Eurovision Song Contest 2008

The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following Marija Šerifović's win at the 2007 contest in Helsinki, Finland with the song "Molitva". It was the first time Serbia had hosted the contest - only 1 year after the country made its debut as an independent nation. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), the contest was held at the Belgrade Arena, and (for the first time) consisted of two semi-finals on 20 and 22 May, and the final on 24 May 2008. The three live shows were hosted by Jovana Janković and Željko Joksimović.[4] It was the first Eurovision Song Contest held in a former Yugoslav republic.

"Eurovision 2008" redirects here. For other uses, see Eurovision 2008 (disambiguation).

Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Confluence of Sound
Dates
Semi-final 1	20 May 2008 (2008-05-20)
Semi-final 2	22 May 2008 (2008-05-22)
Final	24 May 2008 (2008-05-24)
Host
Venue	Belgrade Arena Belgrade, Serbia
Presenter(s)	Jovana Janković Željko Joksimović
Directed by	Sven Stojanović
Executive supervisor	Svante Stockselius
Executive producer	Sandra Šuša
Host broadcaster	Radio Television of Serbia (RTS)
Opening act	Semi-final 1: Video killed a radio star performance, Ensemble "Kolo" Semi-final 2: Serbia for beginners accompanied by Aleksandar Josipović as a Master of Ceremonies[1] Final: Marija Šerifović performing "Molitva" (remix) and "Tell Me Why"
Interval act	Semi-final 1: Slobodan Trkulja, Metropole Orkest, Balkanopolis; Novak Djokovic and Željko Joksimović performed "Beograde" (song by Đorđe Marjanović)[2] Semi-final 2: National Theatre in Belgrade performance,[3] Lys Assia Final: Goran Bregović (medley: "Gas gas", "Napile se ulice" and "Kalašnjikov"); Vlade Divac
Website	eurovision.tv/event/belgrade-2008
Participants
Number of entries	43
Debuting countries	Azerbaijan  San Marino
Returning countries	None
Non-returning countries	Austria
Participation map      Participating countries     Did not qualify from the semi final     Countries that participated in the past but not in 2008
Vote
Voting system	Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs.
Nul points	None
Winning song	Russia "Believe"

Forty-three countries participated in the contest,[5] beating the record of forty-two set the year before.[6] Azerbaijan and San Marino[7] participated for the first time, while Austria did not return, mainly due to questions on the semi-final organisation, and the politicization of the contest.[8]

The winner was Russia with the song "Believe", performed by Dima Bilan who wrote it with Jim Beanz. This was Russia's first victory in the contest, and the third year finishing in the top three. Ukraine, Greece, Armenia and Norway rounded out the top five. Armenia achieved their best result to date in this edition. Of the "Big Four" countries Spain placed the highest, finishing sixteenth, while the United Kingdom ended up in last place for the second time in their Eurovision history, after 2003.

The official website, eurovision.tv, streamed national finals for this year's contest live on ESCTV for the first time.[9] Furthermore, for the first time the winner has been awarded an official winner's trophy of the Eurovision Song Contest. The trophy is a handmade piece of sandblasted glass in the shape of a 1950s microphone.[10][11]

Location

Belgrade Arena, Belgrade - host venue of the 2008 contest.

Venue

Serbia gained the right to host the Contest after Marija Šerifović won the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, Finland. Since Serbia was the winner of the preceding contest, the 2008 contest was subsequently held there. The Belgrade Arena in Belgrade was chosen as the venue for the contest,[12] and is among the largest indoor arenas in Europe, with a total capacity of 25,000 seats.

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 the 2008 contest and onward, and the ring contains a key from every city that has ever hosted the competition.[13]

Potential change of location

Following the unilateral Kosovo declaration of independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008, which has resulted in protests and unrest across the country, the location of the event was considered to be changed.[14] Ukraine was considered an option since they came second in Eurovision Song Contest 2007. YLE were another option, as they hosted the previous year's competition in Helsinki, Finland.[15] Greece's Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi (ERT) also offered the EBU to host the contest in Athens, Greece again.[16] 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.[14] The delegations of Albania, Croatia and Israel had special security.[17] In the end, the contest was held without any incidents.[14][17]

Visual design

Presenters Željko Joksimović and Jovana Janković during the first semi-final

RTS ran a competition that led to the creation of the 2008 Contest's branding, logo and the stage.[18] The theme of the Contest was based around the "confluence of sound". This was symbolic as Belgrade lies on the confluence of two European rivers, the Sava and Danube. The logo chosen, a treble clef, formed the graphical basis of the design created by Boris Miljković.[19]

The postcards in the first and second semi-final were based around the creation of the flag of the nation that was to perform next. Each post card had a short story related to each country and its people. During each postcard a short letter was displayed. All were in the national language of the artist's country, with the exception of the Serbian postcard, which consisted of "Welcome to Belgrade" and "Welcome to Serbia" in various languages and the Belgian postcard which was written in the constructed language the Belgian group performed in. The postcards were brought to an end by a stamp with this year's Eurovision logo.

