Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
| Eurovision Song Contest 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Serbia | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Beovizija 2008 | |||
| Selection date(s) | Semi-final: 9 March 2008 Final: 10 March 2008 | |||
| Selected entrant | Jelena Tomašević feat. Bora Dugić | |||
| Selected song | "Oro" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 6th, 160 points | |||
| Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Serbia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Oro" written by Željko Joksimović and Dejan Ivanović. The song was performed by Jelena Tomašević featuring Bora Dugić. In addition to participating in the contest, the Serbian national broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest after winning the competition in 2007 with the song "Molitva" performed by Marija Šerifović. RTS organised the national final Beovizija 2008 in order to select the Serbian entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade. The national final consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final on 9 and 10 March 2008, respectively. Twenty entries competed in the semi-final where the top ten qualified to the final following the combination of votes from a three-member jury panel and a public televote. The ten qualifiers competed in the final which resulted in "Oro" performed by Jelena Tomašević featuring Bora Dugić as the winner following the combination of votes from a three-member jury panel and a public televote.
As the host country, Serbia qualified to compete directly in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 23 during the final, Serbia placed sixth out of the 25 participating countries with 160 points.
Background
Prior to the 2008 Contest, Serbia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest one time since its first entry in 2007 as an independent nation following the dissolution of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, winning the contest with their debut entry "Molitva" performed by Marija Šerifović.[1] The Serbian national broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), broadcasts the event within Serbia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. RTS confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest as the host country on 21 June 2007.[2] In 2007, Serbia used the Beovizija national final in order to select their entry and on 6 October 2007, the broadcaster announced the organization of Beovizija 2008 in order to select the 2008 Serbian entry.[3]
Before Eurovision
Beovizija 2008
Competing entries
Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries between 6 October 2007 and 1 December 2007. Artists were required to be Serb citizens and submit entries in Serbian, while songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit songs.[3][8] At the closing of the deadline, 100 submissions were received. A selection committee reviewed the submissions and selected twenty entries to proceed to the national final. The selection committee consisted of RTS music editors Ana Milićević, Anja Rogljić, Zoran Dašić, Nikoleta Dojčinović, Jelena Vlahović, Bilja Krstić and Miki Stanojević. The selected competing entries were announced on 24 December 2007.[9]
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Aleksa Jelić and Ana Štajdohar | "Beli jablan" (Бели јаблан) | Boris Krstajić, Boban Janković |
| Andrej Ilić Band | "Tijana" (Тијана) | Vladimir Jovančić |
| Beauty Queens | "Zavet" (Завет) | Vladmir Graić, Saša Milošević Mare |
| Betty Boop | "Kvar" (Квар) | Ognjen Cvekić |
| Dejan Vozlić | "Ako me čuješ" (Ако ме чујеш) | Dejan Vozlić |
| Denis and Obule | "Bezimena" (Безимена) | Bane Opačić |
| Drum'n'Zez | "Dunav" (Дунав) | Drum'n'Zez, Vojislav Malešev |
| Ivana Ćosić | "Kao da hodam" (Као да ходам) | Ivana Ćosić |
| Jelena Tomašević feat. Bora Dugić | "Oro" (Оро) | Željko Joksimović, Dejan Ivanović |
| Lejla Hot | "Da si tu" (Да си ту) | Lejla Hot |
| Marko Vulinović | "Sada ili nikada" (Сада или никада) | Vladimir Preradović, Marko Vulinović |
| Mogul | "Možda baš" (Можда баш) | Nihad Petonjić, Ana Petonjić |
| Negative | "S tobom bih ostala" (С тобом бих остала) | Vuk Protić |
| Nenad Ćeranić | "Slepa ulica" (Слепа улица) | Srdan Simić Kamba, Antonija Šola |
| Ognjen and Friends | "Čućemo, čućete..." (Чућемо, чућете...) | Ognjen Popović, Tijаna Mangović, Ivan Aleksijević |
| Sloba Bajić | "Prečica do dna" (Пречица до дна) | Dragana Jovanović |
| Studio Alektik and Cveta Majtanović | "Iznad nas" (Изнад нас) | Petar Jelić, Aleksandra Berček |
| Tamara Nikezić | "Nisi prvi" (Ниси први) | Leontina Vukomanović |
| Zana | "U život kockam se..." (У живот коцкам се...) | Žika Zana, Jelena Zana |
| Zoe Kida in Zemlja gruva | "Čudesni svetovi" (Чудесни светови) | Zemlja gruva |
Semi-final
The semi-final took place on 9 March 2008 where twenty songs competed.
