Terminal 3.... The Eurovision Blog

and the end of the 2007 Finnish Year of Eurovision and the start of the Serbian one. Well what a year its been!!! Who would have thought at the start of 2007 that Serbia was going to win in Helsinki? Who would have thought that this year would also see probably the most controversial Eurovision ever with most of the pre contest favourites being eliminated for what were in my opinion a lot of sub standard songs. For me personally Eurovision 2007 will always be special as even though I have been a massive fan since 1981, this was my first live contest and I would yet again like to thank Finland for putting on a fantastic show. Heres hoping that Serbia will be just as good. 2007 saw new countries taking part for the first time (Georgia, Montenegro and Serbia) and old timers leaving again (Austria and Monaco). 2007 saw the first winning song being sung in the national language since Israel in 1998. 2008 sees 2 new countries competing (Azerbaijan and San Marino) and yet again Austria take

and it is Elvir Lakovic Laka who will be singing a song with the title "Pokusaj" which is translated in English as "Try". Laka who is a well known singer in the Balkan republics has written the lyrics and the music. The song was chosen from 31 which were shortlisted and the announcement was made on 27 December 2007. Here is one of his songs/videos. What do you think?

With Austria out and Azerbaijan and San Marino taking part for the first time in Belgrade it means there are 43 countries taking part in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. With no Italy or Luxembourg returning in 2008 and Austria withdrawing again what does this mean for Eurovision? In my opinion nothing at all countries have withdrawn in the past for long periods of time and then have come back and been around for ages. I still personally think that Italy will see what the response is to the San Marino entry in 2008 before deciding what to do in 2009 and with Luxembourg the fans tried hard this year to get them back and maybe will have to try harder in 2008. Good Luck to the 43 that are entering..............I wonder who it will be that wins in Belgrade????

Ani Lorak will be representing Ukraine in Belgrade in May. The announcement was made earlier this week that the 29 year old singer who has entered the Ukrainian National Finals twice before has been offered the job on a plate and has accepted. Will Ukraine go one step further than 2007 with Ani.........we shall see!!!!

A regular occurrance now, Albania have again held their national selection early and have the honour of being the first country to have their singer and song chosen from a national final (others known have been via internal selection.) Last weekend saw the whole selection done and dusted. Out of this weekend, Olta Boka will be representing Albania with her song Zemren e lame peng. I would describe the song as a slow tempo ethnic song (sorry, but I can't say boring! - Oops, sorry it slipped out!!!), which unless it is jazzed up a lot, will find it hard to be remembered in the large selection of songs that will be in Belgrade next year. Having said that, it is always good to have a broad selection of songs and Olta's song certainly will add variety to Belgrade's event! Below is a video of the song from the national selection......

Another British pop star has got in on the Eurovision act for 2008 with Duncan James formerly of the pop group "Blue" has co-written a song for Esther Sels which is called "Game Over". Don't be fooled though.....even with an English title the song will be the only one in the Belgian selection sung entirely in Dutch.

but, unfortunately only as a writer/composer and has stated that Take That will not be performing the song. The British tabloid newspaper "The Daily Mirror" released the story with Gary quoted as saying "It's a great show and maybe there's a chance we could pull it off, but think of the stick we would get!" Personally I think that a song by Gary Barlow would be fantastic. He is a brilliant songwriter and a song written by him with the right singer/s would be a formidable force should it be the UK entry in Belgrade.

A bit off topic, but....... If you thought that the voting in Eurovision was bad, tonight it has been surpassed by probably one of the most idiotic voting in the history of televoting!!!! Tonight saw the final of the British X-Factor. Going into the final were three acts...... Act 1 - Leon. A very nervous singer who always sang as if he couldn't wait to get off the stage. Act 2 - Same Difference. A brother-sister duo who just had loads of fun on stage and this fun just filled the screen and was infectious. Act 3 - Rhydian. A classically trained singer who has probably one of the best voices I've ever heard and talent just overflowing at the seems. After stage one, Same Difference were eliminated, leaving Leon and Rhydian to battle it out. Now considering the song that was to be sung by the winner, which would have totally been wrong for Same Difference I can't help but think that this result was staged. However, no one was expecting what happened next! Leon sang the s

