WE MOVED!!

Hadise in Malta

2009-02-07T20:29:00.003+01:00

source: esctoday.com
Hadise began her promotion tour for her Eurovision Song Contest entry Dum Tek Tek in Malta today with an appearance on chatshow, La Qomna, Qomna! It is the first step on her run to Moscow and the first time the Turkish representative has gone to Malta.

Hadise will appear on several television shows as well as Malta Eurosong Festival as a special gues along with the United Kingdom's Eurovision Song Contest entrant, Jade Ewan on Saturday night as the two international special guests.

Hadise began her promotion tour for her Eurovision Song Contest entry Dum Tek Tek in Malta today with an appearance on chatshow, La Qomna, Qomna! show will also appear on Xarabank (TVM), Matinee (One TV), Malta Eurosong festival (TVM), Hadd Ghalik (TVM). You can watch her interview and performance of the song below.

Some Turkish residents in Malta were waiting to welcom her in airport. She explained that she was very excited about visiting Malta and added that this was the first time in her life that she had got to the island nation. She also said Malta doesn't give points to Turkey especially of late years, but she hopes to break this tradition.

Hadise sings Düm Tek Tek in Malta

''Düm Tek Tek'' wins high recognition

2009-02-07T20:21:00.005+01:00

source: TRT
Turkey's Eurovision entrant Hadise's song ''Dum Tek Tek'' wins high recognition.

75% of the people participating in the survey on TRT Website found the song ''very good'', 15% said it was ''good'' and those who said ''not good'' were only 7%.

Hadise's ''Dum Tek Tek'' video on TRT Website received hundreds of thousands of hits since it release

Ruslana to release “Wild Energy” on 10 October, 2008

2008-09-25T23:32:00.000+02:00

The long-awaited Ruslana album “Wild Energy” will be released on 10 October 2008.

Recorded at the legendary Hit Factory Criteria Studios in Miami and produced by Ego Works, “Wild Energy” maintains Ruslana’s unique musical components blended with modern urban influences. This release contains a first for Ruslana - the collaboration with the American Urban superstars T-Pain and Missy Elliott in two great songs with very dramatic and amazing results.

“Moon of Dreams” - The first single and video - is a duet with T-Pain and is already a smash in Poland and the Ukraine and the album was released on the 2nd of September 2008 in Canada.

“Wild Energy” combines the elements of music, video production, literature and social commitment in an extraordinary way. Dedicated to the idea of the independence of human feelings and freedoms using original and rarely heard ethnic sounds; the music blends these ancient styles and singing traditions of the Carpathian Mountain people with modern popular music. The timbre of Ruslana’s voice coupled with her unique vocal styling is unmistakable and instantly identifiable to millions of her fans.

With Ego Works’ creative production, Ruslana creates her own distinctive technique of incorporating the use of original grooves. She channels the inspiration for her own unique style of music from the peaks and valleys of the Carpathian Mountains.

Ruslana won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004 with her “Wild Dances” and voted the Best Eurovision Song of all time and making her one of the most popular artists in Europe. “Wild Dances” and its singles dominated fourteen charts for 97 weeks and the single was No. 1 in Belgium for a staggering 11 weeks.

Ruslana is the DJ voice for the fictional Vladivostok FM radio station on the new Grand Theft Auto IV, the biggest selling video game of all time.

When the eurovision season ends....

2008-06-07T18:31:00.000+02:00

After the semi-finals and the grand final this year, the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 season has come to an end.

ESC-TURKEY.COM will be busy for some months to upgrade a new website. The old features of our website will be available on the new website.

The website will get an unique design and the format will also be changed. Before the new Eurovision season will start we will make the new website online!

We hope to welcome you soon on our new ESC-TURKEY.COM website.

For suggestions and observations about our new Eurovision website, you can contact us from the e-mail adress below:
info@esc-turkey.com

Mor ve Otesi happy with their result

2008-05-27T15:44:00.000+02:00

source: esctime.com
The Turkish representatives of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, Mor ve Otesi are said to be very happy with their final placing in this years contest.