According to RTS the stage represented native identities, history and modern themes, symbols and universally recognised messages. The confluence-themed stage also contained 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.[20] 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 for the entries from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Finland, Germany, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Switzerland. The stage received positive feedback from the media and fans describing it as "one of the best looking stages in the history of the competition".

Format

Aleksandar Josipović as part of the opening act of the 2nd Semi-Final

At a press conference in Helsinki in May 2007, Svante Stockselius, executive supervisor of the Contest for the EBU, announced that the competition's format may be expanded to two semi-finals in 2008 or 2009.[21] On 28 September 2007 it was announced that the EBU had approved the plan of hosting two semi-finals in 2008.[22]

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. Each broadcaster had to broadcast the semi-final in which they took part, with the broadcasting of the other semi-final being optional. The draw for the semi-final allocation occurred in the City Assembly of Belgrade on Monday 28 January 2008 at 13:00 CET and was conducted by the hosts of the contest Jovana Janković and Željko Joksimović.

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.[25]

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:

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4	Pot 5	Pot 6
Albania  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Croatia  Macedonia  Montenegro  Slovenia	Denmark  Estonia  Finland  Iceland  Norway  Sweden	Belgium  Bulgaria  Cyprus  Greece  Netherlands  Turkey	Andorra  Ireland  Latvia  Lithuania  Portugal  Romania	Armenia  Belarus  Georgia  Israel  Moldova  Russia  Ukraine	Azerbaijan  Czech Republic  Hungary  Malta  Poland  San Marino   Switzerland

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.[26]

Participating countries

  Countries in the first semi-final

  Countries in the second semi-final

  Countries voting in the first semi-final

  Countries voting in the second semi-final

On 21 December 2007, the EBU confirmed that 43 countries would be present in Belgrade.[27] San Marino, as well as the newest EBU member, Azerbaijan, made 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."[8] Italy, which had not competed since 1997, and which would have been an automatic finalist, was again absent. Slovakia was absent due to budget problems.

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 at the first semi-final. France, the United Kingdom and Serbia exercised voting rights at the second semi-final. Spain and France each broadcast only the semi-final in which they participated; Germany, Serbia and the UK screened both semi-finals (with Germany broadcasting on a delay).

Results

Semi-final 1

• The first semi-final was held on 20 May 2008.
• Germany and Spain voted in this semi-final.
• Pale turquoise denotes the entry chosen by the jury to go to the final.

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Language[28]	Place	Points
01	Montenegro	Stefan Filipović	"Zauvijek volim te" (Заувијек волим те)	Montenegrin	14	23
02	Israel	Boaz Ma'uda	"The Fire in Your Eyes"	Hebrew, English	5	104
03	Estonia	Kreisiraadio	"Leto svet"	Serbian, German, Finnish	18	8
04	Moldova	Geta Burlacu	"A Century of Love"	English	12	36
05	San Marino	Miodio	"Complice"	Italian	19	5
06	Belgium	Ishtar	"O Julissi"	Imaginary	17	16
07	Azerbaijan	Elnur and Samir	"Day After Day"	English	6	96
08	Slovenia	Rebeka Dremelj	"Vrag naj vzame"	Slovene	11	36
09	Norway	Maria Haukaas Storeng	"Hold On Be Strong"	English	4	106
10	Poland	Isis Gee	"For Life"	English	10	42
11	Ireland	Dustin the Turkey	"Irelande Douze Pointe"	English[lower-alpha 1]	15	22
12	Andorra	Gisela	"Casanova"	English, Catalan	16	22
13	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Laka	"Pokušaj"	Bosnian	9	72
14	Armenia	Sirusho	"Qélé, Qélé" (Քելե Քելե)	English, Armenian	2	139
15	Netherlands	Hind	"Your Heart Belongs to Me"	English	13	27
16	Finland	Teräsbetoni	"Missä miehet ratsastaa"	Finnish	8	79
17	Romania	Nico and Vlad	"Pe-o margine de lume"	Romanian, Italian	7	94
18	Russia	Dima Bilan	"Believe"	English	3	135
19	Greece	Kalomira	"Secret Combination"	English	1	156

Semi-final 2

• The second semi-final was held on 22 May 2008
• The United Kingdom, France and Serbia voted in this semi-final.
• Pale turquoise denotes the entry chosen by the jury to go to the final.

