contest no. 53
Eurovision 2008: Belgrade
The 53rd Eurovision Song Contest was held on Saturday, 24 May 2008 at Belgrade Arena in Belgrade, Serbia. 43 countries took part. Russia won with “Believe” by Dima Bilan, on 272 points.
How would you have voted? Rank all 43 songs from 2008
- Final
- Saturday, 24 May 2008
- Semi-finals
- Tuesday, 20 May 2008 and Thursday, 22 May 2008
- Venue
- Belgrade Arena, Belgrade, Serbia
- Host broadcaster
- Radio Television of Serbia (RTS)
- Presenters
- Jovana Janković, Željko Joksimović
- Director
- Sven Stojanović
- For the EBU
- Svante Stockselius
- Slogan
- Confluence of Sound
- Entries
- 43 countries
- Debuts
- Azerbaijan, San Marino
- Absent
- Austria
- Voting
- Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs.
The story
Two semi-finals, a contest that nearly moved, and Russia's first win
Three months before the contest was due in Belgrade, it was not clear that Belgrade would have it.
On 17 February 2008 Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. There were protests and unrest across the country, and the EBU began to think about moving the show. Ukraine, the runner-up, was one option. Finland, the previous host, was another, and Greece offered Athens.
In the end it stayed. The Serbian government guaranteed the safety of everyone taking part, the delegations from Albania, Croatia and Israel were given special protection, and the contest passed without incident.
Two semi-finals
Forty-three countries entered, the most yet. Azerbaijan and San Marino were new.
One semi-final could no longer cope. In 2007 it had run to 28 songs. So for the first time there were two, on the Tuesday and the Thursday, each sending ten songs to Saturday’s final. Only the Big Four and the host went straight through.
There had been cheaper ideas: recording both semi-finals in advance and showing them at the same time on different channels, for one. The EBU decided to pay for two live shows.
The countries were sorted into pots according to where they were and how they had voted in the past, and the pots were split between the two nights.
One place for the juries
The public no longer chose all ten qualifiers. The top nine in each semi-final’s televote went through. The tenth place was in the gift of the stand-by juries.
In the second semi-final that made a difference. Macedonia finished tenth with viewers and went home. Sweden, twelfth, went to the final.
Austria stays away
Austria did not enter. Its broadcaster had questions about how the semi-finals were organised, and a wider complaint: that the contest had become political. The previous year, it said, had shown that results were being decided by a song’s country of origin and not by its quality.
A trophy
There was a new prize. The winner received a glass microphone, hand-made and sandblasted, in the shape of one from the 1950s. The same design has been presented ever since.
The result
Russia won for the first time. Dima Bilan, runner-up two years before, came back with “Believe” and finished on 272 points, 42 ahead of Ukraine’s Ani Lorak.
Greece was third. Armenia, fourth, had its best result yet, and Azerbaijan finished eighth at its first attempt. The hosts were sixth.
San Marino’s debut did not get out of the semi-final. It came last in its heat, with five points.
The Big Four again
Of the four countries with guaranteed places, the best was Spain, in sixteenth. Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom were level at the bottom on fourteen points, and the United Kingdom was placed last, for the second time in its history.
The audience
More than 108 million people watched the three shows. In Serbia the final drew 3.35 million viewers. Nothing shown on Serbian television had ever been watched by more.
Sources: Wikipedia, “Eurovision Song Contest 2008”, and the EBU records and press reports it cites.
The shows, night by night
What opened each show, and what filled the interval while the votes came in.
