:: Eurovision 24 :: Oslo 2010

The 2008 Hosts, Serbia choose their participant for Moscow. The Winner was Marko Kon and Milan Nikolić with “Cipela” (Shoe). After the SMS voting mix up, a eventual finalist Ana Nikolić, decided not to participate. -

Although we are not big fans of this "passing over" new tradition, it has been announced that on the 10th December the passing of the Eurovision ring will take place in Moscow. The mayor of Belgrade will travel to Moscow and during a special ceremony he will hand the keys of Eurovision to his counterpart. The passing over event was created in 2007 in Finland and involves the creation of a key for the host city which is then added to the current keys and kept at the host city for 12 months until the process is recreated once again. We always think here that once a country wins the contest, thats it! its been passed over straight away to the new host country. I loved it when things were so much easier!

Jovana Janković and Željko Joksimović, the hosts of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest are dating and have found themselves in all Serbian media as a result. After Eurovision the two were often seen together in cafes and restaurants in Belgrade although both had relationships at the time. The defining moment is expected to have occurred in June when the couple was invited to attend Jean-Paul Gaultier’s fashion show in Paris. Both ended their relationships upon their return to Serbia but denied they were dating. In July and August the couple was seen holidaying together in Spain and Montenegro while Jovana accompanied Željko to his concert in Bulgaria in early September. They finally publically showed their affection in late September when the couple attended the concert of the Greek singer Antonis Remos in Belgrade. I always love a happy ending! News Source: OIKOTIMES.com resources

Running order was decided at a press conference just now. Running Order for the Eurovision final: ROMANIA (Semi Final 1) UNITED KINGDOM From Semi Final 2 (To be decided on Thursday) GERMANY ARMENIA (Semi Final 1) BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA (Semi Final 1) ISRAEL (Semi Final 1) FINLAND (Semi Final 1) From Semi Final 2 (To be decided on Thursday) POLAND (Semi Final 1) From Semi Final 2 (To be decided on Thursday) From Semi Final 2 (To be decided on Thursday) From Semi Final 2 (To be decided on Thursday) From Semi Final 2 (To be decided on Thursday) From Semi Final 2 (To be decided on Thursday) From Semi Final 2 (To be decided on Thursday) From Semi Final 2 (To be decided on Thursday) From Semi Final 2 (To be decided on Thursday) FRANCE AZERBAIJAN (Semi Final 1) GREECE (Semi Final 1) SPAIN SERBIA RUSSIA (Semi Final 1) NORWAY (Semi Final 1)

Entertainment reporter for BBC News, Michael Osborn gives his lowdown on some of this years songs from Ireland, Latvia, Spain, Sweden, Estonia, Portugal, Hungary, Serbia, Belgium, Bosnia - Herzegovina, San Marino, Switzerland, Romania, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Finland, Turkey & Russia. Read More. Source: BBC News UK

The Host countries national final, delayed due to the political situation in Kosovo, was staged on March 10th, after a semi-final on the previous evening reduced the field from 20 entries. The winner was chosen by a combination of a jury and a public televote. The winner of both sections was "Oro" sung by Jelena Tomasevic.

We report earlier that the recent troubles in Belgrade may have led to increasing speculation that the Eurovision Song Contest may be moved from the city, but that did not happened as the EBU stated that the contest will be in Belgrade for sure. I really want the contest in Belgrade, but esctime.com has reported that the EBU are having worries if Serbia can host the event because in Serbia on the begging of May will be the president elections. The website have no source. The country which is more preferable to host the contest is Switzerland where EBU is based. EBU and the heads of delegations will decide about the host country on the meeting this Monday in Serbia.

The heads of delegations are arriving to Belgrade for meetings on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday the running draw for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest will be complete. It is to be broadcast live on RTS2, RTS Sat, eurovision.tv and rts.co.yu as well as other EBU networks at 16.15CET. RTS is preparing a big show. The draw will be conducted in Sava Centar and will be hosted by this year’s ESC presenter Jovana and Željko. The RTS choir will sing last year’s winning song Molitva. There will be performances by Serbia’s most popular ethno singer Bilja Krstić and ethno ensemble Bistrik. A special video dedicated to Marija Šerifović will also be aired.

RTS announced the hosts for the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Former Eurovision Contestant for Serbia & Montenegro in 2004 with ' Lane Moje ', Zeljko Joksimovic will be the male host, accompanied by Jovana Jankovic , a TV show host on RTS1, will host the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest in May. Jovana was host of the draw for the semifinals, which was held a couple of weeks ago in Belgrade City hall. She started her career in BKTV where she hosted "Blockbuster" , a show about movies. Then she changed her working environment and left RTS. Now she is the host of the Morning Programme on Radio Televizija Srbije, RTS. Zeljko was born in Valjevo (western Serbia), he studied music, and famously came 2nd in Istanbul for Serbia & Montenegro at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004 with the song "Lane moje." They both said they are very honoured to be the hosts. Jovana said she thinks that she did a great job during the draw ceremony so probably they decided ...

The recent troubles in Belgrade has led to increasing speculation that the Eurovision Song Contest may be moved from the city. Tonight, after high level talks at the EBU, an official EBU statement has been released. The 53rd Eurovision Song Contest will take place as planned in Serbia, and host broadcaster, RTS will obtain a security guarantee from the Governement on behalf of all participants and visitors. The EBU statement, signed by Bjørn Erichsen, Director of Eurovision TV and Svante Stockselius, Eurovision Song Contest Executive Supervisor: "The European Broadcasting Union has of course closely been following the recent development in Serbia and has been in close contact with the organizers of Host Broadcaster RTS. We concluded that the recent irregularities in Belgrade will not cause any delays in the planning of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, or complications during the event in May. The EBU has no plans to move the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest from Belgrade. Having comp...

