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."

Cyprus: Table dancing

2008-05-14T20:43:00.000+02:00

source: eurovision.tv
The Cypriot representative in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, Evdokia Kadi, showed an energetic and vocally flawless performance today in her first rehearsal - it almost looked like an entire theatre piece, cut down to just three minutes. The whole performance is set on and around a dinig table, which can even be popped up!

Evdokia Kadi, the singer representing Cyprus in the Second Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, amazed everyone with her performance today in her first rehearsal - she had to cope with a lot of movements while singing at the same time, as the whole performance looked like a whole theatre piece, cut down to only three minutes. Evdokia performs on and around a black dining table together with four backing dancers: She steps onto the table and leaves it again through "human" stairs, built by the backing dancers. Towards the end, the table is being popped up, revealing a red tablecloth, on which Evdokia takes a seat while the backing singers lift the table and carry it around. In the end, the dresses for the Semi-Final night were revealed too: a tiny red top for Evdokia, and silver suits for the dancers. Vocally, the whole performance was flawless.

The entry of Cyprus for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest was picked in a national final on 12 January out of ten entries. The decision was taken by a combination of televoting and a jury, and in the end, 21 year old Evdokia Kadi won only by a small margin. She was the only participant to sing a song in Greek language in the competition. It was decided to keep both the original Greek lyrics and the initial stage choreography, which is designed to fit the rhythm changes in the song, for the performance in the Second Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest.

In the press conference, Evdokia was asked if she had ever considered singing Femme Fatale in any other language than Greek in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. She answered that they had tried out French and English version, but decided to stick to the original lyrics instead. When he was asked about the personality of Evdokia, one of the background singers replied that, in everyday life, Evdokia is like a normal girl-next-door, and she only turned into a Femme Fatale on stage. When the Head of Delegation was asked if Cyprus was ready to host the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, she reminded everyone that Cyprus will be the host of the 2008 Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and that therefore, the country would of course be able to host the Eurovision Song Contest, too.

EXCLUSIVE!
Evdokia Kadi (Cyprus): first rehearsal

It's a song and not a piece of literature

2008-05-13T17:47:00.002+02:00

source: esctoday.com
The beginning of the third day at the Eurovision Press Center was the busiest one so far.
First four participants of the 2nd semifinal, all considered favorites, held their rehearsals and press conferences.

The Turkish delegation was the third to hold the press conference today. Most of the questions were regarding their choice of language.

"It's a song and not a piece of literature. English is not a must; we will try to do our best here and to do that in our mother tongue feels great to be honest!" - said the Mor ve Otesi lead singer. "Our song is about growing up, being an individual and a bit crazy."

We know what we are doing. People in Turkey take Eurovision very seriously, so it's a good idea to send one of the best rock bands.... It's a post modern carnival where all the cultures meet. Being on TV show and being on a carnival is always as exciting as being in a competition.

EXCLUSIVE!
Turkey press conference

Dolls in the background for Mor ve Ötesi

2008-05-13T17:30:00.000+02:00

source: eurovision.tv
The Turkish representatives Mor ve Ötesi rehearsed for the first time today, and they showed a flawless and vocally very convincing performance. The light scenery of the stage was based on dark colours, while the background showed the same papier mâché figures that were featured in the official video clip of their song Deli.

The members of Mor ve Ötesi, the band representing Turkey in the Second Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, just finished their first rehearsal. They presented themselves on stage like a typical rock band, with the lead singer and two more musicians playing the electronic guitar, and the fourth band member playing the drum kit. Fitting the black clothes of the band members, the light scenery on stage is based on dark colours, with green lights in the foreground, while the background features both water – the general theme of the Second Semi-Final – and crazy looking dolls, playing music instruments. Mor ve Ötesi showed a powerful and convincing performance, which looked and sounded flawless from the very beginning of the rehearsal.

Mor ve Ötesi were internally chosen by an expert commission earlier this year. After being selected as the Turkish representatives for the Second Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, they picked their song together with TRT representatives. They opted for Deli, a rock song with strong ethnic influences, sung entirely in Turkish. The official video clip of the song featured the same papier mâché figures as those being displayed on the background scenery during today’s rehearsal in the Belgrade Arena.

In their press conference, the band members were asked about the meaning of "Mor ve Ötesi". They replied that it means "Purple and beyond", referring to the colour spectrum, where purple is the last visible colour for human eyes. When they were asked about the lyrics of Deli, they explained that they had decided to sing in Turkish because they can express themselves better in their mother tongue. For those who do not understand Turkish, they translated parts of the lyrics, which talk about craziness, individualism and freedom of opinion.

EXCLUSIVE!
Mor ve Ötesi (Turkey): first rehearsal

Outstanding start for Ukraine

2008-05-13T17:15:00.000+02:00

source: eurovision.tv
Ukrainian representative Ani Lorak delivered a polished and slick performance of her Eurovision Song Contest entry Shady Lady today during her first rehearsal, and subsequently won over the press with her energetic and warm personality.

Ani Lorak is one of Ukraine's most popular and well loved artists. She signed her first professional contract at the age of just 14 years old. Since then she has won many awards and recognitions, amongst them Singer of the Year in Ukraine on a number of occasions. Ani was internally selected by Ukrainian broadcaster NTU to represent Ukraine in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest and a national selection was held, during which Shady Lady was chosen as the overwhelming favourite of the televoters and juries.

Today the assembled press and fans had their first glimpse of Ani Lorak's stage show during rehearsals, and she did not disappoint. Every performance was vocally flawless and had strong visual effects with carefully considered choreography. As for the staging, there is a glass wall of rectangular shape which is split in to four sections. At the beginning of the song the four male backing dancers are revealed one by one as the individual sections of the wall light up. The dancers then emerge on stage to join Ani. Towards the end of the song, Ani climbs to the top of the wall and is helped back down by the dancers. It seems that we will get more surprises within the performance during the full dress rehearsals.

Following the rehearsals, Ani Lorak attended a busy press conference. Ani first reflected on her previous attempt to compete in the Ukrainian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, and subsequent requests from the media to compete in the following years. Ani remarked "It was not an easy decision, in 2005 we had a revolution here and it was a political decision to send Greenjolly. I was then asked every year afterwards, but i refused i'd turned a new page. The president of the TV channel asked me again last year, i didn't say yes or no straight away, I thought about it for a week, and eventually I threw a coin, and it said yes the first three times I tossed it, so it was my destiny to agree!."

Ani Lorak has worked with composer and former Eurovision Song Contest singer/songwriter Philip Kirkorov for over six years, and a question was raised as to how the Shady Lady project was born. Philip replies "When I heard that Ani Lorak was representing Ukraine I called her and said I had an idea for a song. I had wanted to work with Ani for some time, we met and Ani listened to the song, liked it very much and within three days we were recording it in Greece!".

It transpired that there is another Greek connection in the project, and that is the director Fakas Evangelinos. After agreeing to participate in Belgrade, Ani set about the task of finding a director for the Shady Lady performance, and to assist her in her choice she watched DVD's of past Eurovision Song Contests. It was the direction within the 2006 Athens edition which impressed her most, and she made a call to composer Philip Kirkorov who knew Fakas and he agreed to be part of the team.

A journalist asked composer Philip Kirkorov why he was last year working with the Belarus team, and this year Ukraine but not his native Russia. He answered "Actually that's not quite true, two years ago I was in Athens with Dima Bilan in an advisory capacity, it was my team of professional people who came upwith the piano idea, for which we are very proud. And I was born in one country, the USSR so although they are all different nations now they still feel like one to me".

Ani concluded the press conference by thanking her team, confessing that she has 100% confidence and belief in them and the Shady Lady project. She also made comments about this years competition "This Eurovision Song Contest is full of shady ladies! So many beautiful girls. I hope that a strong melody and a song with good energy will win, as it's all about music and is a song contest".

There is no doubt that Ani Lorak completely won over the press and media today with her charisma and performance, all that remains now is to see if the televoters agree. Ani Lorak will compete in the Second Semi-Final of the Eurovision Song Contest on Thursday May 22nd.

EXCLUSIVE!
Ani Lorak (Ukraine): first rehearsal

Another victory for Charlotte?

2008-05-13T17:00:00.001+02:00

source: eurovision.tv
The second country to rehearse today - and one of the favourites to win the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest - was Sweden with Charlotte Perrelli's Hero which looked and sounded perfect already on first try.

Dozens of journalists and fans were thrilled to see a highly professional rehearsal from start to end! Charlotte Perrelli is joined by five backing singers - one of them located at the back part of the stage - and it was revealed that she will be wearing a glamourous, silver dress. Charlotte starts her performance on a podium and usess the whole range of stage tricks: a special, jewelled microphone, a windmachine and also a green laser will be used in her performance! She will also have an effective gimmick at the beginning of the song, with her being shown in black and white on screen and suddenly turning to colour after some seconds into the song!

Charlotte Perrelli is no stranger for fans of the Eurovision Song Contest. She won the contest in Jerusalem in 1999 - then still called Charlotte Nilsson - and has been one of the most established stars in her native country of Sweden. Charlotte won the Swedish national final, Melodifestivalen, in March and her song Hero has topped the Swedish charts for several weeks making it the most successful song to date. Her new album was released some weeks ago, and still can be found atno. 3in this week's official Swedish charts. The Scandinavian is more than a singer though having presented several shows on Swedish television.

In her press conference Charlotte said that lots of things have changed since her first victory in the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest, especially in her private life as she's married with children now. She believes in her song Hero as it is a fantastic song and hopes that people around Europe will like it too. Charlotte admitted that it's her first time in Serbia and that she really likes the country. The group Miodio who are representing San Marino this year were present at Charlotte Perrelli's press conference as well and asked if she would marry any of them, but Charlotte laughingly replied that she is married already, but that she was charmed about the proposal.

EXCLUSIVE!
Charlotte Perrelli (Sweden): first rehearsal

Most Azerbaijani artists have no idea about the Eurovision voting procedure

2008-05-13T16:00:00.000+02:00

source: http://en.apa.az
Baku. Ulkar Gasimova –APA. For the first time, Azerbaijan will attend Eurovision contest on May 20, 2008. APA correspondent asked Azerbaijani artists to respond the question “Which country’s representative Azerbaijani viewers will support?” Most of respondents said they would vote for Azerbaijani singers.