The group returned home to Turkey yesterday with very good feelings. The lead singer, Harun Tekin gave best wishes to next year’s Turkish representatives and were said to be very grateful at being given the chance to represent their country at this year’s contest which was by far one of the most competative in recent years. When asked if they agreed with the winning song, they made it clear that they did not agree with Europe’s choice and thought that Greece or Ukraine should have taken the victory title.

Mor ve Otesi finished 7th in this year’s contest with the song ‘Deli’ which was performed entirely in the Turkish language.

Exclusive: Possible Venue in Moscow

2008-05-25T14:20:00.000+02:00

source: escmalta.com (webpartners)
The possible host city for next year is likely to be the Russian capital, Moscow. ESCMALTA.com receievd soem feedback from some Russian fans who pointed out the Olympic indoor stadium as a possible venue for next year.

Olympic Stadium, known locally as the Olimpiisky, is a large indoor arena located in Moscow, Russia. It was built for the 1980 Summer Olympics and hosted the basketball and boxing events. A part of the Olimpiisky Sports Complex, it makes up one architectural ensemble with another venue, constructed at the same time, the Swimming Pool.

The venue is so large that up to 80,000 people can occupy its space. It has hosted the Davis Cup finals on several occasions, and is the home of the Kremlin Cup tournament. When smaller indoor sports are held at the venue, such as tennis or basketball, only 1/4th of the floor space is used. Capacity at this configuration can vary between 10,000 and 16,000 people.

Swedish Charlotte in the final thanks to new EBU rule

2008-05-25T14:02:00.000+02:00

source: belgovision.com
Charlotte Perrelli's reputation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was saved by a new rule introduced by the EBU. The 1999 Eurovision Song Contest winner finished twelfth in the second semifinal, but thanks to this new rule, Sweden won the ticket for the final instead of the Macedonian candidates who finished tenth.

The European Broadcasting Union introduced a new rule at the Eurovision Song Contest this year. The tenth country to proceed to the final from each semifinal was not selected by televoting, but by the back-up juries. Of all countries which didn't qualify through the televoting in the first semifinal, Poland was most liked by the back-up juries. However, Polish singer Isis Gee also finished tenth in the televoting and would also have qualified if the new rule hadn't been applied.

The new rule was introduced by the EBU to prevent that a country with a less good song would qualify for the final thanks to neighbour votes instead of a country with a better song. Especially Macedonia knew how to reach the final thanks to their neighbours in the previous year. However, the country also became the first victim of the new rule. Macedonia finished tenth in the televoting, but the back-up juries had rated Charlotte Perrelli's song Hero higher. Although she finished twelfth in the second semifinal, Charlotte qualified Sweden for the final.

On the official website of the Eurovision Song Contest you can find the complete results of the second semifinal final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Click here to see the complete scoreboard with all votes per country.

Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008: RUSSIA

2008-05-25T00:30:00.003+02:00

The 53rd Eurovision Song Contest has just ended. Eurovision fans all over the world voted mostly for the song of Russia: Dima Bilan - Believe.

Next year, Eurovision will be moved of course to Russia who will host the 54rd Eurovision Song Contest.
Congratulations Russia!!!

EXCLUSIVE!
Watch the winning song of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Today, grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

2008-05-24T13:28:00.004+02:00

There is only few minutes left for the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest. Today, 25 countries will compete in the final for the first place.

Today we will know which country will win the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 and to host next years Eurovision.

Esc-Turkey.com has predicition that the winner is about these countries:
Portugal, Greece, Turkey.

