Poland LIVE - First Semi Final - video

Isis Gee performed the song "For Life" in the 1st Semi Final and she has qualified for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 Final.




Poland was drawn 10th in the Final.

Norway LIVE - 1st Semi Final - video

Maria performed "Hold on be strong" in the 1st Semi Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 and she has qualified for the final.






Norway was drawn 25th in the Final.

Armenia LIVE - First Semi Final - video

Sirusho performed "Qele Qele" in the 1st Semi Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 and she has qualified for the final.





Armenia was drawn 5th in the Final.

Azerbaijan LIVE - First Semi Final - video

Elnur and Samir performed "Day after day" in the 1st Semi Final and they were qualified for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 Final.





Azerbaijan was drawn 20th in the Final.

Israel LIVE - First Semi Final -video

Boaz performed "The fire in your eyes" in the 1st Semi Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 and he has qualified for the final.





Israel was drawn 7th in the Final.

Russia LIVE - First Semi Final - video

Dima Bilan performed toghether with Evgheny Pluschenko and Edvin Marton the song "Believe" and he has qualified for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 Final.





Russia was drawn 24th in the Final.

Finland LIVE - First Semi Final - video

Teräsbetoni with "Missä miehet ratsastaa" has qualified for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 Final.




Finland was drawn 8th in the Final.

Bosnia & Herzegovina LIVE First SemiFinal -video

Bosnia & Herzegovina has qualified with Laka - "Pokusaj" for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 Final




Bosnia and Herzegovina was drawn 6th in the Final.

Nico and Vlad LIVE - First Semi Final - video

Romanian representatives, Nico and Vlad performed "Pe o margine de lume" in the 1st Semi Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 and they were qualified for the final.




Romania was drawn 1st in the Final.

Kalomoira LIVE -First Semi Final - video

Kalomoira performed "Secret Combination" in the 1st Semi Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 and she has qualified for the final.




Greece was drawn 21st in the Final.

Iceland rehearsal and press conference

Icelandic Euroband were the first to enter the stage at the Belgrade Arena singing their song This Is My Life.

The duet made up by Regína Ósk and Friðrik Ómar already wore their outfits for the Semi-Final.

Regína and Friðrik gave a powerful performance, and it seems like the choreography is more or less perfect.



Press conference

At the press conference after the rehearsal, the Icelandic delegation were very satisfied with everything in Belgrade, and they thought today's rehearsal went very well. A journalist from the accredited press asked why Euroband changed the original lyrics in Icelandic to English, and Regína replied that the English version was better for the up-tempo, techno song.

source:eurovision.tv

Goran Bregovic- guest at Eurovision

Blic reports:

Marija Serifovic, last year’s Eurovision winner and Goran Bregovic with his "Wedding and Funeral Orchestra", will perform in the floor show of the Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held between May 20th and 24th at the "Belgrade Arena", while special guest in the semi-finals will be Slobodan Trkulja and the well-known ballet dancer Konstantin Kostjukov.

According to Andrijana Stojkovic from the Eurovision creative team, all three evening programs (two semi-finals and a final) will have a special topic inspired by Serbia and Belgrade, and the program is expected to be really impressive.

The first semi-final will introduce the video "Video Killed the Radio Star", including new versions of the greatest Eurovision hits.
Slobodan Trkulia will perform together with 60 more artists on stage.

Evening of the second semi-final titled "Serbia for beginners" is planned as a kind of pop-circus. Namely, Serbian heritage will be presented through various music styles and the program will be hosted by the famous ballet dancer Konstantin Kostjukov.
The Belgrade National Theater will also be presenting a part of the "Who's singing over there?" Ballet.

The final will start with Marija Serifovic’s performance of the song "Molitva" in a new arrangement, followed by 21 dancers on the stage.
A mini-concert of Goran Bregovic and his "Wedding and Funeral Orchestra" will be held after, Stojkovic said.

Stage construction and decoration at the "Belgrade Arena" is planned to be finished until April 25th, while overall preparations have to be finished until May 10th, before the arrival of the contestants’ delegations in Belgrade on May 11th.

It has been estimated that about 18,000 visitors from all over the world will come to Belgrade during the Eurovision Song Contest (fans from America and Australia have already announced their arrival), out of which 2,500 will only be journalists…

The Eurovision stage in 3D animated video

Thanks to the following 3D animated video, you can find it out and discover the stage of the Beogradska Arena, from where the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 will be broadcast live on 20th, 22nd and 24th May


Lighting designer Per Sundin's animation of the stage of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest.




sources:eurovision.tv;belgovision.com

Datalied stage image of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest

esctoday.com reports:

The stage design symbolises the two Serbian rivers, the Sava and the Danube and their meeting point, Kalegmedan Park, in the center.