Another country has now announced their singers for Belgrade and it is Turkey. TRT made the announcement at the beginning of the week. The group representing them at Eurovision in 2008 will be "mor ve otesi" an alternative rock band hailing from Istanbul who were formed in 1995. No song has been announced yet and TRT the national Broadcaster of Turkey have made it perfectly clear over recent months that they would like their next entry to be sung in Turkish, whether this will happen is not known as the group have said that the choice of language will be decided by them. It will be interesting to see what the reaction will be to this genre of music in Eurovision.

and what a decision..........Gisela has now been confirmed as the Andorran representative in Belgrade next May and will sing "Casanova" which according to local newspaper Diari D'Andorra her song will be sung in English with Catalan phrases. Gisela became famous in 2002 when she starred in Operacion Triunfo and finished 8th behind Rosa who went on to represent Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest in Tallinn. Gisela was at that time invited to be part of Rosas backing singers and accepted. More information on the song will be released in the New Year. So with just over 5 months to go 5 countries have announced their singers - Israel, Armenia, Netherlands, Switzerland and now Andorra.unless any other country decides internally before Christmas then the next to decide will be Albania. Hers a taster for you:-

Well Monaco anyway!! It has been announced by TMC the Monaguesque TV Company that Monaco will not be represented at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Belgrade, Serbia. According to sources at the TV company they do not feel that the 2 semi final format will make any difference to a non qualification to the ESC Final on 24th May 2008. I personally think it's a jolly big shame (god that the Famous Five coming out isn't it....by jove), especially as Monaco were a regular until 1979, following a 25 year absence they came back to the Eurovision fold in 2004 but unfortunately never quite made the final for the following 3 years until once again they withdrew. Well with Austria and now Monaco not participating that leaves 2 free spaces at the next Eurovision. Will Italy and Luxembourg fill those last 2 spots.............we shall see in the next month or so. So you dont forget here is Monaco in action with their winning song from 1971.

and how exciting is it getting already. 7 Bulgarian Semi Finals, 9 Icelandic Semi Finals, Swiss Song chosen, Israel, Netherlands and Armenia have singers ready and the Albanian selection this month. With announcements due soon regarding the Swedish Melodifestivalen Performers and also the EBU confirmation of the participating countries Eurovision Season is well and truly upon us. What can we expect over the next few months is anyones guess............ At least by the end of January we will start to have a good idea of the quality of the songs and I'm sure the fans favourite will already be chosen.

With the last French win being in 1977 when Marie Myriam sang the classic L'Oiseau et L'Enfant, their luck has been a mixed bag of recent years. The last time they came really close was in 1991 when they were pipped at the post by Carola and "Fangad av en Stormvind" on a countback!! With the arrival of the 2000's France started very poorly finishing 23rd in Stockholm, but that was followed by Natasha St Pier with what is probably the best French song of the decade "Je N'ai Que Mon Âme" which finished in 4th place and then they followed that with a 5th place in Tallinn. What seemed like a renaissance for the French in those 2 years was brought to a sudden halt in 2002 when they finished 18th. 2007 should have been the year that turned around French fortunes but unfortunately 23rd was the highest they could manage. Has being one of the "Big 4" dampened their chances of winning again? I don't think so!!! They have over the past few y

La Svizzera well seeing as the Swiss representative is Paolo Meneguzzi and will be singing a romantic ballad "Era Stupendo", I had no choice but to write Switzerland in Italian. Only November and we already know 4 singers and now one song as well..........I think the Eurovision Season has well and truly started!! By the way just in case your wondering the video clip is not of his Eurovision Entry!!!