Brilliant Dadashova said she would support the representative of own country as a normal citizen. Nadir Gafarzadeh, Eyyub Yagubov, Elnara Khalilova, Irada Ibrahimova, khuraman Shushali, Manana and head of “Sheron” group Rustam Zeynalli said they would vote for the representatives of Azerbaijan. Even Rustam Zeynalli said: “It is elementary question. Of course, we will vote for Azerbaijan”. Honored artist Aygun Kazimova, Nisa Gasimova, Roya, Ulvi Jafarov and Lala Mammadova said they would vote for Turkish rock group “Mor ve otesi”. Manana knowing that it is impossible for Azerbaijani viewers to vote for own representatives, said that she would support Georgian representative. Singer Teymur Amrah has not decided yet which country he will support. Countries participating in the Eurovision contest can not vote for own representatives.

BELGRADE 2008: Rehearsals report of the second day

2008-05-12T21:01:00.000+02:00

sources: esctime.com, eurovision.tv
Today, the second part of the first semifinal was rehearse in Belgrade Arena stage. The nine acts perform very good with the big suprises of the day to be, Ireland, Romania, Russia and Greece.

Kalomira - Greece: Greek representative for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, Kalomira, was the second-last to rehearse today. Kalomira gave a powerful and well-prepared performance in front of the press and fans in the Belgrade Arena.

Nico and Vlad- Romania: The Romanian representatives Nico & Vlad rehearsed their romantic duet for the first time today. They started their performance at distant positions on stage and moved towards each other during the song, hugging tenderly in the end. The two singers left a vocally brilliant impression of their bilingual song in Italian and Romanian language.
Teräsbetoni - Finland: Finland’s entry in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest is again totally different from most of the other songs being present this year! Teräsbetoni - the metal group from the country of tenthousands of lakes - have already conquered their native market, and are now off to show their talent to the rest of Europe.

Hind - Netherlands: This afternoon, Hind and her team went on stage for the first time, rehearsing their song Your Heart Belongs To Me. The rehearsal went as planned and it seems like the Dutch performers and delegation are well-prepared.

Sirusho - Armenia: The Armenian representative in the First Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, Sirusho, finished her first rehearsal. She showed an energetic and powerful performance with three backing dancers, one of each was even showing a somersault on stage! Everything looked and sounded very professional, and Sirusho presented herself as a charming young lady.

Laka - Bosnia & Herzegovina: The fourth country to rehearse its performance on this bright Belgrade morning was Bosnia & Herzegovina. This year, the Bosnians opted for something different: Laka presents the interesting Pokusaj which reminds in parts of Coldplay’s big hits!

Gisela - Andorra: Today was the first time for the Andorran participant, Spanish-born Gisela, to try out the stage in the Belgrade Arena. The result was satisfying, and the Andorran team seemed like having lots of fun!

Dustin the turkey - Ireland: The first ever puppet representative in the Eurovision Song Contest is Dustin the Turkey from Ireland. Dustin had his first rehearsal of Irlande Douze Points this morning.

Isis Gee - Poland: Poland is being represented by a singer from the United States of America this year. Isis Gee just finished her first rehearsal. She was accompanied on stage by four violinists and her husband, who was playing the piano.

Kalomira's glamorous first rehearsal

2008-05-12T20:25:00.002+02:00

source: eurovision.tv
Greek representative for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, Kalomira, was the second-last to rehearse today. Kalomira gave a powerful and well-prepared performance in front of the press and fans in the Belgrade Arena.

Many things had to come together for the Greek performance today. In addition to the singing part of the performance, Kalomira and her three male dancers do a complicated choreography, including both Kalomira being lifted up on a board decorated with glitter and extensive moves during the interlude of the song. During the performance, a gigant pop-up shaped like a heart appears on the colourful stage. Kalomira and the dancers are joined by one male and one female singer. It seemed as if Kalomira was satisfied with the rehearsal. Definitely she turned up the charm and flirted immensely with the camera.

Kalomira's first self-titled album which included songs with both Greek and English lyrics, went gold. Her popularity surpassed Greek borders, and during the Athens Olympic Games, she was interviewed for various TV-shows in NBC, as one out of ten most popular artists in Greece. In her second solo album Paizeis Kalomira debuted as a song writerwhile on her third album, Kalomira Paei Cinema, Kalomira sang popular Greek cinema classics in a modern version. She has worked next to well-known Greek artists, like Despina Vandi, whom she accompanied on a tour around Greece and Cyprus.

In her press conference, Kalomira revealed that her dress in the first semi-final was designed bz Jennifer Lopez's company. As an US-American, it wasn't hard for her to keep her Greek roots as her family kept all Greek traditions. Kalomira was excited about the way her first rehearsal went and thought that she didn't face problems at all.

EXCLUSIVE!
Kalomira (Greece): first rehearsal

Satisfying first Andorran rehearsal!

2008-05-12T18:05:00.003+02:00

source: eurovision.tv
Today was the first time for the Andorran participant, Spanish-born Gisela,to try out the stage in the Belgrade Arena. The result was satisfying, and the Andorran team seemed like having lots of fun!

Gisela's entry Casanova was performed successfully at today's rehearsal, and nobody can doubt on the vocal strength of this young female singer. Therefore Gisela spent most of the time to discuss the choreography. Gisela is backed by four femalebacking singers who also dance throughout the performance. Together they all move quite alot around on stage which naturally suits this disco-pop song very well. Casanova is sung in English, but a tiny stanza in the Catalan language has also been incorporated into the song.

Gisela is a famous singer in her home country, Spain. She was actually supposed to become a journalist, but quitted that when she was chosen to participate in Operación Triunfo, the Spanish version Fame Academy. In 2002, Gisela had the opportunity to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest with Rosa and four other members of the Academy. Although they did not win, they achieved a commendable seventh position. Gisela was chosen through internal selectionby Andorran broadcaster, RTVA.

At the press conference, Gisela and the Andorran delegation expressed their content with todays rehearsal. Gisela explained that due tothe fact that the stage is much more different from what they are used to, they have to make afew changes in the choreography. "The sound is not ready yet", Gisela said, but she is very optimistic about thenext rehearsals. The Andorran Head of Delegation, Creu Rosell, told the fans and accredited press that she thinks the performers are more professional this year than in the prior years, and therefore she is very confident in the hope of reaching the grand Final. Casanova is the fifth entry ever representing Andorra at the Eurovision Song Contest, and the country has not yet qualified for the Final.

Israelis convince with first rehearsal

2008-05-12T02:46:00.003+02:00

source: eurovision.tv
Israel's participant in the first semi-final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, Boaz Mauda, gave a good performance in the Belgrade Arena on the sunny Sunday morning.
His song The Fire In Your Eyes is as a tender ballad that gets some oriental rhythm near the end of the song.

Boaz Mauda appears with five backing singers on stage and starts off almost behind the stage but quickly moves to the center part of the impressive Belgrade stage which predominantly is in blue and red for the Israeli song. The backing singers stand at the left of the stage for the first part of the song, but as the song gets more oriental, they are joining Boaz at the front part of the stage. Vocally, The Fire In Your Eyes left nothing to be desired and the Israeli delegation has a good chance of qualifying for the final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest.

Boaz Mauda shot to fame when he entered the Israeli casting show Pop Idol - A Star Is Born. He won the final of this show with more than 50% of the votes. Since then, Boaz has been a household name and was asked to represent his native country in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. In the Israeli final this year, Boaz sang all five songs and The Fire In Your Eyes was elected by a big margin.

EXCLUSIVE!
First rehearsal and reactions of Boaz (Israel)

Euroclub Opens Tonight

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

source: escmalta.com
“ Maltese DJ to play in the Euroclub.”

The Eurovision fans destination during the evening till early morning i.e. the Euroclub opens its doors tonight. The Euroclub is situated in Sava centre, same building where the Press Centre is situated.

Meanwhile ESCMALTA.com is in position to reveal that DJ Charlo will again be the Maltese DJ to play Eurovision tunes in the Euroclub. DJ Charlo already played in the Euroclub in Athens back in 2006.

This year he will entertain the fans who will be in Belgrade in the Euroclub with his selection of Eurovision music.

The Euroclub will close with a celebration after party when the Eurovision Song Contest final ends.

Second edition of the ESC-TURKEY magazine

2008-05-11T14:28:00.001+02:00

The second edition of ESC-TURKEY Magazine (your guide to Belgrade!) is now available on the web store of ESC-TURKEY.COM.

Everything you need to know about Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest, in one magazine!
Including:
*Get to know Mor ve Ötesi
*Free poster of Mor ve Ötesi
*Explore Belgrade
*The top5 of ESC-TURKEY
and more...

Go to our web store>> and order for just €4.99 your own ESC-TURKEY.COM magazine!

The Introduction Program of TRT is on May 18

2008-05-09T23:00:00.001+02:00

source: trt.com.tr/eurovision2008
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 on TRT-1 at 22.35 on May the 18th. 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 22.00 o'clock.

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

Exclusive Interviews plus Power Rotation ESC Belgrade 2008!

2008-05-09T20:27:00.000+02:00

source: escradio.com
This coming weekend, ESCRADIO.COM will start a series of interviews with the participants at this year's Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Belgrade May 20-24. At the same time, they start a power rotation for the 43 competing songs.

Every hour, at a quarter past the hour, an interview will be broadcast. Phoners with Deep Zone & Balthazar (Bulgaria), Morena (Malta), Pirates Of The Sea (Latvia), Vlad Mirita (Romania), Charlotte Perrelli (Sweden), Mor ve Ötesi (Turkey), Kalomira (Greece), and many others have already been conducted. More interviews are scheduled for the coming days, and end of next week EscRadio will start broadcasting interviews live from Belgrade. Naturally, EscRadio depend on the availability and cooperation of the performers, but they will try to present you as many interviews as possible before May 20-24, when the big event will be held at the Belgrade Arena.

Georgia: Gurtskaya on Eurovision with a gift from Tsereteli

2008-05-09T20:16:00.006+02:00

sources: tsereteli.ru, orthodoxwiki.org
People’s Artist of Russia and Georgia Zurab Tsereteli is a philanthropist who generously donated his artworks to charitable auctions and hospices appointed Diana Gurtskaya as his ambassador.
She goes to Belgrade not empty-handed. The heavy load of young mother will be... monument, which Zurab Tsereteli presents to capital of Eurovision 2008.