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Language[28]	Place[29]	Points
01	Iceland	Euroband	"This Is My Life"	English	8	68
02	Sweden	Charlotte Perrelli	"Hero"	English	12	54
03	Turkey	Mor ve Ötesi	"Deli"	Turkish	7	85
04	Ukraine	Ani Lorak	"Shady Lady"	English	1	152
05	Lithuania	Jeronimas Milius	"Nomads in the Night"	English	16	30
06	Albania	Olta Boka	"Zemrën e lamë peng"	Albanian	9	67
07	Switzerland	Paolo Meneguzzi	"Era stupendo"	Italian	13	47
08	Czech Republic	Tereza Kerndlová	"Have Some Fun"	English	18	9
09	Belarus	Ruslan Alekhno	"Hasta la Vista"	English[lower-alpha 2]	17	27
10	Latvia	Pirates of the Sea	"Wolves of the Sea"	English	6	86
11	Croatia	Kraljevi ulice and 75 Cents	"Romanca"	Croatian	4	112
12	Bulgaria	Deep Zone and Balthazar	"DJ, Take Me Away"	English	11	56
13	Denmark	Simon Mathew	"All Night Long"	English	3	112
14	Georgia	Diana Gurtskaya	"Peace Will Come"	English	5	107
15	Hungary	Csézy	"Candlelight"	English, Hungarian	19	6
16	Malta	Morena	"Vodka"	English[lower-alpha 3]	14	38
17	Cyprus	Evdokia Kadi	"Femme Fatale"	Greek	15	36
18	Macedonia	Tamara, Vrčak & Adrian	"Let Me Love You"	English	10	64
19	Portugal	Vânia Fernandes	"Senhora do mar (Negras águas)"	Portuguese	2	120

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 pale turquoise)
• the top nine countries from the second semi-final plus one wildcard from the juries (marked in pale turquoise)

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

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Language[28]	Place	Points
01	Romania	Nico and Vlad	"Pe-o margine de lume"	Romanian, Italian	20	45
02	United Kingdom	Andy Abraham	"Even If"	English	25	14
03	Albania	Olta Boka	"Zemrën e lamë peng"	Albanian	17	55
04	Germany	No Angels	"Disappear"	English	23	14
05	Armenia	Sirusho	"Qélé, Qélé" (Քելե Քելե)	English, Armenian	4	199
06	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Laka	"Pokušaj"	Bosnian	10	110
07	Israel	Boaz Ma'uda	"The Fire in Your Eyes"	Hebrew, English	9	124
08	Finland	Teräsbetoni	"Missä miehet ratsastaa"	Finnish	22	35
09	Croatia	Kraljevi ulice and 75 Cents	"Romanca"	Croatian	21	44
10	Poland	Isis Gee	"For Life"	English	24	14
11	Iceland	Euroband	"This Is My Life"	English	14	64
12	Turkey	Mor ve Ötesi	"Deli"	Turkish	7	138
13	Portugal	Vânia Fernandes	"Senhora do mar (Negras águas)"	Portuguese	13	69
14	Latvia	Pirates of the Sea	"Wolves of the Sea"	English	12	83
15	Sweden	Charlotte Perrelli	"Hero"	English	18	47
16	Denmark	Simon Mathew	"All Night Long"	English	15	60
17	Georgia	Diana Gurtskaya	"Peace Will Come"	English	11	83
18	Ukraine	Ani Lorak	"Shady Lady"	English	2	230
19	France	Sébastien Tellier	"Divine"	English, French	19	47
20	Azerbaijan	Elnur and Samir	"Day After Day"	English	8	132
21	Greece	Kalomira	"Secret Combination"	English	3	218
22	Spain	Rodolfo Chikilicuatre	"Baila el Chiki-chiki"	Spanish, English	16	55
23	Serbia	Jelena Tomašević feat. Bora Dugić	"Oro" (Оро)	Serbian	6	160
24	Russia	Dima Bilan	"Believe"	English	1	272
25	Norway	Maria Haukaas Storeng	"Hold On Be Strong"	English	5	182

Voting during the final

The voting order and spokespersons during the final were as follows:[30]