-
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
First semi-final
19 songs, 10 went through to the final
- in the interval
-
- Slobodan Trkulja with an orchestra
Every song and who went through ↓ Every vote, country by country →
-
Thursday, 22 May 2008
Second semi-final
19 songs, 10 went through to the final
- in the interval
-
- The National Theatre in Belgrade an excerpt from “Ko to tamo peva”
Every song and who went through ↓ Every vote, country by country →
-
Saturday, 24 May 2008
Final
25 songs
- in the interval
-
- Goran Bregović with the Wedding and Funeral Orchestra
The final
| Place | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Sang | Semi-final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russia | Dima Bilan winner! | “Believe” English · Jim Beanz, Dima Bilan | 272 | 24 | SF1 · 3rd 135 pts |
| 2 | Ukraine | Ani Lorak | “Shady Lady” English · Karen Kavaleryan, Philipp Kirkorov | 230 | 18 | SF2 · 1st 152 pts |
| 3 | Greece | Kalomira | “Secret Combination” English · Konstantinos Pantzis, Poseidonas Yiannopoulos | 218 | 21 | SF1 · 1st 156 pts |
| 4 | Armenia | Sirusho | “Qélé, Qélé (Քելե Քելե)” English, Armenian · H.A. Der-Hovagimian, Sirusho | 199 | 5 | SF1 · 2nd 139 pts |
| 5 | Norway | Maria | “Hold On Be Strong” English · Mira Craig | 182 | 25 | SF1 · 4th 106 pts |
| 6 | Serbia | Jelena Tomašević Bora Dugić | “Oro (Оро)” Serbian · Dejan Ivanović, Željko Joksimović | 160 | 23 | Straight to the final |
| 7 | Turkey | Mor ve Ötesi | “Deli” Turkish · Mor ve Ötesi | 138 | 12 | SF2 · 7th 85 pts |
| 8 | Azerbaijan | Elnur and Samir | “Day After Day” English · Zahra Badalbeyli, Govhar Hasanzadeh | 132 | 20 | SF1 · 6th 96 pts |
| 9 | Israel | Boaz | “The Fire in Your Eyes” Hebrew · Dana International, Shai Kerem | 124 | 7 | SF1 · 5th 104 pts |
| 10 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Laka | “Pokušaj” Bosnian · Elvir Laković "Laka" | 110 | 6 | SF1 · 9th 72 pts |
| 11 | Georgia | Diana Gurtskaya | “Peace Will Come” English · Kim Breitburg, Karen Kavaleryan | 83 | 17 | SF2 · 5th 107 pts |
| 12 | Latvia | Pirates of the Sea | “Wolves of the Sea” English · Claes Andreasson, Jonas Liberg, Johan Sahlén, Torbjörn Wassenius | 83 | 14 | SF2 · 6th 86 pts |
| 13 | Portugal | Vânia Fernandes | “Senhora do mar (Negras águas)” Portuguese · Andrej Babić, Carlos Coelho | 69 | 13 | SF2 · 2nd 120 pts |
| 14 | Iceland | Euroband | “This Is My Life” English · Örlygur Smári, Paul Oscar, Peter Fenner | 64 | 11 | SF2 · 8th 68 pts |
| 15 | Denmark | Simon Mathew | “All Night Long” English · Nis Bøgvad, Svend Gudiksen, Jacob Launbjerg | 60 | 16 | SF2 · 3rd 112 pts |
| 16 | Spain | Rodolfo Chikilicuatre | “Baila el Chiki Chiki” Spanish, English · Rodolfo Chikilicuatre and friends | 55 | 22 | Straight to the final |
| 17 | Albania | Olta Boka | “Zemrën e lamë peng” Albanian · Adrian Hila, Pandi Laço | 55 | 3 | SF2 · 9th 67 pts |
| 18 | Sweden | Charlotte Perrelli | “Hero” English · Fredrik Kempe, Bobby Ljunggren | 47 | 15 | SF2 · 12th 54 pts |
| 19 | France | Sébastien Tellier | “Divine” English, French · Amandine de la Richardière, Sébastien Tellier | 47 | 19 | Straight to the final |
| 20 | Romania | Nico and Vlad | “Pe-o margine de lume” Romanian, Italian · Andreea Andrei, Adina Șuteu, Andrei Tudor | 45 | 1 | SF1 · 7th 94 pts |
| 21 | Croatia | Kraljevi ulice and 75 Cents | “Romanca” Croatian · Miran "Hadži" Veljković | 44 | 9 | SF2 · 4th 112 pts |
| 22 | Finland | Teräsbetoni | “Missä miehet ratsastaa” Finnish · J. Ahola | 35 | 8 | SF1 · 8th 79 pts |
| 23 | Germany | No Angels | “Disappear” English · Remee, Hanne Sørvaag, Thomas Troelsen | 14 | 4 | Straight to the final |
| 24 | Poland | Isis Gee | “For Life” English · Isis Gee | 14 | 10 | SF1 · 10th 42 pts |
| 25 | United Kingdom | Andy Abraham | “Even If” English · Andy Abraham, Andy Watkins, Paul Wilson | 14 | 2 | Straight to the final |
The semi-finals
Every song in each semi-final, in finishing order. 18 songs didn’t reach the final.
