JESC:Several minor changes in the format of the event

eurovision.tv reports:

At the Heads of Delegation meeting of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, currently taking place in sunny Cyprus, the Steering Group introduced several minor changes in the format of the event. CyBC also revealed the design of the stage for this year's contest.

The Steering Group of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest also decided to give the back-up jury a 50% say in the outcome of the competition. According to the rules of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, the back-up jury has to be a diverse group of people, and should include children.

The 2008 Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which is the 6th running, will take place on the 22nd of November in Lemesos, Cyprus. The show will be hosted by Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation, the presenters are unknown yet. The Host Broadcaster did reveal that the show will be hosted by a man and a woman, in the roles of Adonis and Aphrodite.

The second Heads of Delegation meeting, which also marks the deadline to officially enter songs, takes place on the 13th and 14th of October. The running order will be drawn during the October meeting as well.

CyBC revealed the stage design as well (photo). The set was designed by George Papadopoulos, who got inspired by previous Eurovision Song Contest stages, the theme Fun In The Sun and water that surrounds the island of Cyprus. The front side of the set will contain real water.

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