Eurovision News&Events
Eurovision 2008 already has a runner: Sweden has been tripped to the top in a Europe-wide BBC vote.
Charlotte Parrelli, and her song Hero, went straight to the top of the poll ahead of Ukraine and Switzerland. The song Hero is one of the most liked songs this time and is one of the songs which is expected to win the Contest of 2008.
The results of the second semi-final of 2008 Eurovision song contest are out and now we know the remaining ten countries that will compete on the final. The ten countries chosen by the voters on Thursday to continue to the Eurovision finals are:
Quite a surprise was the fact that Bulgaria, one of the favourite countries to win Eurovision 2008, did not qualify for the song contests finals. Bulgaria was 1/8 to be one of the top ten countries in the last night’s Eurovision semi-final at the British online bookmaker Bet 365.
Following the results of the Eurovision second semi-final, Russia remains the top favourite to win the song contest with odds 5/2, followed by Ukraine with odds 11/4. Sweden is now in the third spot with odds to win the Eurovision 2008 listed at 13/2.
The Final will be on 24 May, this Saturday. Do not lose the chance to watch this perfect Song Contest.
The First Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest has just finished, and the ten countries qualifying for the Final are known.
The representatives of nineteen countries have presented their songs tonight in the First Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. The theme of the show, presented by Jovana Janković and Željko Joksimović, was “City”, whereas the theme of the Second Semi-Final will be “Water”. After all songs had been presented, televoting started in all the participating countries as well as in Spain and Germany, who are already qualified for the Final, but were drawn to vote in the First Semi-Final, while the other directly qualified finalists – France, The United Kingdom and Serbia – get to vote in the Second Semi-Final. Nine of the qualifying countries were decided by televoting. Furthermore, the highest placed song in the result of the national backup juries which was not yet qualified through televoting got a place in the Final as well. However, the TV public will only find out which country it was after the Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday.
The Qualifiers
The Bulgarian song on the Eurovision ‘DJ, Take Me Away’ of Deep Zone и DJ Balthazar was declared for the most modern song of the contest on the official website of Eurovision.
The band’s singer Joanna was invited to a nude photo session, covered only with the national flag of Bulgaria.
The Bulgarian girl was chosen for one of the 6 most beautiful performers of the contest.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 will be broadcasted in three nights such as 1st Semi Final, 2nd Semi Final and the Final
1st Semi Final: Montenegro, Israel, Estonia, Moldova, San Marino, Belgium, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Norwey, Ploand, Ireland, Andorra, Bosnia & Heryegovina, Armenia, Netherlands, Finland, Romania, Russia and Greece
2nd Semi Final: Iceland, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, Lithuania, Albania, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Belarus, Latvia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Denmark, Georgia, Hungary, Malta, Cyprus, FYR Macedonia and Portugal
Countries already in Final: United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain and Serbia
The honour of hosting the Eurovision Song Contest has fallen to Serbia this year, and fascist groups in the country are already promising violence against people attending the festivities. Gay men are a particular target, according to the president of the fascist organisation Obraz, who announced his violent intentions in the pages of daily newspaper ALO! earlier this week. The newspaper ran a story on April 7th, calling Eurovision “gay youth day.” Their threats have led some to question whether Belgrade is a suitable location for a contest that is both a gay favourite and a powerful symbol of European unity. Several Serbian media outlets have reported that “thousands” of gay and lesbian people are coming to Belgrade for the contest. The reaction of the Serbian authorities in charge of the event to the fascist threats has alarmed lesbian and gay activists in the country. “We are not organising their arrival, therefore we can not take care of their security,” Aleksandar Rados, the Eurovision organiser’s PR, said of gay visitors.
People from the UK, US and other countries that supported Kosovo’s declaration of indepdence from Serbia earlier this year are already at risk. The US embassy in Belgrade remains evacuated after rioting Serbs attacked the building and tried to set it alight. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s advice to British travellers to the country states: “The overall security situation in Serbia remains calm, but you are advised to exercise extreme caution when travelling around. You should keep a low profile and stay alert at all times and take particular care to avoid public gatherings, political rallies, protests and polling stations,and pay close attention to local media reports at the present time.”
Source: www.pinknews.co.uk
The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 will be hosted by Serbia. Serbia won the right to host the Contest since last year in Helsinki, Finald, Maria Serifoviç won the 2007 Contest with the song Molitva. The semi-final will be held on 20 and 22 May however the final will be held on 24 May 2008 in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.
The European Broadcasting Union organized a television programme to commemorate the Eurovision Song Contest’s fiftieth anniversary. In this programme was determined the Contest’s most popular and liked song for these fifty years. 50 Years of Eurovision Song Contest took place in Copenhagen, Denmark on 22 Octomber 2005. The best song was determined through televoting and jury. 2.5 million votes were cast in total on the night.
Which songs will compite for the best Eurovion Song for 50 years, were chosen by voters online and some of the songs were chosen by the Reference Group. Totally, ten songs were choesn online and only four by the Refernce Group however it is not known which are the songs that were chosen by the Reference Group. Fourteen songs compited for the 50 Years of Eurovision Song Contest.
The event was won by the Swedish group ABBA, performing Waterloo. ABBA had won the Contest for Sweden in 1974. Waterloo was chosen the best song for all fifty years