First semi-final Tuesday, 20 May 2008 · 19 songs, 10 went through
| Place | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Sang | Then |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greece | Kalomira | “Secret Combination” English · Konstantinos Pantzis, Poseidonas Yiannopoulos | 156 | 19 | Through: 3rd in the final |
| 2 | Armenia | Sirusho | “Qélé, Qélé (Քելե Քելե)” English, Armenian · H.A. Der-Hovagimian, Sirusho | 139 | 14 | Through: 4th in the final |
| 3 | Russia | Dima Bilan | “Believe” English · Jim Beanz, Dima Bilan | 135 | 18 | Through: 1st in the final |
| 4 | Norway | Maria | “Hold On Be Strong” English · Mira Craig | 106 | 9 | Through: 5th in the final |
| 5 | Israel | Boaz | “The Fire in Your Eyes” Hebrew · Dana International, Shai Kerem | 104 | 2 | Through: 9th in the final |
| 6 | Azerbaijan | Elnur and Samir | “Day After Day” English · Zahra Badalbeyli, Govhar Hasanzadeh | 96 | 7 | Through: 8th in the final |
| 7 | Romania | Nico and Vlad | “Pe-o margine de lume” Romanian, Italian · Andreea Andrei, Adina Șuteu, Andrei Tudor | 94 | 17 | Through: 20th in the final |
| 8 | Finland | Teräsbetoni | “Missä miehet ratsastaa” Finnish · J. Ahola | 79 | 16 | Through: 22nd in the final |
| 9 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Laka | “Pokušaj” Bosnian · Elvir Laković "Laka" | 72 | 13 | Through: 10th in the final |
| 10 | Poland | Isis Gee | “For Life” English · Isis Gee | 42 | 10 | Through: 24th in the final |
| 11 | Moldova | Geta Burlacu | “A Century of Love” English · Oleg Baraliuc, Viorica Demici | 36 | 4 | Out |
| 11 | Slovenia | Rebeka Dremelj | “Vrag naj vzame” Slovene · Josip Miani-Pipi, Igor "Amon" Mazul | 36 | 8 | Out |
| 13 | Netherlands | Hind | “Your Heart Belongs to Me” English · Bas van den Heuvel, Hind Laroussi Tahiri, Tjeerd van Zanen | 27 | 15 | Out |
| 14 | Montenegro | Stefan Filipović | “Zauvijek volim te (Заувијек волим те)” Montenegrin · Grigor Koprov, Ognen Nedelkovski | 23 | 1 | Out |
| 15 | Ireland | Dustin the Turkey | “Irelande Douze Pointe” English · Dustin the Turkey, Simon Fine, Darren Smith | 22 | 11 | Out |
| 16 | Andorra | Gisela | “Casanova” English · Jordi Cubino | 22 | 12 | Out |
| 17 | Belgium | Ishtar | “O Julissi” Imaginary · Michel Vangheluwe | 16 | 6 | Out |
| 18 | Estonia | Kreisiraadio | “Leto svet (Лето свет)” Serbian, German, Finnish · Tarmo Leinatamm, Peeter Oja, Priit Pajusaar, Glen Pilvre, Hannes Võrno | 8 | 3 | Out |
| 19 | San Marino | Miodio | “Complice” Italian · Nicola Della Valle, Francesco Sancisi | 5 | 5 | Out |
Second semi-final Thursday, 22 May 2008 · 19 songs, 10 went through