Well by choosing Hind as their singer in Belgrade that is sure as hell what it feels like. Born in 1984 to a Moroccan father and Dutch mother in the town of Gouda, Hind Laroussi Tahiri entered the Dutch IDOLS in 2002/03 where she reached the finals. Since then the rest is history winning an Edison award for Best New Dutch Artist in 2004. Her first album "Around The World" was released in 2003 and was mainly pop and R&B but with a Portuguese and Arabic flavour. She herself described her last album "Halfway Home" as Arabpop. Personally I think that Hind is the perfect candidate to represent The Netherlands and hopefully style of music will appeal to many...... I better get my Dutch flag out ready!! Good Luck Netherlands

After starting the shift over to Eastern European wins in 2001 and hosting in 2002, you would have thought that interest in the Eurovision by Estonians would still be at a high, but poor finishes in the last three years are taking their toll on the Estonians. In 2004, they had a record number of entries into their national preselection with 153 songs entered. However, since that year there has been a slow decline and this year it has hit an all-time low with only 58 songs having been submitted. Could this be apathy towards the contest or could it be the fact that only 4 songs qualify for the final? So the big question is.... Having started the shift over to Eastern European countries, are they starting the shift away?!!!! Only time will tell.

Get ready a whole new genre of music to be born on Saturday - PUSSY PUNK! What's pussy punk I hear you ask? Read on as Terminal 3 has been able to turn the spotlight onto Hara in an exclusive interview! Hi, tell us about where in Iceland you live? We are born in a charming little town just outside of Reykjavik that is called Hveragerði. We still live there. If you could describe Iceland in one sentence, what would it be? A nurturing place for the soul. How did you get interested in the Eurovision Song Contest and what is your favourite all-time Eurovison song? We have been interested in the ESC since we were children and we have always watched the competition. As for favourite songs, Rakel's favourite is "La det swinge" and Hildur's is "Nina". Many Eurovision fans will not have heard of you before, how would you describe your style of music? We play a new musical genre called Pussy-Punk! What has been the biggest influence on your career so far? T

Well I do anyway...........and I dont think I'm the only Eurofan to do so. Italy have not taken part in Eurovision since that fantastic 4th place in 1997 with "Fiumi di Parole" by Jalisse. What a fantastic song and why have Italy not bothered to follow it up. A big nation in Eurovision but sadly with only 2 winners Gigliola Cinquetti in 1964 and Toto Cutugno in 1992, mind you they had several top 10 finishes of which some of my favourites "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu", "Si", "I Treni De Tozeur" and "Gente de Mare" amongst them. It seems that the Italians don't have the following of Eurovision anymore that they did and with RAI not wanting to participate anymore it seems unlikely that we will be seeing Italy back in the Eurovision fold for a long long time. Come on RAI....we want you back...... Just for a reminder here is the last Italian Eurovision Entry to whet your appetite!

Hara Sisters .v. Euroband....... Even though the national selection season for 2008 is still young, the most anticipated semi-final will be aired this weekend in Iceland. Could we be seeing Iceland's next entrants on Saturday? The Hara Sisters, Rakel & Hildur Magnusdottir, were x-factor contestants this year in Iceland and got to the final, only to lose out to Jogvan Hanson from the Faroe Islands. However, their Eurovision stock has been boosted by the inclusion of Gerard James Borg in their corner, who has helped pen their entry "I wanna manicure". The song is described by Rakel as being "pussy-punk"! Euroband members will certainly be able to fall back on Eurovision knowledge, as three of their members have been to the final in some capacity. The song to perform is called Fullkomið líf (Perfect life) and it is written by Örlygur Smári, who wrote the Icelandic entry back in 2000. So have Iceland kept the best till last, or will we be wondering what all

One country that will be missing from the list of entrants in December for the 2008 Eurovision will be Austria. After failing to attract viewer's votes with Eric Papilaya's "Get a life - get alive", Austrian officials have decided not to return until people vote for them! Oh sorry, I mean, that they won't return until the political voting stops. They also give the reason that as the EBU has not yet decided on how to organise the semi finals, they didn't want to enter just in case there was still an east and west split. So it looks as if the list of possible entrants is down to 44. Will this be the last withdrawl? Who knows!