There is no need to fear for the health of singer, nobody compels to carry a large-tonnage statue on the fragile shoulders of performer from Georgia. Diana on the instructions of Zurab will pass sketches of future monument to the representatives of Belgrade. A sculptor according to circumstances will not be able to visit Belgrade. And he had chosen Diana Gurtskaya for the transfer of gift not by chance. “You are ambassadress of all of the Georgian people!” He avowed. Monument will be erected in honor of Saint Father Simeon the Myrrh-flowing (Stefan Nemanja)respected in Serbia.

Hind worldwide success on YouTube.com

2008-05-08T17:38:00.001+02:00

source: eurovision.tv
Hind, who represents the Netherlands at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, is currently topping the YouTube.com charts across the world! Not Your Heart Belongs To Me, but the video interview she had with Eurovision.tv is getting massive attention.

In just two days, the video was viewed over 60,000 times.

The sudden success of the interview can be easily explained. Editors of the Dutch version of YouTube.com handpicked the video to be featured on the front page of the website, making it the best viewed featured video of the day. YouTube.com visitors from other countries quickly picked up the story, pushing Hind into the website's charts across the world.

Video footage of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest is expected to become a smashing hit on the popular video community website. With your help and support, Eurovision.tv hopes to bring all 2008 Eurovision Song Contest participants in the YouTube.com charts across the world! Keep checking out the official Eurovision Song Contest channel on YouTube.com, enjoy our growing collection of videos and share them with your friends!

EXCLUSIVE!
Hind - Your Heart Belongs To Me

The Build-up at Belgrade Arena

2008-05-04T19:06:00.000+02:00

sources: escmalta.com, eurovision.tv
70 percent of the work is almost done so far Belgrade Arena

10 days before the first rehearsals kicks-off in Belgrade Arena (venue) and the build-up for the stage etc. is underway and in few days the light work will be tested while cameras will be installed. This year it will be the biggest ever Eurovision Song Contest with 43 countries to compete for the title. Two semi-finals will take place on the 20th & 22nd May while the final is scheduled for the 24th May.

Eurovision.tv spoke with spoke with TV producer Darko Kamarit of Host Broadcaster RTS, who is in charge of the build-up at the arena. He stated that currently they are finishing the construction of the stage. 70 percent of the work is almost done so far.

He explained that there is 70 tons of equipment hanging and now they are focusing on things to get done on floor level.

In two days lighting designer Per Sundin and his team from Sweden will start programming light design at the arena.

Exclusive!
Stage design animation

Eurovision Countdown tv show

2008-05-03T15:33:00.000+02:00

sources: songfestival.nl, esctoday.com
Eurovision: Countdown tv show is now available on the Dutch Eurovision website.

The preview show which does a quick 'flight' around selected european representatives for Eurovision 2008 can now be watched online.

The show is presented in the english language.

You can watch the show through here.

Sertab (2003) chosen by an international hair company

2008-05-02T22:18:00.000+02:00

source: oikotimes.com
The owner of the only Turkish Eurovision victory, Sertab Erener has been chosen as the new face of Elidor in the new campaign the company started with the theme "Life does not wait." The singer held her place among world-renowned stars Marilyn Monroe, Madonna and Shakira in the new campaign.

The host of the press conference held in SantralIstanbul, Jülide Ateş, noted that Sertab Erener was selected according to the results of a survey held in the country where the participants, aged between 20 and 30, were asked the celebrity who thinks, dreams, is innovative, brave, activist and successful.

The new advertisement videos with Madonna, Sertab and Marilyn Monroe were presented to the press after the speeches by the members of the company about the goals they plan to achieve with the new promotion. Right after the presentation, Sertab Erener joined the press conference. Getting her hair shaped by British stylist Andrew Barton, Erener expressed satisfaction for being in the campaign.

"I have been a persistent person since I was a child, and I believe persistence is a good characteristic. Persistence, rather than stubbornness, is something that displays personal integrity. It is the first step for going towards what you believe is true; and accomplising it turning a deaf ear to any outer voice. While I was adopting the principle, 'Life does not wait', this campaign found me" said Sertab Erener.

Erener had won the 48th edition of the contest in Riga with the song 'Everyway That I Can'. Currently the singer is working on her second English album.

Mihai Traistariu back to Malta for the 8th time!

2008-05-01T14:04:00.001+02:00

The romanian representative of Eurovision 2006 , Mihai Traistariu , will be in Malta between 2 and 5 of May!

On 3-rd of May , he will have a show in GOZO for the big maltese local festival called " Gozo 1234 " .

Mihai will perform 4 songs : Tornero , of course , and 3 other new songs.
He , also , will sing for the first time in Malta ... his new single .
His new album ( " Love is ... " = the 10-th album in his career ) is ready to be launched ... so ... he will perform in Malta songs from the new album.

The Gozo festival , which attracted in 2007 over 650.000 visitors in 4 days ... will have , also , other Eurovision Guest Stars : D'Nash ( who represented Spain in 2007 ) , Morena ( the representative of Malta for Eurovision 2008 ) , Claudia Faniello ( Maltasong 2007, 2008 ) - to whom Mihai would like to compose a song for Eurovision 2009 ... as he sees her a great artist and a great voice with a very good potential to win Eurovision 2009 with a HUGE SONG ... and Miriam Christine ( Malta 1996 ).

During his stay in Malta , Mihai is , also , a guest star in the big tv show " Hadd Ghalik " , presented by Angie Laus on WE TV ( http://www.we.com.mt/ Where's Everybody TV ) on 4-th of May between 11 a.m. and 14 p.m.
On Friday , 2-nd of May , Mihai will be invited in the popular tv show " Xarabank " , also , on WE TV.

Mihai received from maltese people awards like : the hit of the year ( " Tornero " ) , the best male voice ... and he has his STAR on Bay-street , the street of celebrities in Malta.

Big Poll 2008 Serbia Edition (the results)

2008-05-01T00:11:00.003+02:00

The polls of esc-turkey.com, for the first and second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, were open for 31 days. Eurovision fans have voted for the favourite country of this year's participants in the first and second semi-final.

This year the polls were a little bit different. In the Serbia edition it made available to vote for two different polls: for the first and second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest.
In the Big Poll Helsinki edition last year it was available to vote for the favourit country on one poll. This year it was divided in two parts.

THE RESULTS
You can find the results of the first semi-final here*
and the second semi-final here*

POLL FOR THE FINAL PARTICIPANTS
Eurovision fans are also able to vote for the final participants. On 23 May after the first and second semi-final you are able to vote for your favourit country of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in one day!
The poll will be available on the website of esc-turkey.com

EXCLUSIVE!
Download here*
the top5 of esc-turkey.com

Cyprus: Evridiki to sing the official song of JESC 2008

2008-04-29T22:19:00.003+02:00

source: esctime.com
Evridiki and Dimitris Korgialas the Cypriot representatives in Eurovision 2007 will be the performers of the official song of Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Cyprus.

CyBC decides that Evridiki who represents Cyprus in Helsinki last year will perform the official song of Junior Eurovision 2008 that will take place in Cyprus this year. Evridiki will be accompanied on stage of Spyros Kiprianou, the venue of Junior Eurovision 2008 by Dimitris Korgialas.

Fotis Nikolaou will be the official choreographer of the show. Fotis was one of the choreographers for the ceremonies for Athens Olympics on 2004. The dressing part of the contest for the opening and the postcards will be taken by Lakis Genethlis. The German company Prokon will “light” the stage in Spyros Kiprianou. And finally the postcards was filmed in high definition and directed by Korina Avramidou and Despo Karpi.

Mör ve Ötesi in Lisbon, Portugal!

2008-04-28T17:22:00.001+02:00

source of news & pictures: delirium.fm
Located in the south-west banks of the Iberian peninsula, this harbour town impressed the band Mor ve Ötesi with its untouched beauty that still reflects the glory of its history.

Some unforgettable sightseeing and seafood meals followed a live appearance on a show called “Portugal no Coração” on Portuguese National TV channel RTP-1 and some interviews with press. It was the last stop of the 1st part of Mor ve Ötesi's promo tour, and they arrived in Istanbul after a long flight on Tuesday night. It is now time for some final stage rehearsals.

Change of Schedule in the 2nd part of the promo tour!
Earlier it was announced that the May tour schedule is updated.
Tour dates and routing will be as follows:

MAY
5th – 6th : Tbilisi, GEORGIA
7th – 8th : Kyiv, UKRAINE
9th - 10th : Baku, AZERBAIJAN

More about Mor ve Ötesi's promo tours and other surprises can be found on the blog of delirium.fm

42 stars on the website of Diana Gurtskaya

2008-04-27T01:18:00.004+02:00

The presentation of the new official website of Diana Gurtskaya (http://www.gurtskaya.org/), Georgia’s performer in Eurovision, took place on April 26th 2008.

The conception of the website is imbrued with spirit of friendship, love and peace.
The idea of conception has appeared from Diana’s song meaning “Peace will come” and her beliefs that Eurovision is a contest, on which Europe becomes united in real. When different performers of various countries are meeting on one stage, politicians of which can’t meet at the negotiations table too different life views.

On this website, Diana’s love to peace and friendship is expressed in so named “Constellation of Eurovision 2008” in shape of heart symbol of the contest. This is the constellation of Eurovision 2008 stars performers in which Diana presents every participant.
Diana says:” By this me and my team want to show the sincerity of our love to peace and kindness. All 42 participants are talented, and each one of them has fans, who have delegated them for the contest. That’s why love and respect to every Eurovision participant, possible to consider as a sign of love manifestation to every country participating in this contest from Georgia”. While watching every profile of each participant you will see words “Peace will come” in the native language of every country.

And, of course, you may get acquainted with Diana’s activity and the history and culture of her Native country Georgia.
Diana Gurtskaya will compete in the second semi-final on 22 May 2008 in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.

'Deli' released in eight languages

2008-04-27T01:10:00.002+02:00

sources: esctime.com, delirium.fm
picture: esc-turkey.com (you can order this poster on our web shop)
Mor ve ötesi will represent Turkey with the song ‘Deli’ in the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, Serbia in May 2008.This website is specifically designed for the band’s Eurovision journey. It hosts a blog with daily news and pictures from the band’s promo tours and other surprises.
In the official webiste for their entry in Eurovision Song Contest 2008, Mor ve otesi includes thier song lyrics in 8 languages. The languages are English, Turkish, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Serbian and Greek. Here is the list with links for every language.