1.  United Kingdom – Carrie Grant[31]
   (UK representative in the 1983 Contest as part of Sweet Dreams)
2.  Macedonia – Ognen Janeski[32]
3.  Ukraine – Marysya Horobets
4.  Germany – Thomas Hermanns[33]
5.  Estonia – Sahlene[34]
   (Estonian representative in the 2002 Contest)
6.  Bosnia and Herzegovina – Melina Garibović[35]
7.  Albania – Leon Menkshi
8.  Belgium – Sandrine van Handenhoven[36]
9.  San Marino – Roberto Moretti
10.  Latvia – Kristīne Virsnīte[37]
11.  Bulgaria – Valentina Voykova
12.  Serbia – Dušica Spasić[38]
13.  Israel – Noa Barak-Weshler
14.  Cyprus – Hristina Marouhou[39]
15.  Moldova – Vitalie Rotaru
16.  Iceland – Brynja Þorgeirsdóttir
17.  France – Cyril Hanouna[40]
18.  Romania – Alina Sorescu
19.  Portugal – Sabrina[41]
    (Portuguese representative in the 2007 Contest)
20.  Norway – Stian Barsnes Simonsen
    (Co-Presenter of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004)
21.  Hungary – Éva Novodomszky
22.  Andorra – Alfred Llahí
23.  Poland – Radek Brzózka[42]
24.  Slovenia – Peter Poles[43]
25.  Armenia – Hrachuhi Utmazyan
26.  Czech Republic – Petra Šubrtová
27.  Spain – Ainhoa Arbizu[44]
28.  Netherlands – Esther Hart[45]
    (Dutch representative in the 2003 Contest)
29.  Turkey – Meltem Ersan Yazgan[46]
30.  Malta – Moira Delia[47]
    (Presenter of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014)
31.  Ireland – Niamh Kavanagh[48]
    (Winner of the 1993 and representative in the 2010 Contest)
32.   Switzerland – Cécile Bähler[49]
33.  Azerbaijan – Leyla Aliyeva[50]
    (Co-Presenter of the 2012 Contest)
34.  Greece – Alexis Kostalas[51]
35.  Finland – Mikko Leppilampi[52]
    (Co-Presenter of the 2007 Contest)
36.  Croatia – Barbara Kolar
37.  Sweden – Björn Gustafsson[53]
38.  Belarus – Olga Barabanschikova
39.  Lithuania - Rolandas Vilkončius
40.  Russia – Oxana Fedorova
41.  Montenegro – Nina Radulović[38]
42.  Georgia – Tika Patsatsia[54]
43.  Denmark – Maria Montell

Scoreboards

Semi-final 1

Voting procedure used:   100% Televoting   100% Jury vote		Televoting Results
		Total score	Montenegro	Israel	Estonia	Moldova	San Marino	Belgium	Azerbaijan	Slovenia	Norway	Poland	Ireland	Andorra	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Armenia	Netherlands	Finland	Romania	Russia	Greece	Germany	Spain
Contestants	Montenegro	23					1			10					12
	Israel	104	5				2	7	10	4	10	4		7	5	7	6	10	6	8	5	4	4
	Estonia	8				1												7
	Moldova	36					5		5					1		6			10	5	4
	San Marino	5												2							3
	Belgium	16			6												10
	Azerbaijan	96	3	5	4	10		5				10	5	8	3	2	4	5	7	10	7	8
	Slovenia	36	10	2		2			1			2			10	4			1	2	2
	Norway	106	4	6	8	3	7	1	7	2		7	8	10	4	8	5	12	4	7		1	2
	Poland	42					10		3		2		12			1			2	3	1	5	3
	Ireland	22	1	3	7			4			1				2		1	2					1
	Andorra	22		4	3					1		1	1										12
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	72	12		1	6			4	12	12		3				7	8				7
	Armenia	139	6	10	2	5	8	12		5	3	12	2	3	6		12	4	5	12	12	10	10
	Netherlands	27		1			3	8	2		7					3			3
	Finland	79	2		12	8	4	2		3	6	5	6	12	1					4	6	2	6
	Romania	94		8		12	6	6	6	6	5	3	7	6		5	3	1		1	8	3	8
	Russia	135	8	12	10	7		3	8	7	8	8	4	4	7	12	2	6	8		10	6	5
	Greece	156	7	7	5	4	12	10	12	8	4	6	10	5	8	10	8	3	12	6		12	7

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the first semi-final:

N.	Contestant	Voting nation
5	Armenia	Belgium, Greece, Netherlands, Poland, Russia
4	Greece	Azerbaijan, Germany, Romania, San Marino
3	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Montenegro, Norway, Slovenia
2
	Russia	Armenia, Israel
	Finland	Andorra, Estonia
1
	Andorra	Spain
	Montenegro	Bosnia and Herzegovina
	Norway	Finland
	Poland	Ireland
	Romania	Moldova