The paricipants list of the final order:
01. Romania: Nico & Vlad Miriţă - Pe o margine de lume
02. United Kingdom: Andy Abraham - Even if
03. Albania: Olta Boka - Zemrën e lamë peng
04. Germany: No Angels - Disappear
05. Armenia: Sirusho - Qele Qele
06. Bosnia & Herzegovina: Laka - Pokusaj
07. Israel: Boaz Mauda - The fire in your eyes
08. Finland: Teräsbetoni - Missä miehet ratsastaa
09. Croatia: Kraljevi Ulice en 75 Cents – Romanca
10. Poland: Isis Gee - For life
11. Iceland: Eurobandið - This is my life
12. Turkey: Mor ve Ötesi - Deli
13. Portugal: Vânia Fernandes - Senhora do Mar
14. Latvia: Pirates of the Sea - Wolves of the sea
15. Sweden: Charlotte Perrelli - Hero
16. Denmark: Simon Mathew - All Night Long
17. Georgia: Diana Gurtskaya - Peace Will Come
18. Ukraine: Ani Lorak - Shady lady
19. France: Sébastien Tellier - Divine
20. Azerbaijan: Elnur & Samir - Day After Day
21. Greece: Kalomira - Secret Combination
22. Spain: Rodolfo Chikilicuarte - Baila el ChikiChiki
23. Serbia: Jelena Tomašević - Oro
24. Russia: Dima Bilan - Believe
25. Norway: Maria Haukaas Storeng - Hold on be strong

Eurovision Yolculuğu; Eurovision Journey by TRT

2008-05-24T13:00:00.001+02:00

sources: oikotimes.com, TRT
Turkish broadcaster TRT presents a show called "Eurovision Yolculuğu (Eurovision Journey) tonight.

The show will be hosted by famous artist Berna Laçin, and many renowned singers such as Aslı, Ferhat Göçer, Mustafa Ceceli and Enbe Orchestra will sing unforgettable Turkish Eurovision songs tonight just before Eurovision Song Contest starts. The program will start at 19.00 (CET). Eurovision fans will be able to watch this programme as it will be broadcasted online. Check the link here:
TRT 1 Live

Second Semi-Final: New rule in action!

2008-05-24T02:21:00.000+02:00

source: eurovision.tv
One day after the second Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest and just one day before the Grand Final, the EBU reveals that one of the ten contestants who qualified last night was selected thanks to the support of the back-up jury, and would not have made it to the Final under the old rules.

A new rule, implemented before this year´s Eurovision Song Contest, says that the top-9 contestants chosen by the televoters qualify for the Final. The highest ranked contestant from the back-up jury results who did not yet qualify through the televoting, also qualifies for the Final.

After the first Semi-Final, it appeared that the televoters and the back-up juries selected the same 10 contestants to qualify for the Final. This was not the case after the second Semi-Final, as one of the 10 contestants who qualified was not in top-10 of the televoters. So, one of the qualified Semi-Finalists would not have made it to the Final without the support of the back-up jury!

"Another country"
"Under the old rules, we would have seen one other country in the Final," said Svante Stockselius, Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Complete results to be revealed Sunday morning
To keep the Final exciting until the very last moment, the complete results of the two Semi-Finals will be revealed through www.eurovision.tv on Sunday morning. These results also reveal which of the 25 Finalists made it thanks to the back-up jury!

Big Poll 2008 Serbia Edition (the final)

2008-05-23T00:00:00.006+02:00

The two semi-finals has just ended. The ten countries that are qualified, are listed in the final order of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.

Eurovision fans are now able to vote for the final participants.
You can vote for your favourit song of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008!

The poll is only available for one day and can be found here>>>
It includes also a message board for all comments about the participants.
Good luck to all countries..

Mor ve Ötesi in the final next saturday!

2008-05-22T23:11:00.000+02:00

The second semi-final has just ended. It was a difficult competition, and difficult to vote for your favorite country as well.
Instead the countries where Turkey get always high points (The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany), nevertheless Mor ve Ötesi qualified for the final!

Mor ve Ötesi came on stage as 4th performer with the rock song 'Deli'. It had a very good chorus. The staging was decorated with some dolls (as seen on the official video clip) and the band weared black suits with silver details.