English
Türkçe
Française
Deutsch
Español
Русский
Srpski
Ελληνικά

Mor ve otesi will be performing Deli (Crazy) and powerful, rock song entirely in the Turkish language. The band was selected internally by the Turkish broadcaster and submitted three songs for the appointed jury to choose from. Deli is a love song, where the hero is looking for the owner of his soul, his true love.

Albania: Olta Boka in Turkey

2008-04-24T21:31:00.001+02:00

source: esctoday.com
It seems that Olta Boka, the 16 year old Albanian representative in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, will finally get her wish for a promo tour as she will be in Turkey for two days to promote her entry, Zemren e lame peng.

In a recent interview, Olta Boka expressed her bitterness about the complete lack of funds to support the Albanian entry this year with a promo tour which would offer Zemren e lame peng exposure to the international European audience before the contest in May. It seems now that things have started moving forward as she is on her way to Turkey where she will spend Friday and Saturday.

Olta will appear on the evening news of Show TV on Friday and on Saturday, as it seems to be a tradition for Eurovision artists visiting Turkey, she will be a guest in the first part of the the hugely popular Aynadan yansıyanlar music talk show on TRT International at 22.00 CET. The second part of the same show will see the Portuguese Vania Fernandes with her Senhora do mar.

Exclusive!
Olta Boka - Zemren e lame peng

Kalomira expects support from Turkish audiences in Eurovision

2008-04-23T18:31:00.001+02:00

source: todayszaman.com
As fans of the annual Eurovision Song Contest count down the few weeks left before this year's contest in May, the contestants have been going on promotional tours across the continent.

One of them is Kalomira, the young singer on whom Greece has built its hopes to achieve the highest score in this year's finals on the night of May 24 in the Serbian capital of Belgrade.

Kalomira, whose Eurovision bid, "Secret Combination," has already become a hit on radio stations and in clubs in Turkey, recently paid a visit to İstanbul, drawing much attention from the Turkish media. During her stay in Turkey, organized by the event and artist management company Pasion Turca, Kalomira spoke to Today's Zaman about her impressions of İstanbul, her career in music and her thoughts about the Eurovision Song Contest.

Read the full interview here

Sweden: VideoBlog - Making of the video

2008-04-22T18:31:00.000+02:00

source: esctoday.com
Charlotte Perrelli, the representative for Sweden in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, with her song Hero is currently shooting the video for her Eurovision entry and has dedicated the latest VideoBlog to the making of her video.

Former Eurovision winner, Charlotte Perrelli (Née Nilsson) has shot a VideoBlog dedicated to the video for her 2008 Eurovision Song Contest entry Hero. In this edition of her VideoBlog we see Charlotte shooting the video and she also talks us through the outfit changes and hairstyles, we meet Mathias, who is the hair stylist for the Video and also Anders Johansson the Head of A&R, Universal.

In the clips of the video shoot, we see Charlotte in a black dress and also a white dress, for the same scene but using different shots. Also Charlotte has 1970's style hair for another part of the video, which we do not see in the VideoBlog.

To see the video, click below, which is on Charlottes official youtube site:

Elnur & Samir on ESCMALTA.com

2008-04-21T20:58:00.001+02:00

source: linkpartner escmalta.com
The Azeri delegation were hosted by ESCMALTA.com...
Video interview with Elnur & Samir (Azerbaijan ESC 08)

The the past days Elnur & Samir were interviewed by ESCMALTA.com. They spoke about their debut in the Eurovision Song Contest for Azerbaijan. While their visit in Malta Samir celebrated his birthday. The singer stated that it was his first ever birthday to be celebrated abroad.

Elnur & Samir will represent Azerbaijan in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'Day after Day'. The Azeri delegation were hosted by ESCMALTA.com.

Watch the video-interview here

More promo activities for Sirusho!

2008-04-18T19:51:00.000+02:00

source: eurovision.tv
Sirusho, the Armenian representative in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, will continue her promotional tour in the next days which will take her to seven more countries!

After having been to Moscow already, Sirusho will now go to Germany, Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain and France. She will also appear at the UK Eurovision preview party which will take place on the 25th of April in London's Scala nightclub where about 1200 people will be present. Sirusho will perform her infectious song Qele Qele there which is tipped by many experts to reach the Top Five in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest.

The Armenian delagation confirmed to Eurovision.tv that Sirusho's CD including her Eurovision Song Contest entry will be released at the end of April or the beginning of May. The promotional pack will not include the CD only, but there will also be a DVD with the videoclip of Qele Qele and also a T-shirt!

Sirusho is the most poular female artist in Armenia and she was awarded the award of "Best Female Artist" in Armenia for four consecutive years! In her recording career, she has already released three albums and has also written songs for other Armenian artists. She will be the third Armenian artist - and the first female one! - in the Eurovision Song Contest after both André and Hayko reached a good 8th place in Athens and Helsinki respectively.

Sirusho will perform in the first Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest on the 20th of May in the Belgrade Arena in Serbia.

The French drop ‘le pop’ in search of Eurovision win

2008-04-18T13:05:00.001+02:00

source: The Times
After decades of embarrassment with its Eurovision entries, France has come up with a controversial wheeze to earn beaucoup de points in next month's contest.

The country famous for its fierce pride in the native tongue is to enter a song written almost entirely in English for the first time.

The decision by the state television network has sparked an outcry, provoking one MP to demand an explanation from the culture minister.

The French entrant is Sebastien Tellier, 33, a singer-composer. Tellier, known as "the singing Chabal" because of his resemblance to the hulking rugby union player, said that he had tried French lyrics but they did not work as well. "The majority of songs that have won Eurovision, like Abba, have been in English," he added. He has retained two French lines that translate as "You and I, like you know/ How my heart gave way."

This year's contest is to be held in Belgrade on May 24. France last won in 1977 and often comes near bottom.

Exclusive!
Sébastien Tellier - Divine

Eurovision clip for Mor ve Ötesi paves the way to stardom for Davaz’s puppets

2008-04-18T01:01:00.006+02:00

source: todayszaman.com
Since its debut last month, the alternative rock band Mor ve Ötesi's video clip for the song "Deli" (Crazy), which will represent Turkey at this year's Eurovision Song Contest, has been attracting a considerable amount of attention both nationally and internationally.

So much so that "Deli" has become the second most-watched video among this year's Eurovision entrants' videos posted on YouTube.

The 40 giant-sized dolls used in the video, directed by Ezel Akay, were designed by industrial designer and interior architect Şekip Davaz. The dolls, which have been the focus of much interest since the very first day the clip was broadcast, will also be used as background in the stage show when Mor ve Ötesi performs at Eurovision.

Today's Zaman asked designer Şekip Davaz about the story behind these works of art. Speaking at his two-story workshop in Küçükköy, Davaz explained that these enormous dolls, which each look almost like a freak of nature, were in fact part of a project that he had begun several years ago. However the project never actually realized its original goal as Davaz's true wish had been to create a Museum of Historical Ottoman Entertainment, with the hope of putting these giant figures on display. As it turned out though, the real path of stardom for these huge puppets lay with the new Mor ve Ötesi video clip.

Illusionists, fire-eaters, tightrope walkers, buffoons, acrobats, musicians, dancers and more… These were all main actors in the typical Ottoman entertainment world. According to Davaz, these were the most marginal characters in the 600 years of Ottoman history. Their duties during Ottoman times were generally relegated to ceremonies, religious festivals and other important days, such as celebrating a war victory. On those days, it would be the duties of these characters to keep people entertained and amused.

These illusionists were never just ordinary people, though. They each had their own special merits. Some would be able to walk the delicate line of tightropes, while others would be able to spit fire from their mouths. Some could do five to 10 somersaults in a row while others could inflate parts of their bodies almost magically. And because in those times, the world of entertainment was not exactly viewed permissively by religion, there would be no women at all taking part in these shows.

When Davaz first took notice of these striking characters from Ottoman history, he began researching them. After reading the travelogues of Katip Çelebi and Evliya Çelebi and the tales of the "Thousand and One Nights," Davas started coming up with some very interesting stories of his own. In fact, Davas has assigned a name and a story to each of his giant dolls. When asked how real each of these names and stories are, he says, "I sort of pieced them together from my research as well as from real life stories I clipped." He notes that any dimensions that were still missing after all that, he filled in himself.

For example, one of the dolls, a "köçek" (which meant a man who would dress in women's garb and dance as entertainment), is named "Baghdad Raşit," whose story notes that he was a polite and emotional man who was well respected in his community. As for Alem Aşur, a "curcunabaz" (an entertainer whose sole job it was to raise a "hullabaloo" in the crowd), would use his special talents at buffoonery and mimicry to keep public order and happiness. There are countless stories like this about Ottoman entertainers of the time.
More>>>

Kalomira spoke to Today's Zaman

2008-04-17T18:41:00.000+02:00

Kalomira spoke to Today's Zaman about her impressions of İstanbul, her career in music and her thoughts about the Eurovision Song Contest.

Are you surprised by the amount of attention you've received in Turkey?
Before we started with our interview schedule at the hotel, we had a chance to hang out around the Grand Bazaar. I was just so fascinated from the very first moment. Jewelry was everywhere; I saw bracelets with the evil eye all around. I felt at home because I am wearing one also. I am very happy with the hospitality shown to me in İstanbul and every single person I met was very kind.

You represent Greece with the pop and R&B song "Secret Combination" in this year's Eurovision. You grew up in New York and you are more acquainted with R&B. What about Greek music?
You are right, I grew up in Long Island and I love R&B, but I grew up in a Greek district called Astoria in New York, so I have always been familiar with Greek music. In our Greek district, there were Greek restaurants, cafes and Greek music everywhere.

You are only 23 years old. How long have you been following the Eurovision Song Contest?
I have been following the Eurovision Song Contest for the last four years; I was in New York before then. I have been following it since I got back to Greece and I am very happy to have a chance to represent my own country. I am thankful to everyone who voted for me.

You were living in one of the most important cities of the world when it comes to the music industry; were you professionally involved in music while in NY?
I have been playing the viola since I was 9 years old and I got a music scholarship when I was accepted into the Adelphi College in New York. After I won a song contest organized by a radio station, I met many producers and many famous singers.

Which song led to your win and who have you collaborated with on stage?
I won the contest with the song "America, Beautiful" -- it was like a national anthem though. After the contest I went on to participate in the supporting acts of famous singers like Jessica Simpson and LL Cool J. I was trying to save some money to release my own single, but some guy who pretended to be the nephew of Clive Davis lied to me and took all my money. After all the disappointment I've been through, I wanted to make a brand new start in Greece.