We mentioned earlier, a possible venue change for the Eurovision Song Contest due to current problems in Belgrade. Kjell Ekholm, the Eurovision Song Contest Event Manager in 2007, has put Helsinki forward as a possible back-up location. According to Estonian news website, Sloleht, Mr. Ekholm hopes that the Eurovision Song Contest can take place in Belgrade. If that is not possible, he says that Finland could become an option with much of the knowledge and experience of hosting the competition last year coming into play. He is also a member of the EBU Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group and much of the infrastructure from 2007 is still in place. Do you think Helsinki should be the backup city? UPDATE: It is believed that Malmo, Sweden is being considered since it has experience in hosting big events, and was considered as an option in 2005 when problems occurred with Ukraine. Ukraine is being considered an option since they came second in Eurovision Song Contest 2007, but th...

Gylenneskor.se, have stated that a telephone conference between senior EBU officials and reference group members will take place this morning to discuss security concerns about hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade after the violence that has occurred in the city over the passed days. Of main concern is the attacks on foreign embassies by a tiny minority of hooligans yesterday evening. Attacks on foreign buildings and potential harm to foreign nationals is a major concern for the Eurovision Song Contest organisers with thousands of officials from 42 delegations and fans travelling to Belgrade for the competition in May. Whilst the EBU has yet to confirm that there are any discussions about the possibility of moving the contest to an alternative venue, they are watching developments very closely. Fans planning to travel to the contest are increasingly concerned about personal security issues. [Source: ESCToday.com]

Unsurprisingly, following the negative coverage of the original logo, RTS have adopted a new logo featuring a violin staff in the Serbian colours of blue, white and red. It was officially launched the same day as the Semi Final Draw's and "Confluence Of Sound" is the theme of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. eurovision.tv reports: "Belgrade will become the place where energies will meet, where ideas will be exchanged and where new values will be born. The confluence of colors and sounds served as the inspiration for the final solution. The 'marriage' of colors and energies represents the coming-together of all European nations to celebrate together the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. It also served as inspiration for our slogan: The Confluence Of Sound. It represents the coming together of not only nations, but also the music, joy and energy that they bring."

Well, well, well, haven't the EBU been busy. The recently published rules of Eurovision 2008 state that a maximum of 45 countries can take part - meaning a maximum of 20 countries in each semi final, plus the 5 prequalified countries (Serbia, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom). Another issue discussed at the EBU's Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group meeting in Belgrade last weekend was the Big Four and how they will fit into the new two semi-final format. It was confirmed by the EBU that the proposal put to the EBU Television Committee by the reference group includes the proposal that France, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom, along with host country, Serbia, will all broadcast and vote in one of the semi finals. the EBU Reference Group and RTS, next year's Eurovision Song Contest host broadcaster held their second meeting in Belgrade. The topics discussed were the 2008 theme art, the launch of the official website and most importantly the dates of the t...

Today at 14.00 in a ceremony held at the Belgrade Town Hall the first ever Eurovision Host City Exchange took place. Lord Mayor of Helsinki Mr Jussi Pajunen, handed over a symbolic key ring to the Deputy of the Lord of Belgrade Ms Radmila Hrustanovic. "Now, that I have met the great people in Belgrade and saw your beautiful city, I am sure that the next Eurovision Song Contest will be one to remember", said Mayor Pajunen during the ceremony. [ESC Today]

I prefer the Original song myself, there is something missing in the English version.

“ RTS is giving Eurovision fans the chance to design the 2008 logo, the stage and also host the Eurovision Song Contest.” RTS (Radiotelevizija Srbije), the host broadcaster for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade has announced that it will be running a competition that will lead to the creation of the next Eurovision Song Contest's branding and logo, the stage, and most surprisingly, the hosts of the event. NEW LOGO This will graph and symbolisethe pictorial identity of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. It should associate with Serbia, music, youth and Europe. It will also provide the graphic symbol for medias, press and the competition's identity.Bidding is opened for 30 days and it is opened for all native and foreign persons. Bidding is anonymus. Prizes will be arwarded for the top three designs of €5000, €3000 and €2000 respectively. THE STAGE A competition to determine the ideal solution for stage for next year's Eurovision Song Contest at the Beogradska Arena...

The EBU has announced that during the Debriefing Meeting of the Reference Group earlier this summer it was proposed and discussed that the two semi final format could be ntroduced in 2008 and not in 2009 as originally discussed at the HoD meeting in Helsinki last March. The proposal includes that all participating countries apart from the winner and the Big Four will have to go through the two semi finals starting from the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. This means that the result of the 2007 contest will not influence the 2008 contest. The final decision though will be taken by the TV committee during its scheduled meeting in Verona, Italy on September 28. The Reference Group intends to propose this format after receiving feedback from the participating members. The 2008 contest will be held in the Belgrade Arena (Beogradska Arena) and it will seat about 14.000 fans. MORE INFORMATION: http://admin.esctoday.com/news/read/9027 Source: ESC Today

Svante Stockselius, the executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest, visited Belgrade to meet with RTS officials with regards to the preparations for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest that will be held in the Serbian capital. Svante visited Belgrade to meet with RTS officials and inspect the possible venues for the contest. He visited the Belgrade Arena, home of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, the Sava Centar (where Serbian national finals are held) and the Expo Center, likely to host the Press Center and the Fan Center respectively in 2008. Mr Stockselius stated that he is satisfied with the size of the Arena "It is the perfect size, not to large, not too small, we need a certain amount of intimacy", he said. He also said that he is satisfied with the way preparations have begun. "Serbia is on the right track" Svante told the press " you have a good team of people working on the project. But there is a lot of work to be done until May". [ESC Toda...