The 10 qualifiers we will see next saturday are:

*Ukraine
*Croatia
*Albania
*Iceland
*Georgia
*Denmark
*Sweden
*Latvia
*Turkey
*Portugal

Only minutes left till the second Semi-Final!

2008-05-22T16:25:00.002+02:00

source: eurovision.tv
Lots of fans all around Europe get excited about the second Semi-Final for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest which will take place tonight at CET 21:00 in the Beogradska Arena!

The 19 participants of the second Semi-Final for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest have just one dress rehearsal left to make changes in their performance. According to experts, the outcome of this Semi-Final is extremely hard to predict, so we might be in for some surprises tonight!

Participants list of the second semi-final

01 Iceland
Euroband - This Is My Life

02 Sweden
Charlotte Perrelli - Hero

03 Turkey
Mor ve Ötesi - Deli

04 Ukraine
Ani Lorak - Shady Lady

05 Lithuania
Jeronimas Milius - Nomads In The Night

06 Albania
Olta Boka - Zemrën E Lamë Peng

07 Switzerland
Paolo Meneguzzi - Ero Stupendo

08 Czech Republic
Tereza Kerndlová - Have Some Fun

09 Belarus
Ruslan Alehno - Hasta La Vista

10 Latvia
Pirates Of The Sea - Wolves Of The Sea

11 Croatia
Kraljevi Ulice & 75 Cents - Romanca

12 Bulgaria
Deep Zone & Balthazar - Dj, Take Me Away

13 Denmark
Simon Mathew - All Night Long

14 Georgia
Diana Gurtskaya - Peace Will Come

15 Hungary
Csézy - Candlelight

16 Malta
Morena - Vodka

17 Cyprus
Evdokia Kadi - Femme Fatale

18 F.Y.R Macedonia
Tamara, Vrčak & Adrijan - Let Me Love You

19 Portugal
Vânia Fernandes - Senhora Do Mar (Negras Águas)

New trophy for Eurovision Song Contest

2008-05-22T16:22:00.000+02:00

source: eurovision.tv
Designer Kjell Engman had the honour of designing the generic trophy for the Eurovision Song Contest.

This year's trophy for the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest has the shape of a classic microphone with a wonderful sense of nostalgia. It is made from solid transparent glass with sand-blasted and painted detailing. "I wanted to focus on the meaning of "song" because for me the Eurovision Song Contest is primarily about singing", says Kjell Engman.

Kjell Engman has worked as a glass artist for thirty years. Recently, he has focused on art glass and his creations can be found in exhibitions around the world. Music has always been a major source of inspiration for him and his recent exhibitions have contained spectacular and playful instruments in a range of colours, all made of glass, of course!

"Rock and roll and classical music played by major symphonic orchestras have the biggest appeal, but I think the vibrant range of the Eurovision Song Contest is absolutely awesome", says the artist.

Eurovision Song Contest alive and kicking, historian says

2008-05-21T15:54:00.000+02:00

source: todayszaman.com
The Eurovision song contest is a shameless celebration of pure kitsch with its tacky songs, camp singers and outrageous outfits that will culminate with a glitzy finale in the Serbian capital of Belgrade this year on May 24.

But however trite the lyrics get and however shamelessly East Europeans keep voting for each other, the annual mishmash of power ballads and bubblegum pop shows no sign of flagging.

“The more people knock and criticise it, the bigger Eurovision gets,” says John Kennedy O’Connor, author of an official history of the contest. “It is the biggest one ever this year with 43 countries compared to just seven in the first one in 1956. It is growing and growing,” he told Reuters before flying out to Belgrade for Eurovision 2008.

Winning can even do wonders for a state’s morale. Marija Serifovic’s victory at the 2007 contest caused an outpouring of national pride in Serbia, a country more used to rebuffs from Europe over its wartime past than to accolades. Serbs took to the streets with flags, tooting horns and chanting winning entry “Molitva” (Prayer) until the early hours.

Swedish quartet Abba were Eurovision’s most famous winners, Ireland’s Johnny Logan won it three times -- twice as a singer, once as a composer. Celine Dion won for Switzerland. Spain triumphed in 1968 with a song using the word “La” 138 times -- and now it is ranked as a notorious winner. A Spanish documentary claimed that British singer Cliff Richard was robbed of victory after Spanish dictator Francisco Franco fixed the vote. Spanish TV executives were alleged to have traveled Europe promising to buy second-rate programs and concerts billing strange acts in return for Eurovision votes.

The bane of 21st century Eurovision is tactical voting -- but John Kennedy O’Connor insists it is cultural, not political. “With the Balkans, I genuinely don’t think it is out of political allegiance as 10 years ago they were trying to wipe each other off the planet,” he said. “Soviet satellite states now support each other and the Russians. You would have thought they would do the opposite and give the Russians a kicking.”

Eurovision’s official king of trivia says “I take it all with a pinch of salt. I enjoy lots of the songs but about half I never want to hear again.” So who will triumph in Belgrade? It’s time to place your bets. He proudly boasted: “I get it right every year. I know who is going to win. This year it is between Ukraine, Russia and Ireland.”

First Semi-Final: The qualifiers!

2008-05-20T23:19:00.000+02:00

source: eurovision.tv
The First Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest has just finished, and the ten countries qualifying for the Final are known.

The representatives of nineteen countries have presented their songs tonight in the First Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. The theme of the show, presented by Jovana Janković and Željko Joksimović, was "City", whereas the theme of the Second Semi-Final will be "Water". After all songs had been presented, televoting started in all the participating countries as well as in Spain and Germany, who are already qualified for the Final, but were drawn to vote in the First Semi-Final, while the other directly qualified finalists - France, The United Kingdom and Serbia - get to vote in the Second Semi-Final. Nine of the qualifying countries were decided by televoting. Furthermore, the highest placed song in the result of the national backup juries which was not yet qualified through televoting got a place in the Final as well. However, the TV public will only find out which country it was after the Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday.

The qualifiers
The following countries have qualified for the Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest (in order of announcement):

*Greece
*Romania
*Bosnia and Herzegovina
*Finland
*Russia
*Israel
*Azerbaijan
*Armenia
*Poland
*Norway

Finally: today the first Semi-Final!

2008-05-20T00:00:00.004+02:00

For the first time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, two Semi-Finals will be held to decide which 25 countries will be represented in the Final. The first Semi-Final will take place today, at 21:00 CET.

In total, 19 countries will compete in the first semi-final, to get a place in the grand final on saturday (24th of May). The semi-final will be hosted by Jovana Janković and Željko Joksimović.

The top9 of the televoting qualifies for the Final. The highest ranked entry of the back-up jury that has not qualified for the Final in the tele-voting also qualifies for the Final. The 10 qualified countries will be presented in randomly drawn order at the end of the show. The complete results of the televoting will not be announced until after the Final, to keep the tension high.

Participants list of the first semi-final:

01. Montenegro
Stefan Filipovi - Zauvijek Volim Te

02. Israel
Boaz Mauda - The Fire In Your Eyes

03. Estonia
Kreisiraadio - Leto Svet

04. Moldova
Geta Burlacu - A Century Of Love

05. San Marino
Miodio - Complice

06. Belgium
Ishtar - O Julissi

07. Azerbaijan
Elnur & Samir - Day After Day

08. Slovenia
Rebeka Dremelj - Vrag Naj Vzame

09. Norway
Maria - Hold On Be Strong

10. Poland
Isis Gee - For Life

11. Ireland
Dustin the Turkey - Irelande Douze Pointe

12. Andorra
Gisela - Casanova

13. Bosnia & Herzegovina
Laka - Pokušaj

14. Armenia
Sirusho - Qele, Qele

15. The Netherlands
Hind - Your Heart Belongs To Me

16. Finland
Teräsbetoni - Missä Miehet Ratsastaa

17. Romania
Nico & Vlad - Pe-o Margine De Lume

18. Russia
Dima Bilan - Believe

19. Greece
Kalomira - Secret Combination

ORF will broadcast Eurovision final

2008-05-19T01:03:00.001+02:00

sources: orf.at, oikotimes.com
Although Austria will not officially compete in the Eurovision 2008, ORF has confirmed that it will be showing coverage of the final on May 24th, something that oikotimes.com wrote some months ago.

After disappointment in 2004 and 2005, Austria withdrew from Eurovision before returning in 2007 only to fail once more. The disappointing result of 27th from the semifinal led to another withdrawal, 2008. ORF however has confirmed that it will show coverage of the 2008 final leading to speculation that it may take part in the 2009 contest. Despite success in 1966, Austria remains one of the least successful Eurovision participants but interest in the contest is still abundant.

New System at Eurovision

2008-05-19T00:53:00.001+02:00

sources: TRT, eurovision.tv

This year, all of the participant countries will compete in the semi final, except the four founder members, and the host country.

The semi final groups were determined with draw at the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest. The final of the contest will take place at the capital city of Serbia, Belgrade.

According to the new system, the countries competing in different semi final groups will not be able to vote for each other. Because of that, our representative at the semi finals, Mor ve Ötesi, will not be able to collect votes from the countries who used to give us high votes, countries like Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and Azerbaijan.

Televoting system (sending votes by sms) will be applied in the semi finals. Kenan Doğulu's fourth place rank in ESC 2007 will not effect Turkiye this year.

The host country Serbia and the four founder members Spain, Germany, France and United Kingdom will directly proceed to the final.

The first semi final group: Montenegro, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Poland, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Estonia, the Netherlands, Romania, Moldova, San Marino, Slovenia, Norway, Belgium, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia.

Two of the four countries who will directly proceed to the final, Spain and Germany, will only be able to vote for the countries in the first group at the semi finals.

The second semi final group: Turkiye, Croatia, Denmark, Bulgaria, Portugal, Ukraine, Switzerland, FYR Macedonia, Iceland, Cyprus Greek Region, Latvia, Belarus, Hungary, Albania, Sweden, Lithuania, Georgia, Czech Republic and Malta.

The host country Serbia, and two of the founder countries United Kingdom and France, will only vote for the countries in the second group at the semi finals.

Semi final status: Ten countries from each semi final, twenty countries in total, will be qualified for the final. The countries who will take the first nine place, will guarantee to proceed to the final with the televoting system, used by the viewers.

In both semi final groups, the tenth country will be selected by the juries of the countries, who will be unable to take part in the first nine places. Thus, this will help the successful songs, which will not be qualified for the final because of the televoting system, to proceed in the contest.

The Introduction Program is Today

2008-05-18T14:28:00.002+02:00

source: TRT
The presentation program for introducing the video clips of the 43 countries which will compete at the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia, will be broadcasted today on TRT-1 at 21.35 CET. Live webcast of TRT 1 can be followed here>>

The Contest will be organized with two semi-finals for the first time. Turkey will compete in the 2nd semi final as the 3rd contestant.

The 2 semi-finals on May 20 and May 22, and the final on May 24 will be broadcasted live from TRT-1 and TRT-INT, starting at 21.00 o'clock (CET).

Sweden, Ukraine, Serbia, Bulgaria and Russia are pointed as the most important rival candidates for Turkey. According to the survey and betting results, Turkey is expected to take place in the first 5 at the Eurovision final.

Serbia colncludes today's rehearsals

2008-05-18T01:00:00.000+02:00

sources: oikotimes.com
GEORGIA
The Georgian representative, Diana, started today's rehearsals. Diana gave the same stable performance in terms of vocals, wearing a sparkling black outfit with silver details and white boots. The stage colours are mostly red. Anyway this is a good song with a positive message in favour of peace. In our personal estimation the team of oikotimes in Belgrade thing that this song is highly unlikely to qualify but you never know. The second rehearsal of Georgia was changed. Now the lights are more yellow, orange alike and Diana changed the outfit into white.

