Eurovision Song Contest 2008
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.
| Eurovision Song Contest 2008 | |
|---|---|
| Confluence of Sound | |
| Dates | |
| Semi-final 1 | 20 May 2008 |
| Semi-final 2 | 22 May 2008 |
| Final | 24 May 2008 |
| Host | |
| Venue | Belgrade Arena Belgrade, Serbia |
| Presenter(s) | |
| Directed by | Sven Stojanović |
| Executive supervisor | Svante Stockselius |
| Executive producer | Sandra Šuša |
| Host broadcaster | Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) |
| Website | eurovision |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 43 |
| Number of finalists | 25 |
| Debuting countries | |
| Returning countries | None |
| Non-returning countries | Austria |
Participation map
| |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs. |
| Winning song | |
Forty-three countries participated in the contest, the highest ever number of participants in the contest beating the record of forty-two set the year before. Azerbaijan and San Marino 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.
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. 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.