VENUE Belgrade Arena		ENTRIES 25
HOSTS Jovana Jankovic Zeljko Joksimovic		DEBUTS Azerbaijan

Hopes ran high for the 53rd contest as the EBU acknowledged the problem of ex-pat/neighbour voting, by organizing two semi-finals with the countries seeded to break up as many traditional voting patterns as possible.  This meant a broader range of final qualifiers for the grand final, as the Nordic countries fared particularly well.

Come the final though, there was no change in format as all forty-three participants could vote, and sadly the same voting trends that had now become entrenched played out almost identically to 2007.  The word many weeks before the contest was that Russia was desperate for a win, and all the stops were pulled out, including less than transparent draws for running order (although that's hardly a new phenomenon at the contest) and even shifting a commercial break to accommodate the Russian stage props.

Thus the final result was no surprise, nor the string of twelves (and little else) from Armenia's ex-pats, nor the strong showing of Turkey, Greece, Serbia and Ukraine, who are all now guaranteed a top ten place under the current system. On their debut this year, Azerbaijan showed that they could soon join that little club of countries with a debilitating (for the rest) head-start.

To no-ones great surprise the big four again finished near the foot of the scoreboard.  The UK sent Andy Abraham who finished last of all on countback, but several leaked back-up jury votes have suggested he would have finished much higher with a mix of juries and televotes, giving some credence to Sir Terry Wogan's comments that a black singer will not get votes from the masses in Eastern Europe.

Semi 1 - non qualifiers

Semi 2 - non qualifiers

WINNER: Russia

BELIEVE by Dima Bilan

voting

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