HUNGARY
Csezy gives one more outstanding performance. She wears the white black dress and vocally she remains impressive. The stage has real candle lights and also candles in the backdrop of the stage. This performance is full of emotions and the new version works fine on TV. The camera work is also impressive. I would love to see this song in the final. Hard but not difficult.

MALTA
Morena stepped on stage to perform her song. Blue, black and white spaking stars at the backdrop. Male dancers and Morena wear black in the first rehearsal attempt. The camera work needs improvement for sure. Morena gives an excellent vocal performance but still we wonder who will vote for this song during the second semifinal. Malta is like Cyprus 2007, everyone vows it will qualify but at the end no one votes for it. Though this entry has the best chances to proceed to the final this year. We would suggest some changes to the lights cause it maybe is too blue for the viewers.

CYPRUS
Evdokia Kadi got on stage. The first lights they try are blue and light green. Now the stage turned into red and blue. Here is comes the first performance of the Cyprus delegation. Evdokia wears a weird dress, white with a hige neck while the boys accompanying her are wearing black and white suits. During the first change of the song Evdokia drops the white robe and stays with a sexy red dress. Vocally Evdokia is not bad. When she got on the table she didn't seem confident for the security of the table but at the end everything was OK. The backing vocals once again are not good. To qualify? We would like so, but seems impossible. The camera work is fine but the backdrop has too many shapes and doesn't help to focus where the artists are. At the press area besides the Greek fans no one really pays attention to this rehearsal.

FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
Tamara is making a descent effort in this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Vocally she is not that bad but still she is weak. The performance is based in blue and white colours on stage while Tamara is dressed in black. The camera work simply the same as for every entry of FYR Macedonia the last years. Nothing impressive, nothing to mention. Can FYR Macedonia qualify out of neighbour voting just like the previous years? No way we would say in 2008.

PORTUGAL
The Portuguese team are casually dressed for their second rehearsal, probably wanting to surprise us in the dress rehearsal. The focus is on the song and the very powerful back vocals. The choreography is slow and atmospheric, to match the song, yet effective. The lights on the background vary in the shades of blue and the camera work is excellent. A fan is used, as usual in Vania Fernandes' performances.

UNITED KINGDOM
The UK entrant is giving yet another strong performance of his song. The stage for this is VERY colourful, but it looks quite nice. I believe he was wearing his final outfit, which is a blue suit with shining stripe. Looks good on camera.

GERMANY
The girls look nice and sound as good as look. They are wearing the same outfits as yesterday and that is blue/purple dresses. I don't have much else to say, I think it is too average to make any bigger impact, but at least it's an eye-candy.

FRANCE
This is quite different indeed and I think there will be people who will be loving this. Sebastien wears white trousers, grey jacket with black shirt underneath as well as sunglasses. He has wind machine. Visualisation for this one is really nice,

SPAIN
Rodolfo is taking the stage with his dancers. There's no denying that this is a well polished number with perfectly inserted comedic timing. The song sounds good and the vocals are up to par with the recording. It's definitely more engaging as a performance.

Rehearsals Going on Full Speed

2008-05-17T19:25:00.001+02:00

source: TRT
Nowadays Belgrade has completely turned into the Eurovision city.

While the rehearsals are going on full speed, Mor ve Ötesi have won great approval with their successful live performances.

On the other hand, also with the support of the Turkish Eurovision Club, TRT is about to complete the preparations of a special invitation which will be organized on the River Danube.

In this night, TRT will host artists from Sweden, Bulgaria, Hungary, Switzerland, Romania, Albania, Moldova, Latvia, Croatia, Poland, Montenegro and San Marino, both our past Eurovision songs and our all time pop music hits will be introduced to the European media, and all night long Turkish melodies will rise up from the River Danube.

19 May Youth and Sports Day will be celebrated with a special party including 500 guests. In this double festival, the unique tastes of the Turkish Kitchen will be presented to the guests.

ESC 2008: Which countries will qualify from the semifinals?

