2008: An Overview
A "CONFLUENCE OF SOUND" IN BELGRADE, SERBIA
The contest in Belgrade saw a complete rehaul of the rules. From now on, regardless of if a country was in the top 10 the year before, their entry would need to compete in one of two semi-finals. To keep block voting down to a minimum, countries would be divided into lots of friendliest voters and they would be evenly divided into the semi-finals. Now Serbia would get to present us with three of the madness that is Eurovision openers, intervals and voting procedures! The debut host continued the tradition of impressive stages, and they used their opportunity to assert their old culture but newly gained independence with the world
I sadly couldn't watch the semi-finals live as I had family obligations at the time and was traveling about. I tried to watch them but it was hard. I had my favorites for the semis, but because my favorites had failed to qualify last year I wasn't counting on it this year. I turned out to be wrong - contrast to my choices in Helsinki, things went my way in Belgrade. Entries from Albania, Israel and Bosnia and Herzegovina had all made it through! When the final came, I finally had a free day so I was excited to get to catch up on the semis and actually watch one of the shows in real time.
When I watched the semi-finals, I was once again amazed by the stage, and the river imagery spoke to me. I thought maybe Belgrade was the Pittsburgh of Europe. I have yet to verify that but I'd like very much like to! The first semi-final opener was a normal exploration of Eurovision songs in Balkan musical styles. The second semi-final opener, however, was utterly mad including a pegasus-man with a screaming flower.
The host was very recognizable from his 2004 performance and his co-host had, what Terry Wogan called, "A voice that could cut you with a knife." He would remark on her voice a lot and for good reason. She certainly had a particular tone. The songs in 2008 were some of the cheesiest yet. Almost everything had a gimmick in someway, which seemed weird considering the previous year's winner was gimmick-less. The removal of automatic qualifiers, save for the Big 4 and the previous winner, put added pressure on the entries to stand out in their semi-final. The postcards this year were particularly good. Each featured Serbian performers and athletes creating representations of each entry's flag while text in each country's native language appeared written on the screen.Just by crowd reaction at the end of each song, it was clear Russia was the favorite of the live audience. If Europe voted the way the Arena felt, it was definitely Russia's game to win. While Greece seemed to get a fairly good reception and of course the home entry from Serbia was popular but Dima's popularity with the Eurovision crowd was already cemented. Even before voting started, I was fairly certain what the night's outcome would be. After the songs, Belgrade was up to bat for their interval acts. The new rules and with three shows, the Serbian people had quite a few chances to show off different aspects of their culture.
Like it was with the openers of the semi-final, the first interval act was a classic portrayal of different styles of Balkan orchestral music. The second-semi-final, again, was insane with weird clown zombie puppets or something happening. It's mesmerizing but strange. The final returns to a more sane view of Serbian music with a cool mix of traditional instruments and singing.
Like I thought, Russia took a lead during the voting. Half way through once again BBC commentator complained about the apparent block voting and annoyed at the lack of votes the UK was receiving. Near the end of the voting, he heavily implies he may not be returning to the contest the next year, and that perhaps the UK should opt out as well. Indeed, unlike the many firsts the 2008 contest contained, it was also the last year Terry Wogan's snarky commentary would be heard on the BCC. This would also be the last year that only the country's televote would pick the winner as the next year's contest would include even more rule changes.
Picks of 2008
2008: The Best (France)
2008: The Worst (Ireland)
2008: The Guilty (Albania)
2008: The Weird (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
2008: The Hilarious (Latvia)
2008: The Honorable (Israel)
2008: The Winner (Russia)
Semi-Final One Song Recap May 20, 2008:
Semi-Final Two Song Recap May 22, 2008:
Grand Final Song Recap May 24, 2008: