Two semifinals to qualify for 2008 final in Belgrade

Eurovision.TV reports:

At the 50th meeting of the TV Committee of the European Broadcasting Union, today in Verona, it was decided to approve the proposal of hosting two Semi-Finals for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. The proposal was forwarded by the Reference Group of the contest. Only the Host Country, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom are automatically qualified for the Final. All other participants will be grouped into two Semi-Finals.

Stable future

"We are convinced that the introduction of a second Semi-Final contributes to a more stable future for the Eurovision Song Contest," Executive Supervisor Svante STOCKSELIUS says to Eurovision.tv from Verona. "We carefully listened to the suggestions of Members and fans and we took notice of the critical remarks in the press. After evaluating several scenarios, it was decided to introduce a second Semi-Final already in 2008. This increases the fairness of the competition, opens doors to a more interesting Final and production-wise, it is the most flexible solution," he underlined.

Details later this year

The Reference Group and the producers of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest are currently finalizing the details of the revised format. Details on when the two Semi-Finals will take place, the draw procedure and the conditions for qualification to the Final will be announced later this year.

Juries are back

The nine of the the ten qualifiers of the Eurovision Final from those two semifinals will come out of the televoting results.The tenth country to qualify will be the highest ranked country from the back-up jury that has not already qualified through the televote.