After your decision to pursue a new career in Greece you won a talent show called "Fame Story." Can you tell us more about that?
"Fame Story" gave me a brand new start in my own country. I signed my first recording deal after that show and my debut album was released soon after that. A short while later, I started to work with famous names such as Despina Vandi and Elli Kokkinou. It was as if my dreams had come true. In 2004 I began touring with Despina Vandi.

You are also a television star in Greece; can you tell us about your work there?
I played the role of Jessica in a soap opera called "Lampsi" for a few months. In 2006 I started to host morning shows. Soon after, I started to host live night shows with a male partner -- this was a really big project.

How do you feel about your own song "Secret Combination"? Do you think it's going to be successful in Eurovision?
You never know who is going to win in Eurovision, but I think my own song is pretty catchy as a dance song. But what I care more about is my performance on the stage rather than the song itself.

What do you think about the Turkish entrant "Deli" (Crazy) by Mor ve Ötesi?
I love to listen to alternative sounds in rock. I listened to "Deli" on the computer many times. I guess the whole package is great, the song has a pretty nice rock sound and the guys on the band are handsome.

What Turkish singers are you familiar with?
I know Sertab (Erener) well. … Actually, I know many, but I don't remember their names. In Greece there are many Turkish songs in the market rewritten with Greek lyrics and I guess it is vice-versa in Turkey. So we are familiar with each other's music.

Who do you like to listen to the most?
Madonna. I love Madonna. My latest favorite is Madonna's "4 Minutes" with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake. I also like Britney Spears' singles. I met her in a concert during her "Oops… I did it again," period. She was fantastic on the stage and she still is.

Your song is already a hit on radio stations in Turkey. Do you expect strong support from the Turkish audience during Eurovision voting?
I am so happy that radio stations have already started to support me by playing my song on their playlists. I really would like to have some more votes from the Turkish audience in Eurovision.

source: todayszaman.com

Azerbaijan: Final edit for Belgrade's presentation

2008-04-15T18:12:00.000+02:00

source: oikotimes.com
Azerbaijani song, Day after Day, was rerecorded by the Azerbaijani Eurovision Song Contest representatives, Elnur Huseynov and Samir Javadzade, in Modern World Studio in London, UK. A small orchestra contributed in making it sound softer and more natural.

Elnur and Samir's next stop was in Kiev, Ukraine, where they worked for a week with Ukrainian experts on their vocals and choreography. In fact there will be ballet dances in their performance in Belgrade. The Azerbaijani Eurovision Song Contest promo tour is to begin this week in Andorra.

Exclusive!
Elnur & Samir - Day after day

Mor ve Ötesi in Athens; the report

2008-04-14T20:01:00.003+02:00

source: oikotimes.com
THE FRIENDLY AND CALM TURKS
The Group Mor ve Ötesi only few hours in Greece were talking to the press about how wonderful the city of Athens looks to them. Arrived at 15:30 CET (16:30 Local Time) in the hotel are where the press conference took place, they were very shy just waiting for the press and few fans to approach them. While the journalists were enjoying a very colourfull buffet, the set up for the press conference was quickly made up. ERT although the last moment managed to create an organized and friendly environment for the press and the artists. The questions were not that many as media were waiting for individual interviews. During the group's short statements they talked about the language selection, the Greek - Turkish relations and the spirit in which they want to write their songs.

THE PRESS CONFERENCE
In terms of the language selection, they said the song is better in Turkish. They are not into the game of 'English' song equals necessarily the ultimate success. They do count on the diaspora voting but still they want to impress European audience with a song which is not the usual recipy for a Eurovision Song Contest. Discussing the Greek and Turkish relations, they said that the bad history and the military tentions are only for politicians, as the average Turk has only the best feelings for their neighbours, Greeks. The culture is similar and they share more things than those who really divide them. Talking about their song profile, the emphasized that they are here to interprete sentiments and not actually to criticize politics while most of their songs have messages for the political situtations across the country and world.

MEETING KALOMIRA
During the press conference Kalomira Sarantis, the Greek representative in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, entered the room while the Turkish band stopped the conference to greet their new Greek friend. Then the Turkish artists performed unplugged their song impressing the Greek media representatives. Kalomira then warmly welcomed them and talked to them about her recent trip to Istanbul while she got the chance to learn things about them, such as that the band works together for more than 12 years. Then media started individually to focus on the band from Turkey and of course Kalomira Sarantis.

EXCLUSIVE!
Mor ve Ötesi singing live ''Deli''

Mor ve ötesi announce promotion tour

2008-04-11T19:07:00.004+02:00

source: morveotesi.com, eurovision.tv
Mor ve ötesi, this year's Turkish ambassadors at the Eurovision Song Contest, is launching a multi-national European PR and promo campaign. The tour will span accross many countries, starting in Athens, Greece on the 14th of April and end in Tbilisi, Georgia on the 10th of May.

"The band has been the leading voice of rock music in Turkey since its fourth album Dünya Yalan Söylüyor reached unprecented sales figures (upwards of 250,000 copies) and revolutionized the way rock is perceived in Turkey. It's established itself as one of the most important figures in the Turkish arts & culture scene. Not only musical pioneers, but also prominent actisivists in various anti-war and anti-nuclear campaigns, the band and its members individually are tireless proponents of freedom, equality and justice across the nation and world," says a press release.

This year, the band has been chosen by broadcaster TRT to represent the country in the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest. Their song Deli it's an upbeat, powerful rock song. Furthermore, the band recently launched a new website, dedicated entirely to this promo tour and the video clip of the song.

OGAE Turkey 12 points to Sweden

2008-04-10T00:09:00.001+02:00

sources: OGAE Turkey, oikotimes.com
Sweden won OGAE Turkey 12 points. The top 3 also includes Norway and Serbia. OGAE Turkey is the eighth club to announce their votes and, with no surprises, Sweden reached the number 1.

12 points to Sweden
10 points to Norway
08 points to Serbia
07 points to Ukraine
06 points to Albania
05 points to Bulgaria
04 points to Armenia
03 points to Israel
02 points to Switzerland
01 point to Belgium

Exclusive!
Sweden 2008 (Charlotte Perrelli - Hero)

Official Coin and 2008 Fan Book launched!

2008-04-10T00:05:00.002+02:00

source: eurovision.tv
Today, the official Eurovision Song Contest web shop launches the third Official Fan Book and, for the first time, an Official Coin!

The Badge Company from the Netherlands, the official merchandising partner of the Eurovision Song Contest, introduced the coin programme at the Heads of Delegation meeting in Belgrade, back in March. The first stamped coin was presented to Svante Stockselius, the Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is the intention of both the EBU as well as The Badge Company to release a commemorative Official Coin every year. The coins are produced by Royal Dutch Mint.

The coins are no legal tender, but produced as commemorative medals. The Official Coin is being produced in limited numbers - some 5,000 each year. "Over the upcoming years, as a coin is being released every year, the item will surely become a true collectable. It is not unusual that as the collection grows, the value of a complete set of coins increases over time," says Roland Heerkens, CEO of The Badge Company, to Eurovision.tv.

The captured Official Coin (33mm in diameter) will be delivered in a special gift box A numbered Certificate of Authenticity is included in the coin gift box. The box includes a special booklet containing information about participants.

-Click here to order the official 2008 Eurovision Song Contest coin

The third edition of the Official Fan Book is now available as well. The book contains over 100 pages of information about the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, the 43 participants, the hosts, the event itself and more! The editorial team is currently finalizing the third edition, but you can already pre-order the hard-cover collectable for EUR 14,95 (excl. shipping).

-Click here to order the official 2008 Eurovision Song Contest Fan Book

FYR Macedonia: All versions online

2008-04-07T15:47:00.001+02:00

source: esctoday.com
The song that will represent FYR Macedonia in this years Eurovision Song Contest, Let me love you, has been recorded in four more languages, Turkish, Albanian, Serbian, and Russian with two Karaoke versions of the song.
All of the songs are available to legally download on the mmm.com site.

Apart from the original version of Vo ime na ljubovta which won Skopjefest 2008, Tamara, Vrcak and Adrian have recorded the song in English, Russian, Turkish, Albanian and Serbian. The video clip for the song is currently being prepared and will be aired shortly.

All versions of the song have been made available online. Click here to listen to the songs.

Exclusive!
Tamara, Vrčak & Adrijan - Let me love you (Turkish)

Eurovision 2008 Fragrance

2008-04-06T22:14:00.002+02:00

Diana Gurtskaya Producer Center in association with Dzintars JSC created the exclusive branded perfume Diana Gurtskaya (representative at the Eurovision Song Contest from Georgia). timed with the famous Eurovision-2008 song contest.

Within the shortest time, the professional perfumers of Dzintars JSC developed about 20 perfume blends presented to Diana Gurtskaya for selection. Creating such a branded fragrance, Dzintars specialists made allowance of the singer’s character and style trying to blend the composition with those very accords, which would highlight her distinctness to the utmost. The fragrance created in cooperation with Diana Gurtskaya reflects the essence of her personality, energetic and self-reliant. The classic chypre fragrance reveals itself with the time, leaving an inimitable trace. A combination of hyacinth, iris, and pink pepper flavours topnoted with warm patchouli and ambergris accords creates a sensation of self-assertion.

The perfume is presented in a chaste and distinctive bottle emphasizing Diana Gurtskaya’s impeccable style. A classic contrast of black and white on the box accentuates the fragrance vitality and commitment.

Diana Gurtskaya perfume was created by the specialists of one of Europe’s most ancient perfumeries to serve as a souvenir. This will complete and help getting to the audience the true essence of Diana’s inner world expressed in her Peace Will Come song..

Exclusive!
Diana Gurtskaya - Peace Will Come

Serbia: Jelena in Cyprus; greek version will be presented

2008-04-05T16:44:00.002+02:00

source: esctime.com
Jelena Tomašević, the Serbian entrant in Eurovision Song Contest 2008 will visit Cyprus for her promo tour on 9th of May, just few days before the Eurovision final.

Also Jelena will make her song “Oro” on Greek language. The lyrics of the Greek version of the song written by Katrina Nitsopoulou singer of the Greek group Anemos. The Greek version of the song will be presented in Cyprus for the first time.

Jelena Tomašević (born November 1, 1983 in Kragujevac, Serbia, Yugoslavia) is a Serbian pop singer famed for her strong vocal performances. She has won numerous awards for her songs and will represent Serbia at 2008 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Oro”.

