EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2008 – FINAL: PARTICIPANTS LIST
Top40-Charts.com
May 23 2008
NY
LONDON, UK (Top40 Charts) – After the two Semi-Finals on Tuesday
and Thursday, all songs in the Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song
Contest are known. The Final will be broadcast tomorrow at 21:00 CET
in the evening.
Just like both Semi-Finals, the Final, of course, starts with the
Eurovision hymn. Shortly afterwards, Marija Serifovic’, the winner
of the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, enters the stage to perform
together with a group of female dancers.
After that the hosts, Jovana Jankovic’ and Z(eljko Joksimovic’,
go on stage.While in the First Semi-Final, the theme was "City" and
in the Second Semi-Final, the theme was "Water", the theme of the
Final will be the combination of both – "City and Water". This is,
of course, a symbol of the capital of Serbia, Belgrade, which sits
at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers.
The first song in the Final is Pe-o Margine De Lume by Nico &
Vlad from Romania. They perform their operatic song brilliantly and
without any vocal problems. The colour theme on the stage and on the
LED projections are dark and resembles a romantic night sky. Second
on stage is Andy Abraham from the United Kingdom, who was directly
qualified for the Final. His vocal and dance performance sounds and
looks confident, and Andy manages well to give good vibes to the
public. He performs in a dark blue suit, and the LED projections are
very colourful. Third to perform is Olta Boka from Albania. Even though
she is the youngest singer participating in the 2008 Eurovision Song
Contest, she convinces everyone with her charms and her flawless vocal
performance. The LED screen in the background reflects the zooming-in
on a warm-coloured heart. The next song represents another one of the
countries directly qualified for the Final – Germany. The four girls
of the band No Angels are dressed in two colours, blue and purple. The
chorus is emphasized by pyrotechnical effects, and the background
scenery shows feathers gliding through the air. Their performance is
vocally solid and without visible problems. Fifth on stage is Sirusho,
singing Qele, Qele for Armenia. Sirusho looks fantastic on stage with
her short white, grey and black dress, and the dance performance is
professional, too. Pyrotechnical effects are used to boost the visual
appearance, too. Vocally, there is still some room for improvements
until the Final.
The next artist entering the stage is Laka from Bosnia and
Herzegovina. The whole setup of this performing brings a smile to
everyone’s face as the two main figures, Laka and his sister Mirela,
are running on stage in weird clothes and hairdresses. Four elderly
looking women perform as backing vocals, wearing white dresses and
knitting while singing. In the end of the performance, the word "LOVE"
is displayed on drying laundry. The audience was very enthusiastic of
this truly special and entertaining performance. Next up is Israel’s
Boaz Mauda who enters the stage, which, at that moment, is completely
dark. But this changes as soon as he sings the first chorus. Later
on, five backing vocals join and support him. Vocally, Boaz showed
all his talents and he left a powerful impression with his quiet
ballad. Eighth on stage are Terasbetoni from Finland, who certainly
wake up everyone who has switched on the TV set! They show Finnish
rock music at its best, powered by pyrotechnical effects, smoke and
loud shouting. The lights on stage are intensely blinking. The colour
theme of the stage and the LED screen in the background is in white
and red colours. The next country in the line-up is Croatia. After
the youngest performer in this Final, who performed third, it’s now
time for the oldest, who calls himself ’75 Cents’ corresponding with
his age. He performs together with Kraljevi Ulice – "The Kings Of The
Street". They sing a nostalgic song in Croatian language, reminding
of street art. Towards the end of the song, 75 Cents is scratching
a record on a grammophone like a young hip-hop DJ. On the big LED
screen in the background, white doves appear. Tenth to perform is
Isis Gee from Poland. She improved her vocal performance amazingly
since her first rehearsal! In a light blue dress, she performs her
love song confidently, while she is accompanied by her husband playing
the piano and four female violinists.
The stage is in white and light blue colours.
The eleventh country, Iceland, is represented by Euroband, consisting
of the two singers Friorik and Regina. They showed an energetic
performance of their song. Both were dressed in black and pink
outfits. They looked really relaxed and confident on stage, and
they were very warmly received by the public in the hall. Turkey
is next, with a rock song in Turkish language, performed by Mor
ve Otesi. The stage shows dark colours, with papier mache dolls
shown on the background screen and pyrotechnical effects in the
foreground. Both visually and vocally, the performance was confident
and powerful. Afterwards, there is the first commercial break,
and it’s time for a report from the Green Room by Kristina and Bane
again. Then, it’s the turn of the country drawn 13th: Portugal. Vania
Fernandes wears a black dress, while her five backing vocals wear
white clothes. The background scenery is entirely in blue and reminds
of water, fitting the song title Senhora Do Mar. Towards the end,
the wind machine emphasizes the increasing dramatic appearance of the
song and the singers. Both visually and vocally, the Portuguese entry
was brilliant! Next is another song which talks about the wide oceans:
Pirates Of The Sea, representing Latvia. The singers and dancers are
dressed up like pirates, reminding of carnival. Smoke effects are used,
and all in all, the public gets to see an energetic and funny stage
act. The 15th singer on stage is fan favourite Charlotte Perrelli,
representing Sweden. She is shown on screen in black and white in the
beginning, but after the first verse, everything is in colour again
– so don’t worry, your TV set is not broken, and you do not need to
readjust the colour settings either. Charlotte and her five backing
dancers showed a solid performance for their typical schlager song.