Semi-final 2

Voting procedure used:   100% Televoting		Televoting Results
		Total score	Iceland	Sweden	Turkey	Ukraine	Lithuania	Albania	Switzerland	Czech Republic	Belarus	Latvia	Croatia	Bulgaria	Denmark	Georgia	Hungary	Malta	Cyprus	Macedonia	Portugal	France	Serbia	United Kingdom
Contestants	Iceland	68		10	3	1	2	5	4		1	2			10		7	5	1		5	8		4
	Sweden	54	8		2		3	1	3						12		1	7	4		3	1	3	6
	Turkey	85		6		5		12	7		3			7	8	5	4			8		10		10
	Ukraine	152	6	3	12		7		1	12	12	6	7	12	7	12	8	8	10	6	12	3	8
	Lithuania	30										12				10								8
	Albania	67	1	7	8	3			10	1	5		10							12	2	5		3
	Switzerland	47						10					5		5			12	7	1		7
	Czech Republic	9			1								2					1		5
	Belarus	27				10	6					5				4			2
	Latvia	86	7	8		2	12			5	6		6	1	6	6		6		4	10		2	5
	Croatia	112	4	4	5	7	5	3	6	3	7	7		6	3	8	10		6	10	6	2	10
	Bulgaria	56	5		6	6	1			2	2	1	1				3	2	8	7	1	6	5
	Denmark	112	12	12		4	8	4	5	10	4	8	3	2		3	12	4	5	3	8	4		1
	Georgia	107	2	1	10	12	10			8	10	10		4			2	10	12	2	7		7
	Hungary	6													1	1							4
	Malta	38	3					8		6		4	4	3	4						4			2
	Cyprus	36			4			2	2					8		2	5						1	12
	Macedonia	64		2	7			7	8	4			12	10	2								12
	Portugal	120	10	5		8	4	6	12	7	8	3	8	5		7	6	3	3			12	6	7

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the second semi-final:

N.	Contestant	Voting nation
6	Ukraine	Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Georgia, Portugal, Turkey
3	Denmark	Hungary, Iceland, Sweden
2
	Georgia	Cyprus, Ukraine
	Macedonia	Croatia, Serbia
	Portugal	France, Switzerland
1
	Albania	Macedonia
	Cyprus	United Kingdom
	Latvia	Lithuania
	Lithuania	Latvia
	Sweden	Denmark
	Switzerland	Malta
	Turkey	Albania

Final

Voting procedure used:   100% Televoting   100% Jury vote		Televoting Results
		Total score	United Kingdom	Macedonia	Ukraine	Germany	Estonia	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Albania	Belgium	San Marino	Latvia	Bulgaria	Serbia	Israel	Cyprus	Moldova	Iceland	France	Romania	Portugal	Norway	Hungary	Andorra	Poland	Slovenia	Armenia	Czech Republic	Spain	Netherlands	Turkey	Malta	Ireland	Switzerland	Azerbaijan	Greece	Finland	Croatia	Sweden	Belarus	Lithuania	Russia	Montenegro	Georgia	Denmark
Contestants	Romania	45									1				6	3	12		4		4								12				3
	United Kingdom	14									6																						8
	Albania	55		12				1			3															4					1			8	1	10		8					7
	Germany	14											12																					2
	Armenia	199		1	7	6		6	2	12	8		8	5	8	10	2	1	12	4					12	5		12	10	12	10					12			2	7		12	1	12
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	110		5		5								12					2			10				10		1		7	6		2	7	3		6	12	10				10		2
	Israel	124			5	3		5	4	5	10		2	7		2	6		6	6		3	3		5	3	6			3				1	7	1	8	2		4	3	6	5	3
	Finland	35					10					1						7				4		4	2														7
	Croatia	44		2	1	2		10				5		3						1	3					8	2							3								1	2	1
	Poland	14	4																														10
	Iceland	64	6									2			4						7	8							4			6					7		8						12
	Turkey	138	8	7	4	10		8	10	10	4		5						10	8		2	5							10				6	12		4			3		2		6	4
	Portugal	69			3	4				6	5			1				6	8					10					8	5				10				3
	Latvia	83	10				7											4			8			2				3	2			7	12					4	3		10		3	2	6
	Sweden	47					2		3					2	1	1		3				7	1						1			12					5				1				8
	Denmark	60	3				3				2	7						12			5	12	2					2				4	1						5		2
	Georgia	83			8		5					8			2	7	3				1						10	4			4	5			4	4				6	5	7
	Ukraine	230	5	4			4	3	8	1		10	7	6	10	6	7	5		3	12		6	6	10	2	5	8	7		8	10	6		10	6	3	7		10	6	8	4	10	7
	France	47	2				6					3						8				1		3	1		4										2		4		8				5
	Azerbaijan	132		8	10	1				7		4	3		3		8			2			12	7	7	1		10		2	12					3				8	7	10		7
	Greece	218	12	3	2	12	1	7	12	8	12		10	8	5	12	4		3	12			8	8	3	6	8	5	3	6	7	2	4	5	6			5	1	2		3	6	4	3
	Spain	55	1						1	4						4			5		10			12			1				3			4		8	1								1
	Serbia	160		10		8		12	5				4			5	1	2	7	7		6	7		4	12	3	6		8		1		12	2	5		10	6	1		4	12
	Russia	272		6	12	7	12	4	6	3		12	6	10	12	8	10		1	10	6	5	10	5	6	7	12	7	5	1	5	8	5		8	7	10	6		12	12		8	8
	Norway	182	7		6		8	2	7	2	7	6	1	4	7		5	10		5	2		4	1	8		7		6	4	2	3	7		5	2	12	1	12	5	4	5		5	10
Vertically, the table is ordered by appearance in the final. Horizontally, the table is ordered by voting order.

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:

N.	Contestant	Voting nation
8	Armenia	Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Greece, Netherlands, Poland, Russia
7	Russia	Armenia, Belarus, Estonia, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine
6	Greece	Albania, Cyprus, Germany, Romania, San Marino, United Kingdom
4	Serbia	Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia, Switzerland
2	Azerbaijan	Hungary, Turkey
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Croatia, Serbia
	Denmark	Iceland, Norway
	Norway	Finland, Sweden
	Romania	Moldova, Spain
1	Albania	Macedonia
	Germany	Bulgaria
	Iceland	Denmark
	Latvia	Ireland
	Spain	Andorra
	Sweden	Malta
	Turkey	Azerbaijan
	Ukraine	Portugal

Other Awards

Marcel Bezençon Awards

The Marcel Bezençon Awards were first handed out during the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 in Tallinn, Estonia honoring the best competing songs in the final. Founded by Christer Björkman (Sweden's representative in the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest and current Head of Delegation for Sweden) and Richard Herrey (member of the Herreys, Eurovision Song Contest 1984 winner from Sweden), the awards are named after the creator of the annual competition, Marcel Bezençon.[55] For the only time, the awards were divided into 4 categories; Press Award; Poplight Fan Award; Artistic Award; and Composer Award.[56]

Category	Country	Song	Performer(s)	Composer(s)	Final result	Points
Artists Award (Voted by previous winners)	Ukraine	"Shady Lady"	Ani Lorak	Philipp Kirkorov, Dimitris Kontopoulos Karen Kavaleryan	2nd	230
Composer Award	Romania	"Pe-o margine de lume"	Nico and Vlad	Andrei Tudor Andreea Andrei, Adina Şuteu	20th	45
Poplight Fan Award (voted by fans on the Swedish website poplight.se)[57]	Armenia	"Qélé, Qélé"	Sirusho	H.A. Der-Hovagimian Sirusho	4th	199
Press Award	Portugal	"Senhora do mar (Negras águas)"	Vânia Fernandes	Andrej Babić Carlos Coelho	13th	69

OGAE

Further information: OGAE

Organisation Générale des Amateurs de l'Eurovision (more commonly known as OGAE) is an international organisation that was founded in 1984 in Savonlinna, Finland by Jari-Pekka Koikkalainen.[58] The organisation consists of a network of 40 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs across Europe and beyond, and is a non-governmental, non-political, and non-profitable company.[59] In what has become an annual tradition for the OGAE fan clubs, a voting poll was opened allowing members from different clubs around the world to vote for their favourite songs of the 2008 contest. Below is the top five overall results, after all the votes had been cast.[60]

Country	Song	Performer(s)	Composer(s)	OGAE result	Eurovision Ranking
Sweden	"Hero"	Charlotte Perrelli	Bobby Ljunggren, Fredrik Kempe	308	18th
Switzerland	"Era stupendo"	Paolo Meneguzzi	Paolo Meneguzzi, Mattias Brånn, Vincenzo Incenzo	216	13th in Semi-Final
Serbia	"Oro"	Jelena Tomašević feat. Bora Dugić	Željko Joksimović, Dejan Ivanović	178	6th
Iceland	"This Is My Life"	Eurobandið	Örlygur Smári, Paul Oscar, Peter Fenner	145	14th
Norway	"Hold On Be Strong"	Maria Haukaas Storeng	Mira Craig	145	5th

Barbara Dex Award

Further information: Barbara Dex Award

The Barbara Dex Award has been annually awarded by the fan website House of Eurovision since 1997, and is a humorous award given to the worst dressed artist each year in the contest. It is named after the Belgian artist, Barbara Dex, who came last in the 1993 contest, in which she wore her own self designed dress.