It looks like the line up for 2008 is complete with the news that, despite rumours of withdrawl, Montenegro will be back for their second contest in Belgrade. Once twinned together with Serbia, Montenegro took part as an independant country for the first time in 2007 with Stefan Faddy and had a poor result, finishing 23rd in the Semi final with 33 points. Rumours of lack of money, had led the Eurovision community to believe that they would withdraw from the contest next year, but it seems that these rumours have persuaded the powers that be in Montenegro to enter again. So it looks like the limit set by the EBU has been reached in that all 42 countries from last year are returning, together with Monaco, San Marino and Azerbaijan joining for Belgrade. It looks like the official list will be published in December. Wonder if there will be any shocks that no one has reported?

I certainly hope not. Following a fantastic contest in Helsinki and most definately one of their best entries ever with "Leave Me Alone" by Hanna what will the Finns have up their sleeves for Belgrade. We already know that they will be giving us a good old mixture of music styles in their National Finals including what seems to be a National Final trend (all over Europe)........."The drag act". 2006 was a high point in Finnish Eurovision History with their first ever winner and this was following 2 years being stuck in the semi finals and a year relegated. Before 2006 their best placing had been 6th place in 1973! Will Finland be in contention for winning the Eurovision again in 2008? I'm not sure but I would put money on it that the fans would love a trip back to Helsinki in the near future.

and this time it's Portugal. Portugal will be going to Belgrade knowing that their country is now the one with the longest time without winning since their first participation. Hopefully they will go one better than Helsinki when they missed out on the final by 3 points and 1 place. Good Luck Portugal

and it was announced on Armenian TV earlier today. They also confirmed that they will be holding a national final with 5 songs and the public will choose the winning song that Sirusho will take with her as the Armenian Entry. Eurovision fans may remember her from 2007 as being the Armenian Spokesperson. Another female with a good voice.............this could be an interesting contest already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and his name is Boaz Mauda and he has recently become the winner of Kohav Nolad 5 (Israeli Pop Idol). There is no information on a song as yet but it would appear that Channel 2 will arrange a 'private' national final for him comprising of 5songs which will be selected for the public and a special jury to vote on. Here is one of his performances from Kohav Nolad 5 and to be perfectly honest I think he has a fantastic voice and given the right song could probably do quite well in Belgrade.

Slovakia have announced that they will not be sending a singer and a song to Belgrade in 2008. Saying that they have not ruled out participation in the future. So what does that mean? By my reckoning there is a free space if San Marino are in!!!!! So who will it be? Monaco, Luxembourg, Italy? We shall find out on Thursday or Friday.

According to reports today on various websites San Marino could be entering their first Eurovision entry ever, and if they do I am so glad that I will be in Belgrade to see it performed. I was in Helsinki when the first Italian language song was sung in 10 years now it would appear that we will be seeing the Italian language sung in 2008 and I for one am over the moon. If San Marino do enter surely with an Italian language song they would start as one of the pre contest favourites...............well they would with me anyway!!!!! So if San Marino enter that would be 44 that we know of if we take all of the countries from last year plus Azerbaijan and then San Marino..............the question is who is number 45................Monaco?, Slovakia?, Luxembourg?, Italy?. Personally my money is on it being Slovakia!!! I so hope San Marino are in Belgrade that would be fantastic!!!!!!!

wow!!! what a day for confirmations. Hungary have now confirmed their participation in Belgrade and will be holding a National Final according to OIKOTimes. Will they do as good as last year??? We shall see songs have to be submitted by 20 December 2007.

will be.... "Will Macedonia make the Eurovision Final again?" Macedonia have today announced that they are the 29th country to confirm participation in Belgrade in 2008. So welcome to the party Macedonia and see you in Belgrade and good luck.................cos I think you will need it!!!!!!!!!!!! Now that comment brings me back to the question at the top!!! 2 semi finals no guarantee of who will be in the semi and the fact that only the countries in the semi can vote for the other songs in the same semi!!!!!! I think Macedonia could have a problem with qualification. Over the past 4 years since the semi final has been in place Macedonia have finished either 9th or 10th in the semi to then ended up down in the lower echelons of the Final. With 10 entries and their highest placing being 12th in 2006 their chances of qualification surely are not as clear cut as before especially as there is no guarantee of the neighbourly votes to get them there. Anyway Good Luck Macedoni

....but Estonia did it with style and have never seen a Eurovision Song Contest Final since!!!!! 13 entries in 14 years, which include 1 win amongst the 4 Top 5 finishes yet since they won the whole thing in 2001 they have slipped further down the scoreboard which has ended with Gerli Padar finishing a disappointing 22nd in the semi final in Helsinki. Estonia have (since the semi finals taken place) never qualified to the final and along with Portugal and Andorra been the least successful of Eurovision nations over recent years. Good luck Estonia....please choose a song which will get you through to the ESC Final!