After a long night of celebrating, Simon Mathew enters the stage. He
and his band represent Denmark. They deliver a great and energetic
performance of All Night Long. At the end of the song, the LED
screen in the background shows fireworks in blue, white and purple
colours creating a feeling of being at a New Year party, which lasts
all night long. The 17th country in the Final is Georgia, which is
being represented by the blind singer Diana Gurtskaya. She starts
her performance in black leather clothes. Later on, a white blanket
is pulled over her from the front to the back of the stage, and as
soon as she reappears, the public gets to see her and her dancers in
different dresses! The performance and stage act were all good and the
public was very enthusiastic about her performance. Next up is another
favourite of the fans and bookmakers: Ukraine. Ani Lorak sings Shady
Lady in a stylish short shining dress, while she is supported by one
backing singer and four male dancers. The main element on stage is
a special box with mirrors on the outside, which turns transparent
when the lights inside are turned on. Ani even climbs on top of the
box during the performance! The singing was powerful and convincing,
and the stage act was elaborate. At the 19th draw position, it’s the
turn of France, another country which is directly qualified for the
Final. Sebastien Tellier shows his long hair and beard to the camera in
a self-confident way. The background scenery showed warm colours, and
it was reminiscent of a solar eclipse. Sebastien sung professionally
and without problems. The next country is Azerbaijan, showing one of
the most spectacular stage acts of the Final: Elnur performs as an
angel, while Samir is dressed like the devil. The performance features
not only traditional Azeri Mugham singing, but also pyrotechnical
effects. Altogether, the act looked and sounded convincing.
Greece was drawn 21st yesterday, so it’s Kalomira’s turn to perform
now. Again, the public gets to see an elaborate performance,
this time with a prop that turns into a shiny purple heart. Both
visually and vocally, Kalomira convinced everyone with a powerful
performance. Next is another directly qualified country: Spain. The
Western European country is being represented by Rodolfo Chikilicuatre
and his funny dance song Baila El Chiki Chiki. The performance includes
moves out of four distinct dances, and the stage scenery includes
bright colours, with the main one being red. On the background,
the names of the four dances are shown. The host country, Serbia,
is being represented by Jelena Tomasevic’, singing a nostalgic
ballad with ethnic influences. She wears a grey dress, and the wind
machine is used to make the performance look even more dramatic. She
looked and sounded confident, and the whole act was professional
and flawless. The postcard for Russia shows the recipe for a fish
soup, but obviously this doesn’t have anything to do with the song
or performance. Dima Bilan, one of the bookmakers’ favourites,
performs together with the figure skater Evgenii Plushenko and the
violinist Edvin Marton. Dima starts the stage act lying on the floor,
and later on, all three performers move onto artificial ice together,
with Evgenii performing skating figures and Edvin playing a 300 year
old Stradivari violin. Everything looked professional, elaborate,
and convincing for Russia. The last artist to perform on stage is
Maria from Norway. She performs in a dark blue dress in front of a
stage scenery in similar colours, with small lights on it, reminding
of stars. Her pop song sounded great, and there was nothing to be
criticized or improved in this performance.
After the performance of the Norwegian entry, it is time for the hosts
to start the voting. They do this by calling a special guest on stage,
which is one of the biggest basketball legends in Serbia. Thereafter
there is a re-run of the 25 songs, which is followed up by video
clips with the Eurovision atmosphere in Belgrade, such as the
Sava Centar/Press Centre, the Belgrade Arena, arriving fans in the
airport, the life in the Belgrade streets and the participants on
sightseeing. The video clips are followed up by another re-run of the
finalists. Then the voting period finishes, and the hosts introduce
the interval act. The interval act is traditional Serbian music,
and the female backing singers and male wear traditional Serbian
outfits. After a brief visit in the Green Room, the test voting begins.
Citizens of each country vote by telephone or SMS. The country’s
10 favourites are awarded 12, 10, then 8 through 1 points based on
votes. All 45 countries present their awarded points, totalling to
determine the winner.
Eurovision Song Contest 2008 – Final: Participants List: 1. Romania –
Nico & Vlad – Pe-o Margine De Lume 2. United Kingdom – Andy Abraham
– Even If 3. Albania – Olta Boka – Zemren E Lame Peng 4. Germany –
No Angels – Disappear 5. Armenia – Sirusho – Qele, Qele 6. Bosnia &
Herzegovina – Laka – Pokus(aj 7. Israel – Boaz – The Fire In Your
Eyes 8. Finland – Terasbetoni – Missa Miehet Ratsastaa 9. Croatia –
Kraljevi Ulice & 75 Cents – Romanca 10. Poland – Isis Gee – For Life
11. Iceland – Euroband – This Is My Life 12. Turkey – Mor ve O"tesi –
Deli 13. Portugal – Va^nia Fernandes – Senhora Do Mar (Negras A’guas)
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 – Sebastien Tellier – Divine
20. Azerbaijan – Elnur & Samir – Day After Day 21. Greece – Kalomira –
Secret Combination 22. Spain – Rodolfo Chikilicuatre – Baila El Chiki
Chiki 23. Serbia – Jelena Tomasevic feat. Bora Dugic – Oro 24. Russia –
Dima Bilan – Believe 25. Norway – Maria – Hold On Be Strong