Country	Song	Performer(s)	Composer(s)
Andorra	"Casanova"	Gisela	Jordi Cubino

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 or voters. The United Kingdom,[61] San Marino, Greece, Croatia,[62] Ireland, Germany,[63] the Netherlands,[64] Norway,[65] Malta,[66] Serbia,[67] Finland,[68] Bosnia and Herzegovina,[69] Denmark,[70] Portugal,[71] Cyprus,[72] Israel,[73] Estonia,[34] Turkey,[74] Latvia,[75] Slovenia,[76] Russia,[77] Ukraine,[78] Lithuania, the Czech Republic,[79] Andorra,[80] Albania,[81] Bulgaria, Iceland,[82] Sweden,[83] Romania[84] and Australia confirmed they would broadcast both semi-finals (some in delay and some live).

International broadcasts

 Australia

Although Australia was not eligible to enter, the contest was broadcast on SBS. The first semi-final was broadcast on Friday 23 May at 19:30 local time, with the second semi-final on Saturday 24 May 2008 at 19:30 local time, and the Final on Sunday 25 May 2008 at 19:30 local time,[85] amongst a weekend of Eurovision-themed programming.[86] SBS local host Julia Zemiro provided introductory and concluding segments with SBS otherwise broadcasting the BBC's coverage and commentary.[87] In recent years the contest has been one of SBS's highest-rating programmes in terms of viewer numbers.[88] The final rated well for SBS with 427,000 viewers tuning in for the final with 421,000 for the second semi-final and 272,000 for the first semi-final.[89]

 Austria

In Austria, ORF broadcast the contest live and received high TV ratings. However, it did not broadcast the semifinals on 20 and 22 May, which Austrians were able to watch on German television via ARD stations instead.[90]

 Italy

No Italian broadcaster proper showed the contest, but San Marinese SMRTV, which broadcast live the full event on both TV and radio, is available in some parts of Italy: Romagna (and a small part of Emilia, including Bologna), northern Marche, and southern Veneto, including Venice.[91]

 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.[92] 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. 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 occurred 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 HD-DVD or Blu-ray Disc.

Returning artists

Artist	Country	Previous year(s)
Roberto Meloni (part of Pirates of the Sea)	Latvia	2007 (part of Bonaparti.lv)
Dima Bilan	Russia	2006
Gisela	Andorra	2002 (Backing vocalist and Dancer for Rosa and Spain)
Charlotte Perrelli	Sweden	1999 (winner, as Charlotte Nilsson)

Commentators

Most countries sent commentators to Belgrade or commentated from their own country, in order to add insight to the participants and, if necessary, provide voting information.

Participating countries

The commentators of the 43 participating countries are as follows:

Country	SF1 / SF2 / Final	Commentator(s)
Albania	All	Leon Menkshi (TVSH)
Andorra	All	Meri Picart (RTVA)
		Josep Lluís Trabal (RTVA)
Armenia	All	Felix Khacatryan
		Hrachuhi Utmazyan
Azerbaijan	All	Isa Melikov (İctimai Televiziya və Radio Yayımları Şirkəti)
		Hüsniyyə Məhərrəmova (İctimai Televiziya və Radio Yayımları Şirkəti)
Belarus	All	Denis Kurian (Belarus 1)
		Alexander Tikhanovich (Belarus 1)
Belgium[93][94]	All	Jean-Pierre Hautier (French, La Une)
		Jean-Louis Lahaye (French, La Une)
		Patrick Duhamel (French, La Première)
		Corinne Boulangier (French, La Première)
		Bart Peeters (Dutch, één)
		André Vermeulen (Dutch, één)
		Michel Follet (Dutch, Radio 2)
		Sven Pichal (Dutch, Radio 2)
Bosnia and Herzegovina[95]	All	Dejan Kukrić (BHT1)
Bulgaria	All	Elena Rosberg
		Georgi Kushvaliev
Croatia[96]	All	Duško Čurlić
Cyprus[97]	All	Melina Karageorgiou (RIK 1)
Czech Republic[98]	All	Kateřina Kristelová (ČT1)
Denmark[99]	All	Nikolaj Molbech (DR1)
Estonia[34]	All	Marko Reikop
Finland[100]	All	Jaana Pelkonen (Finnish, YLE TV2)
		Mikko Peltola (Finnish, YLE TV2)
		Asko Murtomäki (Finnish, YLE TV2)
		Sanna Kojo (Finnish, YLE Radio Suomi)
		Jorma Hietamäki (Finnish, YLE Radio Suomi)
		Thomas Lundin (Swedish, YLE FST5)
France	SF2	Peggy Olmi (France 4)
		Yann Renoard (France 4)
	Final	Jean-Paul Gaultier (France 3)
		Julien Lepers (France 3)
		François Kevorkian (France Bleu)
Georgia	All	Bibi Kvachadze
Germany[101]	All	Peter Urban (Das Erste)[102]
		Tim Frühling (Hessischer Rundfunk)[103]
		Thomas Mohr (NDR 2)[104]
Greece[105]	All	Maggira Sisters (NET)
Hungary[106]	SF2 & Final	Gábor Gundel-Takács (M1)
Iceland[107]	All	Sigmar Guðmundsson (Sjónvarpið)
Ireland[108][109]	All	Marty Whelan (RTÉ One)[110][111]
	All	Larry Gogan (RTÉ Radio 1)[112]
Israel	All	No commentator
Latvia	All	Kārlis Streips
Lithuania	All	Darius Užkuraitis
Macedonia	All	Milanka Rašik
Malta[113]	All	Eileen Montesin
Moldova	All	Lucia Danu
		Vitalie Rotaru
Montenegro	All	Dražen Bauković (TVCG2)
		Tamara Ivanković (TVCG2)
Netherlands[114]	All	Cornald Maas (Nederland 1)
Norway[115]	All	Hanne Hoftun (NRK1)
		Per Sundnes (NRK1)
Poland[116]	All	Artur Orzech (TVP1)
Portugal[117]	All	Isabel Angelino (RTP1)
Romania	All	Andreea Demirgian (TVR1)
		Leonard Miron (TVR1)
Russia	SF1 & Final	Dmitry Guberniev(Rossiya 1)
		Olga Shelest (Rossiya 1)
San Marino	All	Gigi Restivo (SMRTV)
		Lia Fiorio (SMRTV)
Serbia[118]	All	Dragan Ilić (RTS1)
		Mladen Popović (RTS1)
Slovenia[119]	All	Andrej Hofer
Spain[120]	SF1 & Final	José Luis Uribarri (La 1)
Sweden[121][122]	Final	Carl Bildt (guest) (SVT1)
	All	Kristian Luuk and (SVT1)
		Josef Sterzenbach (SVT1)
		Carolina Norén (SR P3)[123]
Switzerland[49][124]	German	Patrick Hässig (First Semi-Final) and Sven Epiney (Second Semi-Final and Final) (SF zwei)
	French	Jean-Marc Richard & Nicolas Tanner (TSR 1)
	Italian	Sandy Altermatt (RSI La 2)
Turkey[125]	All	Bülend Özveren (TRT 1)
Ukraine	All	Timur Miroshnychenko (First National TV Channel)
United Kingdom[126][127]	Semi-Finals	Paddy O'Connell (BBC Three)
		Caroline Flack (BBC Three)
	Final	Terry Wogan (BBC One)
		Ken Bruce (BBC Radio 2)

Non-participating countries

The commentators of the non-participating countries are:

Country	SF1/SF2/Final	Commentator(s)
Australia[88]	All	Julia Zemiro (SBS)
Austria[128]	Final	Andi Knoll (ORF2)

Official album

Eurovision Song Contest: Belgrade 2008
Compilation album by Eurovision Song Contest
Released	12 May 2008
Genre	Pop
Length	62:49 (CD 1) 66:10 (CD 2)
Label	EMI, CMC
Eurovision Song Contest chronology
Eurovision Song Contest: Helsinki 2007 (2007) Eurovision Song Contest: Belgrade 2008 (2008) Eurovision Song Contest: Moscow 2009 (2009)

Eurovision Song Contest: Belgrade 2008 was the official compilation album of the 2008 Contest, put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by EMI Records and CMC International on 12 May 2008.The album featured all 43 songs that entered in the 2008 contest, including the semi-finalists that failed to qualify into the grand final.[129]

Charts

Chart (2008)	Peak position
German Compilation Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[130]	5

Notes

1. "Irelande Douze Pointe" is mostly sung in English; it also includes words and phrases in French, German, Italian and Spanish.
2. "Hasta la Vista" is sung in English; it also contains Spanish.
3. "Vodka" is sung in English; it also includes one phrase in Russian.

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External links

• Eurovision Song Contest
• RTS Evrosong (in Serbian)
• Official Serbian Eurovision website (in Serbian)