OGAE Belgium's 12 Points for Sirusho from Armenia

2008-04-04T15:59:00.000+02:00

source: belgovision.com
Following the tradition, the members of OGAE Belgium, the Belgian division of the international Eurovision Song Contest fan club, voted for the songs of this year's contest. The Belgian 12 Points go to Sirushi from Armenia. Swiss representative Paolo Meneguzzi wins silver and Charlotte from Sweden gets bronze.

The points of OGAE Belgium

12. Armenia
10. Switzerland
08. Sweden
07. Romania
06. Hungary
05. Norway
04. Ukraine
03. Germany
02. Serbia
01. Slovenia

If the members of OGAE could have voted for Belgium too, Ishtar's O Julissi Na Jalini would have been rated as the eighth best song of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, good for three points. Eleven countries received zero points from the OGAE Belgium members, one of which Dutch representative Hind.

Eurovision stars hits on YouTube

2008-04-01T00:05:00.001+02:00

source: eurovision.tv
With still some two months on the counter before the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, several of this year's participants are already hits on the popular video platform YouTube. Eurovision.tv gathered the top-10 and estimates that all of this year's participants have been watched some 15 million times!

Each of the 43 participants is present on YouTube with their music video or national final performance, some uploaded up to 50 times. Although it is hard to determine the exact number of views with so many videos available, Eurovision.tv made a rough calculation of the total views of each 2008 Eurovision Song Contest entry. It has to be mentioned that the songs chosen earlier have an advantage over those who have been selected closer to the submission deadline (17th of March).

This is our roughly projected YouTube top-10 of eurovision.tv;

1. Spain - Rodolfo Chikilicuatre - Baila El Chicki Chicki
8,400,000 views
2. Turkey - Mor ve Ötesi - Deli
1,300,000 views
3. Ireland - Dustin the Turkey - Irelande Douze Pointe
1,200,000 views
4. Greece - Kalomira - Secret Combination
1,100,000 views
5. Sweden - Charlotte Perrelli - Hero
880,000 views
6. Germany - No Angels - Disappear
800,000 views
7. Poland - Isis Gee - For Life
490,000 views
8. Russia - Dima Bilan - Believe
400,000 views
9. Cyprus - Evdokia Kadi - Femme Fatale
330,000 views
10. Serbia - Jelena Tomaševic - Oro
220,000 views

What this means for the outcome of the contest is highly unpredicable. And don't forget... with still some eight weeks to go before the big night, anything can change!

Be A Winner on YouTube
Always wanted to be famous? This is your chance! Currently, Eurovision.tv is finalizing the preparations for Be A Winner 2008, the already famous official karaoke competition of the Eurovision Song Contest. Start preparing your karaoke performance of your favourite 2008 Eurovision Song Contest entry and stay tuned for more details on how to enter your performance to the competition and prizes for the winner! We can already tell you that a selection of the best Be A Winner performances will make it to the Eurovision Countdown shows...

Eurovision contestants on promo-tour

2008-03-31T17:59:00.000+02:00

source: eurovision.tv
In the lead up to the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, participants travel across Europe to promote their songs, hoping to raise awareness and create buzz.

Ani Lorak, representing Ukraine at this year's contest, is said to visit Malta in mid-April. Earlier, the Shady Lady visited the Baltic countries for promotionala activities.

Swedish hope Charlotte Perrelli will travel to Belgium and the Netherlands in early May, and Nico & Vlad from Romania will also come to Belgium for several promotional activities. They are also said to visit Spain and Cyprus. Greek pride Kolomira visited Romania for promotional activities. Sirusho from Armenia, currently projected as one of the favourites of this year's Eurovision Song Contest, is visiting Georgia to promote her Qele, Qele.

Jelena Tomašević, this year's hope for host country Serbia, is visiting several neighbouring countries to promote her song Oro. She is also hoping to visit other countries, such as Spain, Denmark and Finland. Last week, several fan sites reported that Portuguese Eurovision Song Contest representative Vânia Fernandes will promote her entry in Central Europe, focussing on the Balkan region.

Earlier, Eurovision.tv wrote about the promotional activities of Dustin the Turkey in Spain. Sébastien Tellier follows an extensive tour schedule across Europe, about which Eurovision.tv reported earlier as well.

Sirusho brings promo tour to Georgia

2008-03-30T00:36:00.003+01:00

source: oikotimes.com
The Armenian representative this year, Sirusho, has made her way to Georgia as the first stop on her promo tour.

The singer, who will perform Qele Qele in Belgrade, recently finished shooting photos for both her new CD and website before traveling to Georgia. First up is the capital city of Tbilisi to begin media promotion, with stops in Akhalkalaki and Akhaltskhe to follow. More dates for Sirusho's promo tour are expected to be announced soon.

Exclusive!
Sirusho - Qele Qele

Big Poll 2008 Serbia Edition

2008-03-29T00:21:00.006+01:00

Welcome to the Big Poll 2008, Serbia Edition.
In this edition you are able to vote for your favorit country from the first, and second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.
The polls are 31 days open untill 1 May 2008, results will be announced after this date.
(To vote for the final participants you have to come back on 23 May.)

The participants
Esc Turkey present you the participants of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.You can watch every day one promo video of an participating country. These video's will be available right on the top of the home page.

POLLS ARE CLOSED

Watch the new Mor ve Ötesi video!

2008-03-28T22:34:00.000+01:00

source: eurovision.tv
Moments ago, Eurovision.tv published the new video of Mor ve Ötesi's Eurovision Song Contest entry Deli. The video can be watched in the MediaLounge, in the preview player and on the official profile page in the participants section.

The group Mor ve Ötesi was internally chosen by Turkish broadcaster TRT, and will represent Turkey at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest.

Mor Ve Ötesi was established in January of 1995 by Kerem Kabadayı (drums), Harun Tekin (vocals/guitar), Derin Esmer (vocals/guitar) and Alper Tekin (bass), four close high school friends in Istanbul, Turkey.

In 1997, the first line-up change took place with Burak Güven replacing Alper Tekin on bass. In 1998, Derin Esmer left the band and was replaced by Kerem Özyeğen on guitar.

Check out Mor ve Ötesi's official profile page in the participants section for more information about the band, their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest ánd the new video of Deli.

Dima Bilan recorded video Believe

2008-03-28T15:54:00.001+01:00

source: eurovision.tv
Earlier this week, Dima Bilan recorded the video for his 2008 Eurovision Song Contest entry Believe. The Russian pop idol found figure skating champion Evgeny Pluschenko and violin player Edvin Marton prepared to contribute to the video.

In the video, Bilan is trying to save a seven-year old boy, who is in need of financial support to cover the costs of surgery. At the mini-movie proceeds, Bilan and his friends organize a beneficiary concert to raise money. years old boy, who needs money for operation.

The video, which will soon be released to the public, is being produced byPavel Khudyakov, featuring camera work of Eugenio Galli.

Kalomoira visits Romania

2008-03-27T23:42:00.000+01:00

source: esctoday.com
Kalomoira, the Greek representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 has arrived today in Romania, the second stop of her promo tour.

Kalomoira, after Azerbaijan, where she appeared on many important TV shows and magazines where she presented her Eurovision entry Secret combination, continues her European promo tour in Romania. She arrived today afternoon in Romania's capital, Bucharest, and from tomorrow she will appear in the most important TV shows such as Tonomatul DP2, Razvan si Dani de la antenna 1 channel, Teo and many more.

Kalomoira will stay in Romania for three days after she received an invitation of the Romanian broadcaster. Nico and Vlad Mirita have also started their promo tour from Greece appearing on the Greek final where Kalomoira won the golden ticket to Belgrade.

Greece will participate in the first semifinal, just like Romania, on the 19th position after the draw that took place in Serbia's capital.

Exclusive!
Kalomoira - Secret Combination

Official video clip of ''Deli'' TODAY on TRT

2008-03-27T16:28:00.003+01:00

Turkish representatives "Mor ve Otesi" have made the video of "Deli". A team of photographer Okan Bayulgen, designer Beyhan Murphy and costume designer Umit Unal worked on it with them.

Today the official video clip can be watched on TRT 1's evening news, at 18:30 GMT+ 01:00.
Live stream is available at the following link:
mms://212.156.63.102/TV1

The video clip is also available later in the evening on the official website of Mor ve Ötesi, on the multimedya section of the site.

Mor ve Otesi will begin with the European tour on April for the promotion of the Eurovision Song ''Deli''. The month May will excist of special concerts in Istanbul.

Exclusive!
Presentation of the official video clip ''Deli''

Theme design will colour Belgrade

2008-03-27T01:13:00.000+01:00

source: eurovision.com
The red-blue-white theme art, developed for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, will feature all across host city Belgrade in May. Host Broadcaster RTS, local authorities and the Eurovision Song Contest's marketing partner T.E.A.M. closely cooperate to give the upcoming event a prominent place in the host city.

The Belgrade Arena, where the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest will take place, and the surrounding area will be decorated with flags, billboards and banners. Between 11th and 25th of May, the Eurovision Village will settle down in front of the contest's venue. The Eurovision Village opens its doors every day at 12:00 and closes at 20:00.

The spirit of the contest will not only be noticable around the arena. Belgrade's international airport and the road from the airport to the city will also be decorated. Both New Belgrade as well as the city centre across the river will be spiced up with flags, banners and billboards featuring this year's theme Confluence Of Sound.

Boris Miljković, the award-winning Creative Director of this year's Eurovision Song Contest, said: "With this theme, we, as the hosts, are actively welcoming all participating countries. With this theme, we chose for a more emotional approach, reaching out to the senses, instead of the traditional touristic, commercial approach."

More than 20 languages represented

2008-03-24T21:16:00.000+01:00

source: eurovision.tv
Eurovision.tv asked all participants: In which language will you sing your song at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest? Outcome: More than 20 languages will be represented in Belgrade, one of them imaginary!

Representatives from 22 countries will sing their song entirely in English. Six more will sing their songs in a mix of English and a national language; Armenian, Hungarian, Catalan (Andorra), Spanish, Hebrew and French. The Romanian representatives will sing in a mix between Romanian and Italian.

Participants from Serbia, Albania, San Marino (Italian), Finland, Portugal, Montenegro, Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Turkey, Croatia, Cyprus (Greek) and Switzerland (Italian) will sing in their local language. The Estonian group Kreisiraadio will sing in a mix between Finnish, German and Serbo-Croatian 'tourist dialect'. The Belgian group Ishtar will sing in an imaginary language.