| Place | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Sang | Then |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ukraine | Ani Lorak | “Shady Lady” English · Karen Kavaleryan, Philipp Kirkorov | 152 | 4 | Through: 2nd in the final |
| 2 | Portugal | Vânia Fernandes | “Senhora do mar (Negras águas)” Portuguese · Andrej Babić, Carlos Coelho | 120 | 19 | Through: 13th in the final |
| 3 | Denmark | Simon Mathew | “All Night Long” English · Nis Bøgvad, Svend Gudiksen, Jacob Launbjerg | 112 | 13 | Through: 15th in the final |
| 4 | Croatia | Kraljevi ulice and 75 Cents | “Romanca” Croatian · Miran "Hadži" Veljković | 112 | 11 | Through: 21st in the final |
| 5 | Georgia | Diana Gurtskaya | “Peace Will Come” English · Kim Breitburg, Karen Kavaleryan | 107 | 14 | Through: 11th in the final |
| 6 | Latvia | Pirates of the Sea | “Wolves of the Sea” English · Claes Andreasson, Jonas Liberg, Johan Sahlén, Torbjörn Wassenius | 86 | 10 | Through: 12th in the final |
| 7 | Turkey | Mor ve Ötesi | “Deli” Turkish · Mor ve Ötesi | 85 | 3 | Through: 7th in the final |
| 8 | Iceland | Euroband | “This Is My Life” English · Örlygur Smári, Paul Oscar, Peter Fenner | 68 | 1 | Through: 14th in the final |
| 9 | Albania | Olta Boka | “Zemrën e lamë peng” Albanian · Adrian Hila, Pandi Laço | 67 | 6 | Through: 17th in the final |
| 10 | Macedonia | Tamara, Vrčak and Adrijan | “Let Me Love You” English · Rade Vrčakovski "Vrčak" | 64 | 18 | Out |
| 11 | Bulgaria | Deep Zone and Balthazar | “DJ, Take Me Away” English · Dian Savov | 56 | 12 | Out |
| 12 | Sweden | Charlotte Perrelli | “Hero” English · Fredrik Kempe, Bobby Ljunggren | 54 | 2 | Through: 18th in the final |
| 13 | Switzerland | Paolo Meneguzzi | “Era stupendo” Italian · Vincenzo Incenzo, Pablo Meneguzzo | 47 | 7 | Out |
| 14 | Malta | Morena | “Vodka” English · Gerard James Borg, Philip Vella | 38 | 16 | Out |
| 15 | Cyprus | Evdokia Kadi | “Femme Fatale” Greek · Nicos Evangelou, Vangelis Evangelou | 36 | 17 | Out |
| 16 | Lithuania | Jeronimas Milius | “Nomads in the Night” English · Vytautas Diškevičius, Jeronimas Milius | 30 | 5 | Out |
| 17 | Belarus | Ruslan Alehno | “Hasta la vista” English · Taras Demchuk, Eleonora Melnik | 27 | 9 | Out |
| 18 | Czech Republic | Tereza Kerndlová | “Have Some Fun” English · Gordon Pogoda, Stano Šimor | 9 | 8 | Out |
| 19 | Hungary | Csézy | “Candlelight” English, Hungarian · Jánosi, Imre Mózsik, Viktor Rakonczai | 6 | 15 | Out |
Who showed it, and who talked over it
The channels that carried the contest in 47 countries, with the commentator where our source names one.
