Back down South to the Balkan nation of Serbia in 2008, thus adding a bit of spice to the Eurofans thoughts of wandering off the beaten track right into a miffed Montenegrin, a kvetched Kosovan, or just a surly Serb who has got out of the wrong side of bed. Let us see what this most tolerant forgiving of nations make of the damp Euro brigade as they invade the Beogradska Arena (or Belgrade Arena) during May to watch 43..yes 43 nations battle it out under a scarlet sky. So another new record for entrants. We've lost Austria again (to be honest the more they drop in and out, the more I'm starting to develop a strong dislike for them), Monaco still haven't moved into the 1980's so are too afraid to enter, and Slovakia & Italy are being stubborn. However we do welcome two new nations to the fold...at least I think they are proper nations...Azerbaijan, that oil-soaked ex-Soviet republic somewhere out East has shoved the wedge of San Marino into the Eurovision door (which I think is a principality, but who cares) and both have walked on in. The Skoda Superb boot also remains theoretically ajar for Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Libya, Tunisia, Lebanon, and Luxembourg who can still join come 2009. As for the latest news for 2008, details of the draw will be posted when it is done on March the 18th. Information on the Eurovision Song Contest Singers and Songs for this year along with my ill-informed comments can be found by clicking on a flag as and when they are updated. The build up schedule for the two week's of rehearsals can be found here |
Albania | Andorra | Armenia | Austria | Azerbaijan | Belarus |
Belgium | Bosnia | Bulgaria | Croatia | Cyprus | Czech Rep |
Denmark | Estonia | Finland | France | FYROM | Georgia |
Germany | Greece | Hungary | Iceland | Ireland | Israel |
Latvia | Lithuania | Malta | Moldova | Monaco | Montenegro |
Netherlands | Norway | Poland | Portugal | Romania | Russia |
San Marino | Serbia | Slovakia | Slovenia | Spain | Sweden |
Apologies to Serbia and Montenegro for my lack of proper flaggyage. | |||||
Switzerland | Turkey | UK | Ukraine | ||
March Calendar | |||||
After last year's roaring success inHelsinki, when tickets
were priced at one sauna and two reindeer, there will be 3 show, two semi's
and a final. They will be on...drum roll... Tuesday the 20th and Tursday
the 22nd of May, followed by the big final on Saturday the 24th of May.
If the nations are in Red,
then they are into semi final 1 on Tuesday the 20th of May. As is now the norm, the first 1-7 points will now not be read out by the national spokesperson. In order to stop people waking up on the sofas at 1am feeling grumpy and ruining their Sunday, votes will only be read out for points 8,10,& 12. It is expected that this will cut down on the voting process, and put a smile on everyone's face. On the other hand, it will allow more time for the presenters to wow us with their variety act, which is not a positive development. Sadly both of the semi finals will not necessarily have to be shown by each national broadcaster, and indeed it is extremeyl lilkely that the Beeb will show one of them (Thursday I'll warrant). Yet again the UK have been given a Wonka golden ticket straight into the final, and as such don't much worry about those johnny foreigners and their scrabbling around for those consolation places. |
Only five countries will gain automatic qualification to the final
this year.They will be joined by France, Germany, Spain and Britain,
or the "Big 4", along with the hosts Serbia. These 5 will be joined by 20 from the two semi finals, as detailed
below. Or a slightly more brief trawl can be found at the ever improving official site ( http://www.eurovision.tv/ ). |
Final - Saturday the
24th May
|
Romania |
UK |
Albania |
Germany |
Armenia |
Bosnia
& Herzegovina |
Israel |
Finland |
Croatia |
Poland |
Iceland |
Turkey |
Portugal |
Latvia |
Sweden |
Denmark |
Georgia |
Ukraine |
France |
Azerbaijan |
Greece |
Spain |
Serbia |
Russia |
Norway |
Semi Final 1 - Tuesday
the 20th May |
Semi Final 2- Thursday the 22nd May |
Montenegro |
Iceland |
Israel |
Sweden |
Estonia |
Turkey |
Moldova |
Ukraine |
San
Marino |
Lithuania |
Belgium |
Albania |
Azerbaijan |
Switzerland |
Slovenia |
Czech
Republic |
Norway |
Belarus |
Poland |
Latvia |
Ireland |
Croatia |
Andorra |
Bulgaria |
Bosnia
& Herzegovina |
Denmark |
Armenia |
Georgia |
Netherlands |
Hungary |
Finland |
Malta |
Romania |
Cyprus |
Russia |
FYROM |
Greece |
Portugal |