Since 1999, the European Broadcasting Union allowes participants to sing in the language of their choice. Despite the fear of critics that this would heavily harm language diversity at the Eurovision Song Contest, a large number of languages is represented at the contest nowadays. Those who questioned if it would still be possible to win the contest with a non-English language song were proven wrong; Last year, Marija Šerifović won the contest with Molitva, a song in Serbian language.

European tour for Jelena's Eurovision bidding

2008-03-23T19:44:00.001+01:00

source: oikotimes.com
Serbia’s representative at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, and one of the favourites to win, Jelena Tomašević will shortly commence her European tour to promote her song “Oro”.

The first wave of countries she will visit are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, FYR Macedonia and Croatia. The second wave of countries to be visited later next month will include Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Finland. Tomšević says that plans are being made for her to visit other near-by countries.

The singer also promised that her ESC performance will be completely different from her Beovizija performance when she won. “Oro” will also be released in English, Greek, Russian and Spanish. Finally Tomašević concludes, “The tour will be a great preparation for Eurovision. I will be full of strength and with a smile during the whole tour. I pray to God that we win Eurovision again”.

Exclusive!
Jelena Tomašević - Oro

Esc Turkey presents...

2008-03-23T14:12:00.002+01:00

Big Poll 2008 Serbia edition!
This Big Poll allows you to vote for your favorite country of the Eurovision Song Contest in the Final, the first and second Semi-Final!

This year the big poll will be open on 30 March 2008. The Eurovision fans will be able to vote in 31 days. The results will be announced on 1 May 2008.
We invite all Eurovision fans over the world to vote here!
(To vote for the final participants you have to come back on 23 May.)

The participants
Esc Turkey present you the participants of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.
You can watch every day one promo video of an participating country. These video's will be available right on the top of the home page.

NEW! The karaoke game

2008-03-21T16:09:00.005+01:00

ESC-TURKEY.COM has designed an exclusive flyer for you!
You can win this exclusive flyer of Mor ve Ötesi if you participate with the karaoke game of ESC-TURKEY.

It is easy to participate:
-Record your voice with the Turkish Eurovision song ''Deli''.
(You can download here the song of Mor ve Ötesi. The full lyrics of the song are also available on the website)
-Send your recorded song to karaoke@esc-turkey.com
-The winner will receive more information after the date: 1 May 2008.

21 April 2008 it is the closing date of the game. Everyone can vote for the favorite karaoke songs that we received.
1 May 2008 the winner of the karaoke game will be announced.

Sing, record and send your karaoke song to:
karaoke@esc-turkey.com!
Good luck.

Our 43 stars: Check out their songs!

2008-03-21T13:58:00.001+01:00

source: eurovision.tv
In the days ahead, Eurovision.tv will officially introduce the participants of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest to you. You can already find their promotional videos in the MediaLounge!

The preview videos, officially handed in this Monday, have been published in the MediaLounge in the running order.

Several participants have announced to deliver new music videos in the lead up to the contest, others will deliver their material in a higher quality in the course of next week.

The participants of the Eurovision Song Contest will be put in the spotlights more than ever before on the official website. In the course of next week, all biographies, lyrics and promo photos will be made available in the participants section. To make sure you find what you need, the home page of Eurovision.tv will be expanded with several new features.

Dima Bilan's Eurovision presentation revealed

2008-03-20T23:26:00.002+01:00

source: oikotimes.com
Russian stage act is going to be one of the most exiting this year. It is planed to be more than a dance show. As the artist and his team things, it should express the main sense of the song, which is belief in oneself, it friends and close people, strike with difficulties.

"It will be very sensitive story about three guys, who are friends since their childhood. All of them encountered a lot of obstacles, but they were strong, they believed in themselves and became well-known persons. The first guy became a singer, the second one became a figure skater, the third is a world famous violinist now" Dima says. And he follows: "One of the episodes is mine it is my life".

These persons, whom Dima mentioned are: the Olympic champion, world champion and a real pride for Russian people Eugeny Pluschenko and a famous Hungarian violinist Edvin Marton, who plays Stradivari's violin. The guys has already worked together in a project of an ice show by Pluschenko. It is still a secret how Russian team is going to put the ice on the stage just for a half minute, but they really want to realize this grand idea. As Dima says and sings "I strictly know, that all impossible is possible!" (note: words from his Russian song "Nevozmozhnoje-Vozmozhno").

Exclusive!
Dima Bilan - Believing

Our 43 stars: Their first 15 minutes of fame!

2008-03-20T00:13:00.000+01:00

source: eurovision.tv
In the days ahead, Eurovision.tv will officially introduce the participants of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest to you. They will start tomorrow with the official preview videos, and then gradually expand the website!

Thursday at noon, eurovision.tv will start presenting you the official preview videos of the 43 participants. Keep checking out Eurovision.tv throughout the day, as they will give each participant a well-deserved 15 minutes of fame! The preview videos, officially handed in this Monday, will be published in the MediaLounge in the running order and the first video will be published at 12:00 CET! Each 15 minutes, a new video will be made available through the official website. A quick calculation shows that shortly before midnight, all videos can be watched on the official website of the Eurovision Song Contest... as many times as you like!

Belgrade 2008: The Running Order

2008-03-20T00:10:00.000+01:00

source: TRT
Turkiye's representative Mor ve Ötesi will compete at the third place for the second Semi-Final on May 22.

The running order of the two Semi-Finals of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest has been determined. The draw took place at the Sava Centre in Belgrade, and has been conducted by the hosts of the contest in May, Zjelko and Jovana. Here are the results:

The first Semi-Final (20th of May):

1. Montenegro
2. Israel
3. Estonia
4. Moldova
5. San Marino
6. Belgium
7. Azerbaijan
8. Slovenia
9. Norway
10. Poland
11. Ireland
12. Andorra
13. Bosnia & Herzegovina
14. Armenia
15. The Netherlands
16. Finland
17. Romania
18. Russia
19. Greece

The second Semi-Final (22nd of May):

1. Iceland
2. Sweden
3. Turkiye
4. Ukraine
5. Lithuania
6. Albania
7. Switzerland
8. Czech Republic
9. Belarus
10. Latvia
11. Croatia
12. Bulgaria
13. Denmark
14. Georgia
15. Hungary
16. Malta
17. Cyprus Greek Region
18. FYR Macedonia
19. Portugal

RTS presents creative plans for Belgrade 2008

2008-03-17T19:05:00.002+01:00

source: eurovision.tv
Host Broadcaster RTS presented the creative concept behind the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. The artistic team presented the event theme, postcard design and details about the show.

Production Designer Goran Joksimović explained the theme for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, Confluence of Sound, and the sub-logo of the contest. A graphic presentation featuring Marija's winning song Molitva.

Sven Stojanović, a Serbian living in Sweden, has been appointed as multi-camera director of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. He has been involved with the contest several times, and directed the 2005 contest in Kyiv as well. "20 camera's will be used for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, eight of them equipped with motion-control," he explained. "It is very important to me to have an identity for each of the songs," Stojanović said, emphasizing the importance of a specific identity for each songs in a participants field of 43.

Per Sundin, who was heavily involved with the organization of the 2003 contest in Riga, also joined the team in Belgrade as light designer. He explained the choice for the German company Procon as one of the key technical partners, adding more details to the creative concept of the show; "The first Semi-Final will be created around a city theme, the second Semi-Final around the theme of water, and the Final will be a mix of those."

Later today, the delegation heads will get a guiding tour through the Belgrade Arena and the Sava Centre.

'Deli' video for Eurovision 2008 recorded

2008-03-14T22:35:00.000+01:00

source: oikotimes.com
Turkish representatives "Mor ve Otesi" have made the video of "Deli". A team of photographer Okan Bayulgen, designer Beyhan Murphy and costume designer Umit Unal worked on it with them. It took them two days to make it and it was done in Ayazaga Studios in Istanbul, Turkey.

In an interview with Turkish newspaper Milliyet, the band members said they are working very hard on rehearsals and other preparations they have to make for ESC and they want to bring something fresh on stage. They also mentioned that they currently have 22 countries on their list for the promo tour.

Ajda Pekkan lands major advertising deal

2008-03-14T14:34:00.000+01:00

source: esctoday.com
Ajda Pekkan, the 62 year old Turkish superstar, has been actively singing since 1961 and she has released countless hits since 1964. She has also taken part in numerous advertisement campaigns since 70's. This year she signed a €600.000 deal with Polisan, a major paint company in Turkey.

Ajda Pekkan is known to eurofans as she represented Turkey in the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest with Petr'oil. The popular lady, looking better at 62 than ever, released her latest album in 2006 and this year she signed a major advertising deal with Polisan paint company for which she received no less than 1 million Turkish liras (about €600.000). Apart from the TV commercial below and posters, the deal includes more commercial films as well as a total of 10 nation-wide concerts.

Serbian Eurovision Song Contest host takes part too

2008-03-11T17:43:00.004+01:00

source: belgovision.com
Željko Joksimović, the singer who'll host the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, will also compete in the contest for Serbia! Not as the singer, but as the songwriter of the Serbian entry.

On Monday evening, Jelena Tomašević won the Serbian national final with the song Oro, written by Joksimović.

The winning song Oro was written by Dejan Ivanović and Željko Joksimović. The latter represented Serbia & Montenegro at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 in Istanbul. With the song Lane Moje, he finished second. Two years later he composed Lejla, the song performed by Hari Mata Hari for Bosnia & Herzegovina which finished third in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens.

Željko Joksimović will play a controversial double role at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. Beside participating for Serbia, he will also host the live shows together with Jovana Janković. The Serbian candidate Jelena Tomašević is directly qualified for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 on Saturday 24th May.

Exclusive!

Jelena Tomašević in 2008 and Željko Joksimović in 2004

Tonight: Serbia decides in Beovizija 2008

2008-03-10T19:53:00.000+01:00

source: eurovision.tv
Tonight, the final of the Serbian national selection for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest - Beovizija - will take place in the Sava Centar in Belgrade. Yesterday, the ten finalists have been chosen out of twenty semi-final participants.

As one of the last countries to pick their entry for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, this year's host Serbia will decide tonight. The Serbian representative will be the winner of the Beovizija festival, which takes place in the Sava Centar in Belgrade - the place which will host the press centre for accredited journalists during the time of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. The Beovizija festival was carried out for the first time in 2003, when Toše Proeski won with his song Ćija Si.