-
Albania
- RTSH
-
Andorra
- ATV Meri Picart and Josep Lluís Trabal
-
Armenia
- AMPTV
-
Azerbaijan
- İTV
-
Belarus
- Belarus-1, Belarus-TV Denis Kurian
-
Belgium
- Eén (semi-final 1 and final) Bart Peeters and André Vermeulen
- Eén+ (semi-final 2) Bart Peeters and André Vermeulen
- La Une (semi-final 1 and final) Jean-Pierre Hautier and Jean-Louis Lahaye
-
Bosnia and Herzegovina
- BHT 1 Dejan Kukrić
-
Bulgaria
- BNT Elena Rosberg and Georgi Kushvaliev
-
Croatia
- HRT 2 (semi-finals) Duško Ćurlić
- HRT 1 (final) Duško Ćurlić
-
Cyprus
- RIK 1 Melina Karageorgiou
-
Czech Republic
- ČT2 (semi-final 1) Kateřina Kristelová
- ČT1 (semi-final 2 and final) Kateřina Kristelová
-
Denmark
- DR1 Nicolai Molbech
-
Estonia
- ETV Marko Reikop
- Raadio 2 (semi-final 1 and final) Mart Juur and Andrus Kivirähk
-
Finland
- YLE TV2 Jaana Pelkonen and Mikko Peltola
- YLE FST5 Thomas Lundin
- YLE Radio Suomi Sanna Kojo and Jorma Hietamäki
- YLE Radio Vega
-
France
- France 4 (semi-final 2) Peggy Olmi and Yann Renoard
- France 3 (final) Jean Paul Gaultier and Julien Lepers
-
Georgia
- GPB
-
Germany
- NDR Fernsehen (semi-finals) Peter Urban
- Das Erste (final) Peter Urban
-
Greece
- NET Betty and Mathildi Maggira
- ERT Maria Kozakou
-
Hungary
- m1 (semi-final 2 and final) Gábor Gundel Takács
-
Iceland
- Sjónvarpið Sigmar Guðmundsson
-
Ireland
- RTÉ Two (semi-finals) Marty Whelan
- RTÉ One (final) Marty Whelan
- RTÉ Radio 1 (semi-final 1 and final) Larry Gogan
-
Israel
- IBA
-
Latvia
- LTV Kārlis Streips
-
Lithuania
- LRT
-
Macedonia
- MRT
-
Malta
- TVM
-
Moldova
- TRM
-
Montenegro
- TVCG 2 (semi-finals) Dražen Bauković and Tamara Ivanković
- TVCG 1 (final) Dražen Bauković and Tamara Ivanković
- RTCG Sat Dražen Bauković and Tamara Ivanković
-
Netherlands
- Nederland 1 Cornald Maas
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Norway
- NRK1 (semi-final 1 and final) Hanne Hoftun
- NRK3 (semi-final 2) Hanne Hoftun
-
Poland
- TVP1, TVP Polonia (semi-final 1 and final) Artur Orzech
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Portugal
- RTP1 Isabel Angelino
-
Romania
- TVR 1, TVRi Leonard Miron
-
Russia
- Telekanal Rossiya, RTR Planeta Dmitry Guberniev and Olga Shelest
-
San Marino
- SMRTV Gigi Restivo and Lia Fiorio
- Radio San Marino Emilia Romagna
-
Serbia
- RTS1, RTS Sat Dragan Ilić and Mladen Popović
-
Slovenia
- SLO 2 (semi-finals) Andrej Hofer
- SLO 1 (final) Andrej Hofer
- Val 202 Aida Kurtović
-
Spain
- La 2 (semi-final 1) José Luis Uribarri
- La 1 (final) José Luis Uribarri
-
Sweden
- SVT1 Kristian Luuk and Josef Sterzenbach
- SVT1 (final) Carl Bildt
- SR P4 (semi-final 2 and final) Carolina Norén
-
Switzerland
- SF zwei (semi-final 2 and final) Sven Epiney
- HD suisse (final) Sven Epiney
- TSR 2 (semi-final 2 and final) Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner
- TSI 2 (semi-final 2) Sandy Altermatt
- TSI 1 (final) Sandy Altermatt
-
Turkey
- TRT 1, TRT Int
- TRT Türk (final) Bülend Özveren
-
Ukraine
- Pershyi Natsionalnyi Timur Miroshnychenko
-
United Kingdom
- BBC Three (semi-finals) Paddy O'Connell and Caroline Flack
- BBC One, BBC HD (final) Terry Wogan
- BBC Radio 2 (final) Ken Bruce
Also shown in
Results as published by the European Broadcasting Union. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it.