...........YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today another country has responded to the EBU invitation to take part in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. Poland become the 28th country to confirm their presence in Belgrade. There is no news on the format for choosing their representative at the moment but by the end of November the Broadcaster will announce their selection rules and information.

or is it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was reading earlier on OIKOTIMES that the EBU have announced the rules for the 2008 song contest and state in their rules that there will be a maximum of 45 nationas competing in Belgrade. Is this telling us that in fact there are already 45 countries taking part and that the places have been filled and that is with 10 days to go before all broadcasters are supposed to confirm participation:- By my reckoning we already know for definate now about the following:- Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Albania, Bulgaria, Ireland, Turkey, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Belarus, Belgium, Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Azerbaijan and Moldova. Im sure we can safely say that the remaining nations from last year will be represented in Belgrade but what about the other 3 places???? Slovakia have made it known that they are interested....not suprisingly really since they wont want to be outdone b

This year there will be a touch of Maltese spice on one of Iceland ’s semi-final songs for the Eurovision song contest! Gerard James Borg, topline lyric writer and concept designer, is involved in the “Manicure Project” as a concept designer together with Icelandic composer Hallgrimur Oskarsson. Borg/Oskarsson are collaborating on the song “I Wanna Manicure” that has been selected for the Icelandic Eurovision semi-finals. The song will be performed by the “Hara sisters” who have had a close miss to winning the Icelandic idol, placing 2 nd . Hallgrimur Oskarsson is the composer of the song “Open Your Heart” that represented Iceland in the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest in Latvia , and received an impressive 12 points from Malta that year. Gerard and Hallgrimur have worked together in the past on a number of projects for European artists. “I wanna Manicure” is the result of some creative and somewhat crazy ideas fused together by Borg/Oskarsson, and will be premiered on Ice

D espite the annual rumour that Moldova wouldn't be participating, television company TRM have today confirmed that Moldova will be participating in Belgrade. With money an issue, I'm sure their success in Helsinki has helped secure their Eurovision place. How they will react if one of their songs doesn't reach the final, is anyone's guess. Not a country for plain songs, I'm sure they'll unearth another gem for 2008!

can Denmark get through to the final again? Hopefully after a very disappointing show in Helsinki with what was one of the best songs in the competition. 19th place in the Semi was very upsetting. Denmark still at the present time hold the record for the longest gaps between wins from 1963 until 2000 (37 years)well that will be until Austria or Spain win again seeing as it is now 41 years since Austria won and 38 years since Spain won. Denmark have been one of the countries that have spent years away from the Contest only to come back and do relatively well. In fact they never took part from 1967 until 1977. The late 80's seemed to be a good era for Danish songs with 5 top 10 finishes in a row followed by a 5th place in 1995 with Aud Wilken. Denmark have won the contest twice and both were family orientated duets. Dansevise in 1963 was sing by husband and wife (Grethe and Jorgen Ingmann)whilst the spectacular win in 2000 was sung by The Olsen Brothers and followed by the bigg

Well in my opinion it is. I watched it when I got home from work last night as is the norm for me on a Saturday if I happen to be working because of course I want to see whether the Icelandic heats are getting better or worse!!! Ihave to say in my opinion which I might add is not a professional opinion by any stretch of the imagination yesterdays heat was by far and away the best yet. The song which has been sent to the National Final in Iceland is probably the catchiest yet and I believe stands the best chance at the moment compared to the others................mind you with do have The Hara Sisters to see yet and their song...... Could the Icelandic Heats be turning into compulsive watching amongst fans!!!!????? we shall have to see.

