Greek fires kill 51 and threaten Olympia

reuters.com reports:

ZACHARO, Greece (Reuters) - EU firefighters and planes joined the battle on Sunday against the fires raging in Greece for three days, killing 51 people and threatening areas near ancient Olympia, historic site of the first Olympic games.

Greece declared a state of emergency on Saturday as towering walls of flame cut a swathe of destruction through the southern Peloponnese peninsula and across other areas of the country.

The fires have bathed Athens in white ash, forced thousands to flee their villages and burned about 500 homes and thousands of acres of forest and farmland.

Read full article on reuters.com

Greece entirely in flames

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700 evacuated from Alivery city in Evia island
Fire reaches South Athens and close to burn houses in Kalivia area, Lagonisi

more at http://www.oikotimes.com/site/index.php?id=9684

IBA confirms Kohav Nolad for 2008 Eurovision

IBA and Channel 2 have officially announced a deal by which the talent show Kohav Nolad will be the national selection for Israel, YNET newspaper reports.

Instead of IBA, Channel 2 will air a new KDAM Eurovision show with the participants of the talent show from all five seasons and through televoting the viewers will select the entrant to represent the country in the 2008 Belgrade Eurovision.

This is the first time IBA will not host a national selection show but still the new way of thinking for such a collaboration will unite the two broadcaster to a very special collaboration.

Possible participants in such selection are: Chen Aharoni, Alissa Shparaga and Miriam Tukan, Liron Lev, Shiri Biton, Raphael Mirilla and Adi Cohen

source:oikotimes.com

Spain: No official JESC withdrawal!

esctoday.com reports:

Back on August 8th, esctoday.com reported that Spain would be withdrawing from the 2007 Junior Eurovision Song Contest after the new TVE Director, Javier Pons, claimed that the "Junior Eurovision promotes stereotypes we do not share". Today, esctoday.com has learned that there has been no official withdrawal lodged with the EBU.

esctoday.com has contacted the EBU and TVE to seek clarification on the situation. Today, we were told by Svante Stockselius that: "we have not yet received any official withdrawal from TVE Spain. We will of course talk to them, if they insist we might give the open space to someone else. Or run the show with 17 countries".

Read more om esctoday.com

EBU trying to save Junior Eurovision Song Contest

belgovision.com reports:

A little crisis surrounds the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, but the EBU doesn't let the head down. While trying to convince Spain to take part in the 2007 Junior Eurovision Song Contest after all, the EBU is talking with countries such as Denmark, Israel, Ireland, Germany and the United Kingdom with the future in mind.

At the beginning of August, Spanish broadcaster TVE announced the withdrawal of Spain from the 2007 Junior Eurovision Song Contest. The contest lost the last of its four big financial contributors. "Of course we are not happy with that," says Sipke Jan Bousema, who will host the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam on 8th December. "Spain is a big European country and it is very important that they take part," Bousema explains in the youth news broadcast of NOS. read more...

Verka Serduchka has withdrawn from the parlimentary elections

Second-placed star of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, Verka Serduchka (aka Andrei Danilko) has withdrawn from the parlimentary elections in Ukraine after a brief but well-publicised foray into the world of politics.

Andrei, selected as the number one candidate for the For Our Own! party, had attracted a lot of media attention since the announcement that he would stand for election, with a hint that he would be following fellow Ukrainian Eurovision star Ruslana into a career in politics.

Aiming at those voters who have become disillusioned with the political process, Danilko was due to hand out badges to would-be deputies of the party in a light-hearted publicity stunt, but pulled out at the last minute citing that he was "not ready yet".

Ukraine’s election campaign: mired in scandal

source:esctoday.com;RusiaToday.ru

Marija Serifovic and Magdi Ruzsa in Sweden

On 13 October the winner of Eurovision Song Contest 2007, Marija Serifovic, will be performing at the "Konserthus" in Stockholm.

The concert will take place in the famous hall, where the Nobel prize ceremony takes place every year.

A special guest of the concert will be Madgi Ruzsa, the Hungarian representative at the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest.

source:marijaserifovic.net