romania	Mădălina and Andrada	"Salvați planeta!"	Romanian	9	58
02	Armenia	Monica	"Im Ergi Hnchyune" (Իմ Երգի Հնչյունե)	Armenian	8	59
03	Belarus	Dasha, Alina & Karyna	"Serdtse Belarusi" (Сердце Беларуси)	Russian, Belarusian[22]	6	86
04	Russia	Mihail Puntov	"Spit angel" (Спит ангел)	Russian	7	73
05	Greece	Niki Yiannouchu	"Kapoia nychta" (Καποια νύχτα)	Greek	14	19
06	Georgia	Bzikebi	"Bzz.."	Imaginary	1	154
07	Belgium	Oliver	"Shut Up"	Dutch	11	45
08	Bulgaria	Krastyana Krasteva	"Edna mechta" (Една мечта)	Bulgarian	15	15
09	Serbia	Maja Mazić	"Uvek kad u nebo pogledam" (Увек кaд у небо погледaм)	Serbian	12	37
10	Malta	Daniel Testa	"Junior Swing"	English	4	100
11	Netherlands	Marissa	"1 dag"	Dutch	13	27
12	Ukraine	Viktoria Petryk	"Matrosy" (Матроси)	Ukrainian	2	135
13	Lithuania	Eglė Jurgaitytė	"Laiminga diena"	Lithuanian	3	103
14	Macedonia	Bobi Andonov	"Prati mi SMS" (Прати ми СМС)	Macedonian	5	93
15	Cyprus	Elena Mannouri and Charis Savva	"Gioupi gia!" (Γιούπι για!)	Greek	10	46

International broadcasts and voting

Voting and spokespersons

•  Romania – Iulia Ciobanu (Co-host of the Romanian national final in 2007 and 2008)
•  Armenia – Mary Sahakyan
•  Belarus – Anjelica Misevich
•  Russia – Sarina
•  Greece – Stefani Trepekli
•  Georgia – Ana Davitaia
•  Belgium – Chloé Ditlefsen
•  Bulgaria – Marina Baltadzi
•  Serbia – Anđelija Erić
•  Malta – Francesca Zarb
•  Netherlands – Famke Rauch
•  Ukraine – Marietta
•  Lithuania – Lina Joy (Lithuanian representative in 2007)
•  Macedonia – Marija Zafirovska
•  Cyprus – Christina Christofi

Commentators

Participating countries

•  Armenia – Gohar Gasparyan (Armenia 1)
•  Belarus – Denis Kurian (Belarus 1)
•  Belgium – Kristien Maes and Ben Roelants (VRT)
•  Bulgaria – Elena Rosberg and Georgi Kushvaliev (BNT 1)
•  Cyprus – Kyriakos Pastides (CyBC)
•  Georgia – Temo Kvirkvelia (GPB)
•  Greece – Renia Tsitsibikou and George Amyras (ERT)
•  Lithuania – Darius Užkuraitis (LRT)
•  Macedonia – Ivona Bogoevska (MTV 1)
•  Malta – Valerie Vella (TVM)
•  Netherlands – Sipke Jan Bousema (AVRO)
•  Romania – Ioana Isopescu and Alexandru Nagy (TVR)
•  Russia – Olga Shelest (RTR)
•  Serbia – Duška Vučinić-Lučić (RTS2)
•  Ukraine – Timur Miroshnychenko (NTU)

Non-participating countries

A live broadcast of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest was available worldwide via satellite through European streams such as TVRi, ERT World, ARMTV, RTS Sat and MKTV Sat. The official Eurovision Song Contest website also provided a live stream without commentary via the peer to peer medium Octoshape.

•  Australia: Australia broadcast the contest on 13 May 2009, as a lead up to the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.[23]
•  Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan was originally going to participate but withdrew on 15 October 2008. The contest was broadcast on İctimai TV.
•  Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosnia and Herzegovina were also set to participate but later withdrew. They broadcast the contest on BHRT.

