As it was announced, "Eurosong 2008" will be different then before. The biggest change involves second Semi-Final. Semi-finals will take place on 20. and 22. May, and the final will take place on 24. May. Each county will broadcast the Semi -Final in which it is participating, and the broadcast of other Semi-Final is optional.

Five countries will take part in finals automatically: Spain, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Serbia as the host country, and the others will be divided into two Semi-Finals by draw that will take place by the end of January. The press centre and the accreditation desk will be opened on Saturday, 10th May, and rehearsals are scheduled to start on 11th May. The running order will be determined by the draw that will take place in mid-March.
The final will have 25 participants. Top nine countries from each Semi-Final will qualify for the Final, together with the highest ranked back-up jury participant.

There are only few hours left till the first Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest and 19 delegations are getting more and more nervous as they all are hoping to qualify for the grand final on Saturday! Eurovision.tv will of course stream the Semi-Final live tonight and will have exclusive coverage from the winners' press conference and the after-party!

There was only one more try for the 19 participants of the first Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest today to find the perfect way to present their song on tonight's big show. The last dress rehearsal took place from 14:00 CET onwards.


When and where to watch?

At 21:00 CET, the first Semi-Final will be shown live in all the 19 participating countries and also live on German NDR and Spanish TVE. Lots of other countries will broadcast as well, so check the time-tables of your local broadcasters to see if the Semi-Final will be shown in your country. Of course, Eurovision.tv will stream the show live! There will also be the possibility to watch the show on demand for the next 7 days, so you can watch your favourites over and over again!

"There will also be the possibility to watch the show on demand for the next 7 days, so you can watch your favourites over and over again!"

Something about that last line made me shudder...

I heard quite a few entries are going to be joke songs. If this is true, then at last the songs are a true reflection of the competition.

bring back Lordi

I can't wait!

I don't even know who's in it. First thing I knew about it being on was yesterday morning on the news. I wonder what awful offering the UK will be fielding this year...

Yeah, last year's UK entry was..well...interesting.

dustin the turkey didn't made it...

Oh those crazy Irish!