2008-05-17T19:20:00.000+02:00

source: esctime.com
As every year a special desk was set in the press center in Sava Center in Belgrade. There all the accredited journalists can vote their 10 favourite in each semifinal and predict which countries will take the golden ticket for the Eurovision 2008 final on 24 of May in Belgrade.
Every journalist by voting in this desk takes a phone card from the Serbian telecommunication so they can vote in both semifinals and the final also.

Here are the current results:

SEMIFINAL 1:
1. Greece
2. Russia
3. Israel
4. Norway
5. Slovenia
6. Bosnia & Herzegovina
7. Belgium
8. Romania
9. Armenia
10. Poland

SEMIFINAL 2:
1. Sweden
2. Ukraine
3. Turkey
4. Portugal
5. Iceland
6. Belarus
7. FYR Macedonia
8. Cyprus
9. Switzerland
10. Bulgaria

Eurovision.tv talks to Elnur & Samir

2008-05-16T23:44:00.003+02:00

sources: eurovision.tv
After their second rehearsal yesterday, the artists representing Azerbaijan in the First Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, Elnur & Samir, talked to Eurovision.tv about their musical background and their feelings about their country's first participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Read their exclusive interview here:

You just finished your first rehearsal. How satisfied are you with your performance, and would you like to change anything until the Semi-Final?
Elnur & Samir: "To be honest, we sang better in the first rehearsal. We are both quite sick today. That's why today, not everything went as well as we hoped. But the stage act itself and the reception of the public was all on the highest level. We are happy, and now we concentrate on getting well again and on having a great performance on the Semi-Final night."

Azerbaijan participates in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time this year. Did you receive any advice from former participants in the Eurovision Song Contest?
Elnur & Samir: " Not really. But we met Marija Šerifović and Sertab Erener in the national preselection of Azerbaijan this year. We are very grateful for what they told us and what they have done for us. By the way, we will sing on a party on Friday with several former participants of the Eurovision Song Contest, in Belgrade at Kalemegdan fortress. Of course, all press people are invited there!"

As regards your participation in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, which kind of result would make you satisfied?
Elnur & Samir: "Of course, we are hoping for a victory in order to bring the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest to our country, just as all other participants, too. But, as we are participating for our country only for the first time, it does not matter if we don't win. Somebody should win who really deserves it. And if we deserve it, we will win."

How do you plan to proceed with your musical career? Will you continue working and performing together, or will both of you focus on your solo careers?
Elnur & Samir: "We will definitely keep working together, and we already have a lot of projects in mind. We are planning to record an album together - you will get to hear it soon! Actually, we have been friends long before we performed our Eurovision song together for the first time. We have always wanted to cooperate with each other in music, and now we did it for the first time. And it was a success, in our opinion. We'll see what will be the next step and our next song."

You perform as devil and angel on stage. Can you explain the symbolism behind that to our readers?
Elnur & Samir: "The global main topic at this very moment is war. Everything evil comes from the devil - who is, in fact, just a fallen angel who was expelled from paradise. He symbolizes everything evil which happens on earth. However, he can turn into an angel again, which means winning over all evil. We just hope that this will happen some time soon in our world."

Your song features elements of traditional Azeri Mugham singing. Why did you add that style to your song, and why did you still decide to sing in in English and not in your mother tongue?
Elnur & Samir: "Well, yes, our mother tongue is Azerbaijani. But we want the whole world to understand our song, and therefore, we will sing in English. Mugham is one of the oldest parts of our culture, and it was even declared part of the UNESCO World Heritage, and it's very difficult to sing it correctly. We decided to add it to our song to present it to a wider audience."

Azerbaijan was one of the lucky countries who could choose their draw position in the First Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest themselves, and your Head of Delegation picked number seven. Why did he opt for this number?
Elnur & Samir: "Seven is a lucky number for the whole country of Azerbaijan. According to astrologers, seven is also a lucky number for Samir. However, Elnur's lucky number is three. So, if everything works out well, we'll be third in the final."