Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Confluence of Sound
Dates
Semi-final 120 May 2008 (2008-05-20)
Semi-final 222 May 2008 (2008-05-22)
Final24 May 2008 (2008-05-24)
Host
VenueBelgrade Arena
Belgrade, Serbia
Presenter(s)
Directed bySven Stojanović
Executive supervisorSvante Stockselius
Executive producerSandra Šuša
Host broadcasterRadio Television of Serbia (RTS)
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/belgrade-2008 Edit this at Wikidata
Participants
Number of entries43
Number of finalists25
Debuting countries
Returning countriesNone
Non-returning countries Austria
  • A coloured map of the countries of EuropeBelgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Italy in the Eurovision Song ContestNetherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Monaco in the Eurovision Song ContestLuxembourg in the Eurovision Song ContestSpain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Austria in the Eurovision Song ContestFrance in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Morocco in the Eurovision Song ContestCyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Slovakia in the Eurovision Song ContestHungary in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Andorra in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Czech Republic in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
         Finalist countries     Countries eliminated in the semi-finals     Countries that participated in the past but not in 2008
Vote
Voting systemEach country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs.
Winning song
2007 ← Eurovision Song Contest → 2009

The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the 2007 contest with the song "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), the contest was held at the Belgrade Arena, and (for the first time) consisted of two semi-finals on 20 and 22 May, and a final on 24 May 2008. The three live shows were presented by Serbian television presenter Jovana Janković and musician Željko Joksimović.

Forty-three countries participated in the contest, the highest ever number of participants in the contest[1] beating the record of forty-two set the year before.[2] Azerbaijan and San Marino[3] participated for the first time, while Austria did not participate, mainly due to questions on the semi-final organisation as well as the politicization of the contest.[4]

The winner was Russia with the song "Believe", performed by Dima Bilan who wrote it with Jim Beanz. Ukraine, Greece, Armenia and Norway rounded out the top five. Armenia achieved their best result to date this year. Of the "Big Four" countries Spain placed the highest, finishing sixteenth, while the United Kingdom ended up in last place for the second time in their Eurovision history, after 2003.

The official website, eurovision.tv, streamed national finals for this year's contest live on ESCTV for the first time.[5] Furthermore, for the first time the winner has been awarded the perpetual glass microphone trophy of the Eurovision Song Contest. The trophy is a handmade piece of sandblasted glass in the shape of a 1950s microphone.[6][7]

  1. ^ "43 Countries for Eurovision 2008". ESCToday.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  2. ^ "43 Countries for Eurovision 2008". ESCToday.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  3. ^ "San Marino in Belgrade confirmed". ESCToday.com. 21 November 2007. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2007.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference austria was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Revamped eurovision.tv site launched!". ESCToday.com. 15 January 2008. Archived from the original on 17 January 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2008.
  6. ^ "Trophy". Eurovision Song Contest. 14 January 2017. Archived from the original on 28 February 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Eurovision Crystal Trophy". Kosta Boda. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2020.