well almost!!! The Czech Republic entered the Eurovision family in Helsinki and unfortunately it was not a very auspicious start for them. 1 Point (from Estonia) and 28th place. The Czech's have not let that put them off and they have already started the selection process for Belgrade when hopefully they will choose a better song than this year...........thats not fair really my 7 year old son loved it!!!!!!!!! Maybe 2 semi finals will be of benefit to the Czech's but they really need to choose a fab song. Will they follow the routine of choosing a song similar to this years winner because thats how it seemed for this year by choosing a "heavy metal" song. GOOD LUCK to the Czech Republic

.....lots of love from Greece x That is the one thing that Cyprus will be remembered for in Eurovision history. Every year without fail you can guarantee that Cyprus give Greece 12 points. However history should also tell us that in 25 attempts Cyprus have actually been in the Top 10 on 9 occasions 3 of which have resulted in 5th place 1982, 1997 and 2004 unfortunately after 2004 their fortunes have faded somewhat and the dizzy heights have never been reached. After a disappointing 19th place in 2005 with Constantinos and his song "Ela Ela" Cyprus unfortunately have never been back in the final since. Cyprus were one of the red hot favourites to qualify for the final in Helsinki but missed out by finishing 15th. There is talk that Cyprus will be going back to a National Final for their 2008 selection and for me personally I hope they choose a song good enough for them to warrant a place back in the Eurovision Song Contest Final................I think 2 semi finals could b

and thank you for a wonderful show! has been one of the phrases since 1993 that I have half expected to hear. Croatia have sent some fantastic songs to Eurovision since their debut (as an independant country) in the 1993 contest in Millstreet. PUT who sang "Don't Ever Cry" started as one of the pre contest favourites, but unfortunately ended up in a lowly 15th out of 25 nations, but it was higher than Slovenia and Bosnia who both debuted that year. You could argue in fact that Croatia are the best of the Former Yugoslavian Republics in Eurovision as they have had the most Top 10 finishes with 6 whilst both Slovenia and Bosnia have 3. Croatia had a disappointing 2007 where they finished 16th in the semi final which brought an end to 14 years of qualifying to the final. What will 2008 bring? Will they end up qualifying to the final or have their glory days ended? We shall soon see.

well sort of. LRT the Lithuanian Broadcaster make Lithuania the 23rd country to give any indication of their participation in Belgrade in 2008. The deadline for songs is December 10th 2008 but unfortunately no information as to how they will be choosing their song. I enjoyed the Lithuanian song in Helsinki and believe it should have been placed higher than where it ended but will they be able to get into another final in 2008.

Three years of Eurovision history for Bulgaria and what do they have to show for it? A totally forgettable debut song, a mediocre song and an excellent song. Bulgaria joined the Eurovision family in Kyiv 2005, but entered with a song which could send you to sleep and ended up nine positions out of the final qualification places. So, twelve months later they manage to gain two places and lose out by seven positions, but with 13 less points. You could therefore have been forgiven for expecting another failure in the semi-final in Helsinki this year. How wrong could we be?! The Bulgarians chose a vibrant song with individuality and were rewarded with their first appearance in the final and an excellent fifth place finish. So can Bulgaria continue to build on their success of 2007? Certainly, Bulgaria will be disappointed that they will not automatically qualify for the final in 2008. Under the one semi-final rules they would have qualified, but with the move to two semis, they aga

Malta were able to lay claim to a first this year, when they allowed fans to choose from two outfits that Olivia Lewis could wear for the contest. It attracted a lot of interest and the chosen outfit was liked by all. However, before it even came to this choice, there were many options available. Terminal 3 has been able to get an insight into the design of the clothing, thanks to Gerard James Borg! Not only is Gerard a talented song writer, but he also puts his talents towards fashion design. Examples of his design work can be seen at his website www.gerardjamesborg.co.uk . Here are two pictures of proposed outfits for the dancers and backing singers, these were not used in the end, but still excellent options! Please note that both pictures are copyright of Gerard James Borg and should not be used without his consent.