Score sheet

Bzikebi, Georgia's participants

Voting procedure used:   50% jury and televote   100% jury vote		Results
		Total score	Romania	Armenia	Belarus	Russia	Greece	Georgia	Belgium	Bulgaria	Serbia	Malta	Netherlands	Ukraine	Lithuania	Macedonia	Cyprus
Contestants	Romania	58		4	2	2	2	2	2	1	5	3	2	4	1	8	8
	Armenia	59	3		5	6	6	8	6	7			3	3
	Belarus	86	5	5		10	4		10	6	7	7	4	5	3	5	3
	Russia	73		10	12		3	5		2	2	6	1	7	8	1	4
	Greece	19															7
	Georgia	154	6	12	8	12	10		12	12	10	8	12	12	12	4	12
	Belgium	45	2	2	1	1		4			3	2	10	2	4	2
	Bulgaria	15														3
	Serbia	37	1	1		3		6	1					1		12
	Malta	100	7	7	4	5	7	7	7	8	1		6	10	7	6	6
	Netherlands	27			3				5			1			5		1
	Ukraine	135	12	8	10	8	8	12	3	10	6	12	7		10	7	10
	Lithuania	103	8		6	7	1	10	8	3	12	10	8	6		10	2
	Macedonia	93	10	6	7	4	5	3	4	5	8	5	5	8	6		5
	Cyprus	46	4	3			12	1		4	4	4			2
The table is ordered by appearance. All countries automatically received 12 points. Georgia and Macedonia awarded their points last due to technical problems

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points received:

N.	Contestant	Voting nation
8	Georgia	Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Lithuania, Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine
3	Ukraine	Georgia, Malta, Romania
1	Lithuania	Serbia
	Russia	Belarus
	Cyprus	Greece
	Serbia	Macedonia

• All countries were given 12 points at the start of voting. This was so no country got nul points.

Official album

Junior Eurovision Song Contest: Lemesos 2008
Compilation album by Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Released	10 October 2008
Genre	Pop
Length	41:39 (CD 1) 41:39 (CD 2)
Label	Universal
Junior Eurovision Song Contest chronology
JESC: Rotterdam 2007 (2007) Junior Eurovision Song Contest: Lemesos 2008 (2008) JESC: Kyiv 2009 (2009)

Junior Eurovision Song Contest: Lemesos 2008, is a compilation album put together by the European Broadcasting Union, and was released by Universal Music Group on 10 October 2008. The album features all the songs from the 2008 contest, along with karaoke versions.[24]

See also

• Eurovision Song Contest 2008
• Eurovision Dance Contest 2008
• Eurovision Young Musicians 2008

References

1. "Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008". Junioreurovision.tv. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
2. Quoted from the hosts
3. "CONGRATULATIONS GEORGIA!". junioreurovision.tv. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
4. "Get to know the venue, Spiros Kiprianou, Palais Des Sports". Oikotimes.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
5. BDigital Web Solutions. "Scenery and sets design and construction". Skinotechniki.com. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
6. "Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008". Livedesignonline.com. 2010-03-23. Archived from the original on 2012-07-22. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
7. "Changes to Junior Eurovision confirmed". oikotimes.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
8. "Junior: Minor format changes introduced". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
9. Niculita, Alexandru. "Palais des Sports". www.limassolmunicipal.com.cy. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
10. "Meet the hosts: Sophia and Alex!". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 10 September 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
11. "First part of draw concluded!". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 13 October 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
12. "We have it: The starting order!". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 14 October 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
13. "Junior: Minor format changes introduced | Junior Eurovision Song Contest | Junior Eurovision Song Contest - Kyiv 2013". Junioreurovision.tv. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
14. "Participants of Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008". JuniorEurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 2008-10-03. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
15. "RTP withdraw from Junior Eurovision 2008". Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. Retrieved May 28, 2008.
16. "Details on Swedish withdrawal". ESCKaz.com. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
17. Jordan, Paul (9 August 2017). "16 Countries to dazzle on stage in Tbilisi in 2017!". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
18. "Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008 info page". ESCKaz.com. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
19. "Детское Евровидение 2008 Кипр Новости Junior Eurovision 2008 Cyprus News". Esckaz.com. 2008-11-14. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
20. "Details on Poland non participation". oikotimes.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
21. "Ukraine not broadcasting contest live". ESCKaz.com. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
22. At the start of the song, the backing vocals are in Belarusian.
23. "SBS Schedule 13 May 2009". SBS.com.au. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
24. "Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008". itunes.apple.com. 23 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.

External links

• Official website
• ESCKaz JESC pages