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.

Winners Press Conference - 1st semi final

After the first Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest had finished, representatives of the ten qualifying countries gathered for the official winners press conference. During the same occasion, their starting positions in the Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday were decided by drawing lots.

When all of the delegations had arrived from the Belgrade Arena back to the press centre, the winners press conference started. All the representatives of the qualifying countries got the opportunity to answer two questions for the press.

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Greece was drawn 21st in the Final

Romania was drawn 1st in the Final.

Bosnia and Herzegovina was drawn 6th in the Final.

Finland was drawn 8th in the Final.

Russia was drawn 24th in the Final.

Israel was drawn 7th in the Final.

Azerbaijan was drawn 20th in the Final.

Armenia was drawn 5th in the Final.

Poland was drawn 10th in the Final

Norway was drawn 25th in the Final.

First semi final results

The representatives of nineteen countries have presented their songs tonight in the First Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest.

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.

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 following countries have qualified for the Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest (in order of announcement):

Greece - video
Romania - video
Bosnia and Herzegovina - video
Finland - video
Russia - video
Israel - video
Azerbaijan - video
Armenia - video
Poland - video
Norway - video

eurovision.tv has an exclusive video with the reactions af all semi finalists right after their performance in front of the Eurovision.tv camera crew.

A single prop door for Russia and Greece

esctoday.com reports:

A potential staging problem has emerged after the stage production team realised that the props for the performances of Russia and Greece were too large and complex to switch in the 30 second gap between performances. After a round of heated debate, both sides are working against the clock to make changes to their props.
A spokesperson for the Greek delegation confirmed that there would be no movement of the commercial break to faciliate the movement of the two countries props. Neither country was prepared to accept the possibility. The problem seems to be that both performances have large and heavy props, and there is only one door to the stage for prop changes, as opposed to two or more in recent years. As a result, the switch-over between the two countries is taking longer than the time allowed.

The Greek delegation have adapted the giant book that turns into a heart, adding wheels to speed the movement of it to and from the stage. They are also looking to make the prop lighter in order to make sure everything is done during the alloted time period.

So far, we are informed that the Russians have agreed to look at changes to their props, but that no changes have been offered. They rejected the request to remove the ladder prop and are said to be very unhappy at the situation, although it has been strongly denied by both countries and the EBU that they threatened at any point to withdraw from the competition.

Portugal rehearsal and press conference

Vânia Fernandes has everything what is needed to succeed in the contest nowadays: a touching, melancholic song performed with utter professionalism! The charismatic Portuguese singer gave several faultless performances today, using the gigantic stage to great effect with dark-blue and green projections on the LED-screen.



Press conference

In her press conference Vânia expressed her happiness about being in Belgrade. When asked about the lyrics of the song, the composer, Carlos Coelho, explained that it's funded upon a historical poem and Vânia added that it is a very emotional song for her and that it is about her native country, Portugal. The Portuguese team explained that they went on promotional tour to Bulgaria and Malta. When asked if Vânia has plans for an album, she asked that she would like to start working on one.



sources: eurovision.tv; esckaz.com

FYR Macedonia rehearsal and press conference

Tamara, Vrčak, and Adrijan are young, talented, and very popular performers in FYR Macedonia.

During rehearsals, the team were trying one of two ideas they have for the stage performance in the Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Final. The first idea involved a wall on stage, divided in to three parts, the left and right sides with photographs and the middle one being a gate. Tamara emerges through the gate at the start of the song, and there are two male dancers on stage and one female backing vocalist to support the trio.



Press conference

Head of Delegation Milanka Rasic introduced the team at the press conference. The first question came from a British journalist who was interested in finding out how the idea of three singers, who had enjoyed successful solo careers came together for the Eurovision Song Contest project. Vrčak replies "It was my idea, we were all close friends beforehand, I was the complete author of the song. I knew the others voices, so it was a natural choice really, we have the same energy."

Press conference part I


Press conference part II



Press conference part III





sources: eurovision.tv ; esckaz.com

Cyprus rehearsal and press conference

Evdokia Kadi, the singer representing Cyprus in the Second Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, amazed everyone with her performance.

Evdokia performs on and around a black dining table together with four backing dancers: She steps onto the table and leaves it again through "human" stairs, built by the backing dancers. Towards the end, the table is being popped up, revealing a red tablecloth, on which Evdokia takes a seat while the backing singers lift the table and carry it around.



Press conference

In the press conference, Evdokia was asked if she had ever considered singing Femme Fatale in any other language than Greek in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. She answered that they had tried out French and English version, but decided to stick to the original lyrics instead.
When the Head of Delegation was asked if Cyprus was ready to host the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, she reminded everyone that Cyprus will be the host of the 2008 Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and that therefore, the country would of course be able to host the Eurovision Song Contest, too.

source:eurovision.tv