| Draw | Song | V. Maričić | K. Gojković | A. Peković | Total | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Iznad nas" | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 4 |
| 2 | "Dunav" | 0 | 0 | |||
| 3 | "S tobom bih ostala" | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 2 |
| 4 | "Možda baš" | 0 | 0 | |||
| 5 | "Slepa ulica" | 0 | 0 | |||
| 6 | "Kvar" | 2 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
| 7 | "Prečica do dna" | 0 | 0 | |||
| 8 | "Beli jablan" | 5 | 10 | 15 | 5 | |
| 9 | "Zavet" | 6 | 12 | 12 | 30 | 12 |
| 10 | "Tijana" | 0 | 0 | |||
| 11 | "Da si tu" | 10 | 6 | 5 | 21 | 6 |
| 12 | "Kao da hodam" | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 13 | "Nisi prvi" | 5 | 5 | 1 | ||
| 14 | "Ako me čuješ" | 0 | 0 | |||
| 15 | "U život kockam se..." | 0 | 0 | |||
| 16 | "Sada ili nikada" | 8 | 10 | 6 | 24 | 8 |
| 17 | "Čudesni svetovi" | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| 18 | "Čućemo, čućete..." | 12 | 7 | 7 | 26 | 10 |
| 19 | "Bezimena" | 0 | 0 | |||
| 20 | "Oro" | 7 | 8 | 8 | 23 | 7 |
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Points | ||||||
| 1 | Studio Alektik and Cveta Majtanović | "Iznad nas" | 4 | 1,732 | 8 | 12 | 4 |
| 2 | Drum'n'Zez | "Dunav" | 0 | 774 | 5 | 5 | 9 |
| 3 | Negative | "S tobom bih ostala" | 2 | 145 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| 4 | Mogul | "Možda baš" | 0 | 149 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| 5 | Nenad Ćeranić | "Slepa ulica" | 0 | 135 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| 6 | Betty Boop | "Kvar" | 3 | 872 | 6 | 9 | 6 |
| 7 | Sloba Bajić | "Prečica do dna" | 0 | 266 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| 8 | Aleksa Jelić and Ana Štajdohar | "Beli jablan" | 5 | 1,288 | 7 | 12 | 3 |
| 9 | Beauty Queens | "Zavet" | 12 | 1,749 | 10 | 22 | 1 |
| 10 | Andrej Ilić Band | "Tijana" | 0 | 255 | 2 | 2 | 13 |
| 11 | Lejla Hot | "Da si tu" | 6 | 219 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| 12 | Ivana Ćosić | "Kao da hodam" | 0 | 68 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 13 | Tamara Nikezić | "Nisi prvi" | 1 | 182 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| 14 | Dejan Vozlić | "Ako me čuješ" | 0 | 230 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| 15 | Zana | "U život kockam se..." | 0 | 129 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| 16 | Marko Vulinović | "Sada ili nikada" | 8 | 204 | 0 | 8 | 7 |
| 17 | Zoe Kida and Zemlja gruva | "Čudesni svetovi" | 0 | 527 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 18 | Ognjen and Friends | "Čućemo, čućete..." | 10 | 208 | 0 | 10 | 5 |
| 19 | Denis and Obule | "Bezimena" | 0 | 190 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 20 | Jelena Tomašević feat. Bora Dugić | "Oro" | 7 | 4,409 | 12 | 19 | 2 |
Final
The final took place on 10 March 2008 and featured the ten qualifiers from the preceding semi-final. The winner, "Oro" performed by Jelena Tomašević featuring Bora Dugić, was decided by a combination of votes from a jury panel consisting of Petar Janjatović (music journalist), Slobodan Marković (composer) and Nena Kunijević (RTS music editor), and the Serbian public via SMS voting.[13] In addition to the competing entries, the Serbian music industry awards were handed as the interval act.
| Draw | Song | P. Janjatović | S. Marković | N. Kunijević | Total | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Kvar" | 5 | 10 | 6 | 21 | 7 |
| 2 | "Zavet" | 7 | 6 | 10 | 23 | 8 |
| 3 | "Dunav" | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| 4 | "Sada ili nikada" | 3 | 12 | 5 | 20 | 6 |
| 5 | "Beli jablan" | 10 | 5 | 8 | 23 | 10 |
| 6 | "Iznad nas" | 8 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 4 |
| 7 | "Oro" | 12 | 8 | 12 | 32 | 12 |
| 8 | "Čućemo, čućete" | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 3 |
| 9 | "Čudesni svetovi" | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| 10 | "Da si tu" | 4 | 7 | 7 | 18 | 5 |
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Points | ||||||
| 1 | Betty Boop | "Kvar" | 7 | 1,510 | 6 | 13 | 4 |
| 2 | Beauty Queens | "Zavet" | 8 | 3,504 | 8 | 16 | 3 |
| 3 | Drum'n'Zez | "Dunav" | 1 | 1,020 | 5 | 6 | 9 |
| 4 | Marko Vulinović | "Sada ili nikada" | 6 | 311 | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| 5 | Aleksa Jelić and Ana Štajdohar | "Beli jablan" | 10 | 3,634 | 10 | 20 | 2 |
| 6 | Studio Alektik and Cveta Majtanović | "Iznad nas" | 4 | 2,525 | 7 | 11 | 5 |
| 7 | Jelena Tomašević feat. Bora Dugić | "Oro" | 12 | 8,653 | 12 | 24 | 1 |
| 8 | Ognjen and Friends | "Čućemo, čućete..." | 3 | 425 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| 9 | Zoe Kida and Zemlja gruva | "Čudesni svetovi" | 2 | 784 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| 10 | Lejla Hot | "Da si tu" | 5 | 732 | 3 | 8 | 6 |
At Eurovision
It was announced in September 2007 that the competition's format would be expanded to two semi-finals in 2008.
