The goup Bzikibi from Georgia, with the song Bzz.., has won the sixth edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008.
Bzkizbi - Bzz
Congratulations Georgia!
Congratulation Cyprus for the wonderfull show!
Next year's Eurovision Song Contest is under threat after ex-Soviet states called for a boycott after Russia invaded Georgia.
Russia's Dima Bilan won the 2008 contest thanks to ex-pats in former Soviet-bloc states banding together to vote for him.
As a result, the 2009 contest will take place in Moscow.
But Baltic nations Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia may pull out of the annual TV show.
A poll in Estonia has already backed the boycott, while pressure is also rising for a Polish withdrawal.
Estonia's culture minister Laine Janes, said: "Solidarity must exist with Lithuania and Latvia to show consolidated support for Georgia."
The European Broadcasting Union, who run Eurovision, have said the Georgian conflict cannot be allowed to wreck the contest.
Spokesman Svante Stockselius said: "These issues should not be linked. We are organising a non-political event and if the hosting country is able to ensure the safety of participants there is no reason why it should not be allowed to host the finals."
The potential eastern boycott is another problem for Eurovision, who are already struggling to allay the fears of the western countries that they now no longer have a chance in the contest.
Sir Terry Wogan confirmed last month he would be stepping down as the BBC's Eurovision host after 37 years. The 70-year-old presenter has tired of the "political voting" that determined the outcome.
European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is not amused over calls of prominent Estonian politicians to boycott next year’s Eurovision song contest hosted by Russia for Georgian conflict.
Svante Stockselius, executive of EBU that is organising the annual Eurovision Song Contest, told Postimees that Eurovision was an non-political event and that politicians have no right to decide whether to boycott it or not.
Stockselius said that he could not understand the proposal made by the Estonian Minister of Culture Laine Jänes and by chairman of the National Broadcasting Association Margus Allikmaa that Estonia could boycott next year’s Eurovision finals in Moscow over the conflict in Georgia.
"These issues should not be linked. We are organizing a non-political event and if the hosting country is able to ensure the safety of participants, there is no reason why it should not be allowed to host the finals," said Stockselius.
The EBU official added that if Estonia wishes to stay away from the Eurovision song festival in 2009, it is up to the country. "We have many members who don’t participate every year and who return later," added Stockselius. -source-
Estonia itself hosted the Eurovision contest in 2002 after winning the 2001 edition.
Culture Minister of Lithuania, Jonas Jucas says that it is too early to speak about the opportunity to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow with intention to express the protest over the Russian aggression against Georgia.
According to Jucas- "Spontaneous decisions might aggravate the efforts of diplomats to harmonize the conflict. It is not right time to speak about that," the culture minister noted. -source-
credit photo
The representatives of nineteen countries have presented their songs tonight in the Second Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest.
Watch the reactions after perfomance below:
The following countries have qualified for the Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest (in order of announcement):
Ukraine
Croatia
Albania
Iceland
Georgia
Denmark
Sweden
Latvia
Turkey
Portugal
Diana Gurtskaya, the Georgian representative in the Second Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest performed in front of a stage scenery that looked like a flowering meadow.
On stage, she was supported by five backing dancers, who all finished the stage act standing behind Diana.
Press conference
Diana Gurtskaya started her press conference by singing her song for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, Peace Will Come, a cappella, and she did the same with the Hebrew song Jerusalem Of Gold, which she had previously recorded as well. When Diana was asked if she believed in the message of her song, she responded that, in fact, she was convinced that peace will come sooner or later. Talking about that, she also referred to her home region in Georgia, which is still in state of war today.
sources: eurovision.tv; esckaz.com
Azeri Press Agentliyi reports:
Elnur Huseynov and Samir Javadzade, who will represent Azerbaijan in Eurovision Song Contest 2008, will leave for Georgia on April 3.
Head of Azerbaijani delegation in Eurovision-2008 song contest Adil Karimli told APA that they would stay in Georgia by April 5.“Our representatives will sing the song Day after day
Elnur and Samir will also visit TV channels of Tbilisi and give interview to local media representatives.
The clip of "Day after day" will be demonstrated on TV channels in Tbilisi”, he said.Karimli said Huseynov and Javadzadeh would go on a tour to Europe beginning from April 12.
Our representatives will sing "Day after day" in Malta, Romania, Andorra, Moldova and Slovenia.
Due to withdrawal of Bosnia & Herzegovina for the 2007 Junior Eurovision Song Contest, Georgia - the first country on the waiting list - gets the opportunity to take part.
As announced in May, 19 countries applied for participation. However, the current rules of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest say that the maximum number of participating countries is 18.
Georgia, initially on the waiting list, will now take Bosnia's place in the competition. It is the first time Georgia takes part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, after successfully taking part in the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest with Sopho's Visionary Dream. This means, the new list of participants for the 2007 Junior Eurovision Song Contest looks like this (in alphabetical order).
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007
. Armenia (ARMTV)
. Belarus (BTRC)
. Belgium (VRT)
. Bulgaria (BNT)
. Cyprus (CyBC)
. FYR Macedonia (MKRTV)
. Georgia (GPB)
. Greece (ERT)
. Lithuania (LRT)
. Malta (MTPBS)
. The Netherlands (AVRO)
. Portugal (RPT) . Romania (TVR)
. Russia (RTR) . Serbia (RTS)
. Spain (TVE)
. Sweden (TV4)
. Ukraine (NTU)
The upcoming Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be hosted by Dutch broadcaster AVRO and takes place on 8th December in the Ahoy' venue in Rotterdam.
source.eurovision.tv
Georgia, have announced their participation in the Junior Eurovision as well.
The entire national selection process will be under the auspice of Georgia's first lady Sandra Roelofs, wife of President Mikheil Saakashvili.
The country's first junior participant will be selected through a nationwide three-stage process.
All applications will be discussed by jury during the first phase. Then the regional casting of participants will be held with the 12 best ones being selected. At the final concert, a performer, who will represent Georgia in Rotterdam, will be selected.
The deadline for the applications is July 10.
sources:esctoday.com; esckaz.com
Georgia, for the first time ever, will participate in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest which will be held in the city of Rotterdam, Netherlands on December 8, 2007. Georgian Public Broadcasting (GPB) will present the Georgian participant, who will be selected through a national contest.
In addition, the song, which will be performed at Junior Eurovision – 2007, will be revealed through a competition as well. The essential precondition for entrants is to sing a song in the Georgian language. Children between ages of 10 to 15 will be eligible to participate.
The national contest will be held in three tours. All applications will be discussed during the first tour. Then the regional casting of participants will be held with the 12 best ones being selected. At the final concert, a person, who will depart for Rotterdam, will be revealed.
Deadline for submitting applications is July 10.
source:geotimes.ge