2 006 was a close encounter with the winners podium for Bosnia & Herzegovina. A brilliant crafted song from Hari Mata Hari lost out to the monsters of Finland, but was probably one of the best all round song of Athens. B ut 2006, seems to be the exception to the rule of Bosnian entries rather than the rule. A debut in 1993, saw a country torn by war enter to massive rounds of applause from the audience in the hall, but it took six years before the public voted them into the top 10. W ith an automatic place in the final in 2007, fans eagerly awaited the follow up to Lejla. However, a slow tempo song followed and was crippled by the bad draw which found the song opening the 2007 final. Forgotten by many, due to the many songs that followed, Marija Sestic finished just out of the top ten with an eleventh placed finish. At present, there is no news coming out of Bosnia & Herzegovina regarding the 2008 contest. It will be interesting to see how they fair in the new 2 semi-final

H aving only missed out on 3 contests in the whole history of the Eurovision, you could say that Belgium are an old-hand at this game. However, of the twenty one top ten finishes, only one has been as winner (Sandra Kim in 1986.) B elgium came close again to a winner in 2003 with the alternative Urban Trad, with a song in a made up language. Losing out by 2 points, Belgians could have thought that their fortunes in the Eurovision were on the up, but after finishing third from bottom in the 2004 final, we haven't again seen a Belgian song make a final appearance. 2 006 saw Belgium pull out the stops with Kate Ryan, but fell short by 7 points even though she was the pre-contest favourite. DISCO was the flavour that Belgium took this year in Helsinki, but they were way off the pace and finished 26th in the Semi-final. S o what will 2008 hold for the Belgians? They originally set a deadline of 9th November for song submissions, but were persuaded to push that date back to 23rd Nov

and we will have just found out who the qualifiers are for the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest Final to be held in Belgrade. Taking that into consideration it is not suprising that many countries, 23 in fact have given a definate indication of the intention to be there, 10 of which including Iceland, Bulgaria, Albania, Norway, Denmark, Cyprus, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Sweden have announced the cates of their National Finals. Malta, Belarus, Belgium, Czech Rep, Germany, The Netherlands, Israel, Slovenia and Switzerland have announced their plans for selection. Whilst Hungary and Ireland have announced that they will be letting us know soon what their selections will be like and of course their is Serbia whom as hosts we are assuming will be sending a song, and it would appear that Azerbaijan have started the process too. Personally, I think taking into consideration recent years we will be seeing internal selections from The Netherlands (we know they have approached Gerard Joling wh

and apparently Gerard Joling the Dutch representative in 1988 with one of my favourite songs "Shangri-La" has been asked by NOS (the Dutch TV Broadcaster) to be their representative in Belgrade. I personally am not sure whether he would be the most suitable candidate for the Netherlands, however, what do I know?? Should the Netherlands bite the bullet and send the likes of "Bearforce1" I'm not sure! Maybe sending an established artist who is still as popular now as he was 19 years ago could pay off and the Dutch will be in their first Eurovision final since 2004. Good Luck Netherlands!

The EBU have announced that Azerbaijan will be particpating in Belgrade and I just cant seem to get excited about it. What will this mean another 12 points to Russia or Armenia or Georgia. A lot of people seem to think that Turkey will benefit from an Azeri televote.............. I really am not sure what I think.........Maybe when they have chosen their song my opinion will be changed but at the moment I am gonna sit on the fence and say those magic words "NO COMMENT"

At last the Irish tricolour has arrived on the blog. It looks like Ireland are going to be having a National Final again which could be interesting. By the end of this week there should be announcement. Ireland the winners on 7 occasions have like the United Kingdom been down in the doldrums over recent years. Will a National Final be enough to bring the pride back to the Irish.......I'm not sure but you can never rule them out of winning again.

the Swedish songs have been announced and there was an ulmighty great suprise for all Swedish fans......what was that? you might be asking. Well believe it or not there was no mention of Mr Thomas G:son. The list of songs is as follows:- actually if you want to see the full list of songs and composers you can visit ESCtoday for a comprehensive list. I wonder who they have lined up to sing these............will there be any famous names?