The stage has three circular island stages around its main body. The main one is connected by a bridge to the body of the stage. On the far left and right, behind the other two island stages, there are two vertical transparent video panels which symbolise the two Serbian rivers Sava and Danube.

The main body of the stage symbolises the bridge that connects them. The central piece, comprising a four-piece flying sculpture and two long wavy steel ones, symbolises the Karamegdan Park in Belgrade. The park overlooks the point where the Sava and the Danube meet.

sources:esctoday.com ; evrovizija.com

photo:evrovizija.com

Serbia 2008: RTS fires the starting gun

from esctoday.com

RTS (Radiotelevizija Srbije), the host broadcaster for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade has announced that it will be running a competition that will lead to the creation of the next Eurovision Song Contest's branding and logo, the stage, and most surprisingly, the hosts of the event.

NEW LOGO

This will graph and symbolise the pictorial identity of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. It should associate with Serbia, music, youth and Europe. It will also provide the graphic symbol for medias, press and the competition's identity.

Bidding is opened for 30 days and it is opened for all native and foreign persons. Bidding is anonymus. Prizes will be arwarded for the top three designs of €5000, €3000 and €2000 respectively.

THE STAGE

A competition to determine the ideal solution for stage for next year's Eurovision Song Contest at the Beogradska Arena, Belgrade is also underway. The key determinants are:

- To represent an association with Belgrade and Serbia
- To represent native identities, history and modern themes, symbols and universal recognised messages.
- To ensure that the stage can be seen from all angles of hall and subordinated for TV broadcast
- To have settings of all new electronical possibilites including some movable parts of stage

The Winning idea will get €10,000 award.

THE HOSTS

Four hosts are being sought for 2008. Two will win the right to host Beovizija, and another pair to host the Eurovision Song Contest. Bidding is opened for 30 days for all persons older than 18 years. Must be creative, communicative, can speak english and one more language of EU.

100 people will make it to the first round for testing and camera work. 24 male and 24 female people will progress to a second round of selection, participating in 20 special shows, with couples gradually being eliminated. The winners will be chosen through a mix of televoting and jury. The winning pair will host the Eurovision Song Contest and the second placed couple will host the national final.

source:esctoday.com

photo:google

Svante Stockselius meets members of OGAE Serbia

Two days ago, members of OGAE Serbia met the supervisor of Eurovision Song Contest, Mr. Svante Stockselius.

Mr. Stockselius came to Belgrade to get to know with the host city of Eurovision Song Contest 2008. During his stay, Mr. Stockselius visited Belgrade Arena, Sava Centre (potential place for the press area) and Expo Centre (potential place for Euroclub).

Mr. Stockselius expressed his delightment with Belgrade, Arena and Sava centre, saying that there are all conditions for having an event like ESC and added that he thinks that the next year's event will be very successful.

Mr. Stockselius also met the head managers of RTS and the people who will be responsible who organising of the event and had a serie of meetings with them. He said that he thinks that there is a team of professional, creative and capable people in RTS who will be able to bring out such a demanding task like an organisation of ESC.

Members of OGAE Serbia also introduced some ideas to mr. Stockselius and expressed their willingness in organising the events connected with fans. Mr. Stockselius said he's very pleased with the ideas the fans in Serbia have and added that he hopes they'll be brought out in the cooperation of RTS and OGAE Serbia. The head of Serbian delegation and the music editor of RTS, Ms. Anja Rogljic, expressed her satisfaction with the RTS' cooperation with OGAE Serbia in Helsinki and added RTS will its' best for Eurovision Song Contest's good organisation.

Mr. Stockselius also mentioned some general things about the ESC. He said that, in the case of Italy's coming back, there will be BIG 5 and the method of voting will stay the same. As for the infamous theme of "East" and "West", Mr. Stockselius said that former Eastern European countries put much more in the quality of their songs and added he isn't surprised they do very well at the contest.

source:oikotimes.com

Beogradska Arena - Photos

Svante Stockselius, the supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest, visits Belgrade this week to provide Serbian broadcaster RTS with all information regarding the organisation of next year's contest.