The two semi-finals and the final were broadcast in Serbia on
Final
Jelena Tomašević and Bora Dugić took part in technical rehearsals on 17 and 18 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 23 and 24 May. The running order for the semi-finals and final was decided by through another draw on 17 March 2008 and Serbia was subsequently placed to perform in position 23, following the entry from Spain and before the entry from Russia.[18]
The Serbian performance featured Jelena Tomašević in a grey dress and Bora Dugić performing together with three backing vocalists, two of them which performed a choreographed routine, and a guitarist. The stage lighting and background LED screens predominately displayed dark blue colours. The performance also featured the use of a wind machine.[19][20] The five backing performers that joined Jelena Tomašević and Bora Dugić on stage were: Aleksandar Sedlar Bogoev, Jelena Đurić, Marko Vulinović and Mirjana Nešković.[21] Serbia placed sixth in the final, scoring 160 points.[22]
Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Serbia and awarded by Serbia in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Macedonia in the semi-final and to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final of the contest.
Points awarded to Serbia
| Score | Country |
|---|---|
| 12 points | |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points | |
| 6 points | |
| 5 points | |
| 4 points | |
| 3 points |  Armenia
|
| 2 points | |
| 1 point |
Points awarded by Serbia
|
|
Viewing figures
The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was watched by 4,562,000 people in Serbia, making it the most watched programme of all time in Serbia.[25]
References
- ^ "Serbia Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
- ^ Floras, Stella (June 21, 2007). "Svante Stockselius in Belgrade". Esctoday. Archived from the original on June 25, 2007. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ^ a b Floras, Stella (October 6, 2007). "Serbia: RTS starts search for 2008 entry". Esctoday. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
- ^ Evropsko lice Archived March 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Радио Tелевизија Србије. Accessed 05.02.2008.
- ^ Evropsko lice Archived March 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Радио Tелевизија Србије. Accessed 05.02.2008.
- ^ Беовизија 2008. — конкурс продужен до 1. децембра.[permanent dead link] Европесма Србија, Радио-телевизија Србије, 14. новембар 2007. Accessed 15.11.2007.
- ^ Because of the situation in Kosovo, Beovizija delayed until further notice Archived February 22, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Floras, Stella (November 14, 2007). "Serbia: Beovizija deadline extended". Esctoday. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
- ^ Floras, Stella (December 24, 2007). "Serbia: Beovizija participants announced". Esctoday. Retrieved December 6, 2007.
- ^ BEOVIZIJA 2008. - UČESNICI[permanent dead link] Радио-телевизија Србије. Accessed 25.12.2007.
- ^ Floras, Stella (March 9, 2008). "Live: Serbia – Beovizija semi final". Esctoday. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
- ^ Беовизија 2008.—Резултати полуфинала Archived March 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Званични резултати са скенираним записницима. На званичном мрежном месту РТС од 11. марта 2008. Приступљено 11.3.2008.
- ^ "JELENA TOMAŠEVIĆ REPRESENTS SERBIA". Retrieved March 11, 2008.
- ^ Беовизија 2008–Резултати финала Archived August 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Званични резултати са скенираним записницима. На званичном мрежном месту РТС од 11. 3. 2008., Приступљено 11. 3. 2008.
- ^ "Eurovision: 2 semi finals confirmed!". ESCToday.com. July 31, 2007. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2007.
- ^ "All you need to know for Monday's draw!". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on January 27, 2008. Retrieved January 24, 2008.
- ^ "Eurosong finale". b92.net. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
- ^ Sietse Bakker (March 17, 2008). "Belgrade 2008: The running order!". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on March 18, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2008.
- ^ "Serbia's classy try to win again!". eurovision.tv. May 17, 2008. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
- ^ "The first general rehearsal of the Final [UPD]". eurovision.tv. May 23, 2008. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
- ^ "Serbia". Six on Stage. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
- ^ "Grand Final of Belgrade 2008". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
- ^ a b "Results of the Grand Final of Belgrade 2008". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on April 24, 2021. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
- ^ "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Belgrade 2008". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on April 24, 2021. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
- ^ Рекордна гледаност "Песме Евровизије 2008" у Србији May 25, 2008