Our Eurovision Song is "Deli"

2008-03-10T19:35:00.003+01:00

source: TRT
The song representing Turkiye in this year's Eurovision Song Contest is announced.
This year's song, sang by Mor ve Ötesi, was broadcasted live for the first time on TRT 1 Main News Bulletin.

Named as "Deli", the song won great approval from everybody.

The song "Deli", which was chosen from 3 performances by TRT selection committee, was presented to the viewers and listeners.

"Deli" has rock tones and it is appropriate to the style of Mor ve Ötesi. The song won a great appreciation.

TRT General Manager İbrahim Şahin said that the song was very successful and wanted everybody to support the song.

The members of Mor ve Ötesi said that they were assertive for the contest.

Exclusive!
Mor ve Ötesi - Deli

Mor ve Ötesi officially presented by TRT

2007-12-23T12:35:00.000+01:00

source: esctoday.com
In a very brief press conference held a few minutes ago, TRT, the Turkish broadcaster presented the country's next representatives in the Eurovision Song Contest. Mor ve Ötesi stated that singing in Turkish in Belgrade is still a strong possibility.

Ali Guven, Turkish Head of Delegation, opened the brief press conference which presented Mor ve Ötesi to the press and media. He spoke about the history of the Eurovision Song Contest as well as its importance and presented a brief history of Turkey in the contest throughout the years.

Then it was the turn of Harun, the lead singer of the Mor ve Ötesi to speak about the 12-year career of the band who can boast over 500 concerts so far. " When we received TRT's proposal to represent Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest we were really excited and we knew we were going to do it." Harun said. The song has not been decided yet as the band will submit their proposals to TRT in the near future, no specific dates were announced at this point.

When asked about the language of the song, Mor ve Ötesi emphasised that it hasn't been decided yet but it could very well be in Turkish.

Nez claims she can bring ESC to Istanbul again

2007-08-30T22:57:00.000+02:00

source: oikotimes.com
Nez is hiding all her energy for Eurovision. So many music authorities (who give the biggest support to Nez) want to see Nez at ESC Platform, but also she pointed that the trick of right job is the right time. She also says that the waiting time in 2008 is MAY. On the other hand,Nez says that she had supported Sertab in 2003 too much and she knows ESC soul and feeling. We asked her 'What style will be your prepared song?' and she answers 'A song that includes turkish flavour, modern but not too much west and that can be my song. 'Also Nez thinks that only song is not enough to win,she adds that she will complete her stage show with Turkish culture and its elements so this proves her claims.

As we understood,Nez follows Eurovision for years. Thus, she claims that the song that she likes most is Dinle of Þebnem Paker(the song that turkey reached 3rd place in ESC 1997). And her slogan is from one of the most striking moments.it is: 'TRT,Are you ready for The 2009 ESC Final in Istanbul?''. She also shares one of her dreams with us: ''I saw myself as a winner of Eurovision. I have a comic and strange side.My dreams come true!''

We are not releasing the rest of the interview with Nez. But we also learnt the name of the song that Nez prepared for ESC. Let me give u a clue that the name of the song reflects Turkish culture part of Nez. Nez believes that she has an advantage of deaming, believing, being genuine and she thinks to bring Eurovision back in 2009 to Turkey.She also wants us to be near her from the moment that she recieved a call from TRT. We promise that we will be near her while she is getting prepared all. Nez who says that all of her works are ready says and adds ''I am only waiting for a telephone call...''

Exclusive!
Nez - Sevgi Bu Mu Diye

Greece: Kaiti Garbi's concert for the victims

2007-08-30T21:13:00.000+02:00

source: esctoday.com
Kaiti Garbi who represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993 with the song Ellada xora tou fotos will be giving a concert outside Athens to benefit the victims of the fires that burned throughout Greece in the past days.
The concert will take place in Aigaleo, Greece, on Friday the 31st of August and as Kaiti declared all the money will be given to the victims of the fire.

"It is our obligation to offer what we can. It is impossible to find a single Greek who is not bent over fromthe human pain and the size of destruction. I shared my desire to help the victims with the Mayor of the city of Aigaleo, and he supported me in every way. The concert will take place in the theater of Aigaleo, and all the money will be given to aid the victims. So, on Friday, at 21:30 local time, we will all be waiting for you to come there.”

The mayor of Aigaleo has also thanked Kaiti for this initiative and he urged other artists to do the same.

Teach-In reunite at Grootste Muziekfeest Van Nederland

2007-08-29T18:21:00.000+02:00

source: belgovision.com
On Friday 31st August, music history will be written in the Netherlands. 31 years after they split up, the original members of Teach-In will reunite at Het Grootste Muziekfeest Van Nederland. In the show to be aired live on Nederland 1, Teach-In will sing their winning Eurovision Song Contest entry from 1975, Ding-a-Dong.

Teach-In split up in 1976, one year after they won the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Ding-a-Dong. With new members, including two singers, the group continued. The other members went their own ways. "It was a nice surprise when TROS called me and asked if the original band would come and perform at Het Grootste Muziekfeest Van Nederland," says Rudy Nijhuis, one of the original members. "I immediately called everyone. The reactions were very positive and everyone liked the idea to do something together again. In spite of our busy jobs and obligations, we will all be there."

Het Grootste Muziekfeest Van Nederland, a big music show with many artists, will be aired live on Nederland 1 on 31st August from three different locations: the Market Square of Haarlem, Het Oldehoofster Kerkhof in Leeuwarden and Het Vrijthof in Maastricht. Which artists will perform at which location is a surprise, but large screens at each location will make it possible to see the artists at the two other locations too. The whole spectacle will be hosted by Jan Smit.

Attend the Eurovision Dance Contest!

2007-08-27T18:30:00.000+02:00

source: eurovision.tv
Would you like to attend the first ever Eurovision Dance Contest? Apply online for free tickets right now!

The first ever Eurovision Dance Contest is being held at BBC Television Centre, in London, United Kingdom and we are looking for an enthusiastic international and UK audience to join us for the 2 hours and 15 minutes LIVE SHOW on Saturday 1 September, at 20.00 (BST).

Please note the following:

Only 1 pair of tickets will be given per booking
You must be over the age of 18
You will be issued tickets only – no hotel or flights are included in this offer
As an international visitor, you will be guaranteed entry

Places are limited. Not all requests could be accepted. You will be notified by email by 27 July if your request has been accepted. Confirmed times and full venue address will be stated on tickets. You will have to produce a photo proof of identity in order to get your tickets when you arrive at the BBC TV Centre.

Esc-turkey.com is back

2007-08-25T15:39:00.000+02:00

After a long vacation in Turkey, Esc-turkey is back for the Eurovision fans all over the world.

We will bring you again the hotest and important news about the Eurovision Song Contest.

New on Esc-turkey.com
Esc-Turkey is one of the international sites for the Eurovision fans. Now you can choose also about 4 different languages of the site.
Just click on your flag and the site will be loaded in your own language!

We'll try again in January 2008

2007-06-21T17:39:00.000+02:00

source: oikotimes.com
Azerbaijan's 'Chief of TV Complex' Mr. Arzu Abdullayev has told oikotimes.com that AzTV will have another go at securing Active Membership in the EBU next year. AzTV was rejected the highest membership status of the European Broadcasting Union for Administative reasons, and for being too involved with the state of Azerbaijan (broadcaster have to have a fair degree of independance).

However, they will be submitting a new application next year: ''we'll try to do it once again in January of 2008'' he said. As previously mentioned, should Azerbaijan (or any other new country for that matter) enter the Eurovision Song Contest, they would become the 50th country to make it to the stage.

Tunisia will not participate "in the forseeable future"

2007-06-21T17:30:00.000+02:00

source: esctoday.com
Another popular rumour which seems to crop up every year around this time is that one or more of the EBU's north African member states will participate in the next Eurovision Song Contest. However, Tunisian television (ERTT) has today confirmed that they at least will not participate "in the forseeable future", due to governmental requests.

ERTT was a founding member of the EBU back in 1950, but has never participated in the Eurovision Song Contest. It came very close to doing so in 1977, even being drawn to sing at 4th in the running order, but withdrew before ever naming a participant. For the moment at least, this seems to be where the Tunisian Eurovision story will end.

Morocco is to date the only north African nation to have taken part in the contest, in 1980, where they came 2nd last with just 7 points.

ABBA museum set for Stockholm waterfront

2007-06-05T00:32:00.000+02:00

source: todayszaman.com
A 100-year-old former customs warehouse on Stockholm's waterfront will house a future "interactive" museum dedicated to Swedish pop legends ABBA, museum founders said Tuesday.

"We have had a tremendous response from people and the city," museum co-founder and owner Ewa Wigenheim-Westman said. Her husband, Ulf Westman, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the museum would be funded privately.

In addition to original stage costumes, music instruments, photos and other memorabilia, visitors will also have a chance to view clips from ABBA concerts. Westman said the museum was estimated to attract 500,000 visitors a year and would open in the spring of 2009. Plans included offering fans a chance to record their favorite ABBA hits at the museum where a replica of the group's recording studio was to be set up.

Former ABBA members Agnetha Faltskog, Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, and Anni-Fred Reuss (formerly Lyngstad) approved the project a year ago after being approached by the museum founders. In a joint statement the four former ABBA members, who were not to be active partners in the project, said they hoped it would be "a fun and groovy museum to visit."

Wigenheim-Westman said she got the idea to the museum along with her husband after visiting The Beatles Story Exhibition in Liverpool. She contacted the former ABBA members, who still sell two to three million albums a year despite it being two decades since they released their last joint album. ABBA, who had their international breakthrough when they won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo, have sold an estimated 370 million albums. The project includes a Web site:
www.abbamuseum.com

Exclusive!
Abba - Waterloo

ESC RADIO AWARDS 2007

2007-06-05T00:22:00.000+02:00

"The lines are open!"
The 42 songs and artists from this year's Eurovision Song Contest, held on May 10/12 in Helsinki, Finland, get a second chance. Between June 1 and June 7 the world-wide listeners of ESCRADIO.COM, the big- gest online platform for Eurovision music, can vote for their favourites in four categories:

- Best Song 2007
- Best Female Artist 2007
- Best Male Artist 2007
- Best Group 2007

To vote now just click on the banner on the left hand side or hit the following link http://www.escradio.com/awards2007