[Archive 2008-05-21] Eurovision 2008: First semi-final held in Belgrade

Historical archive — originally published 2008-05-21. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

Last night saw the first semi final of this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, Serbia. The entries from Israel, Azerbaijan, Norway, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia, Finland, Romania, Russia and Greece are through to the final, leaving the representatives from Montenegro, Estonia, Moldova, San Marino, Belgium, Slovenia, Ireland, Andorra and the Netherlands failing to qualify for this weekend's final.

The aforementioned countries join host nation Serbia, automatically through as is last year's winner, and the 'big four' - the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain. The other entries will compete in the second semi final tomorrow. Below is a summary of each entry in running order:

Montenegro was represented by Stefan Filipović with the Montenegrin-language song Zauvijek Volim Te (Never Forget I Love You), which was written by Grigor Koprov and Ognen Nedelkovski. He failed to qualify.

Comedy act Kreisiraadio (crazy radio) represented Estonia with Leto Svet. One member of the trio is a former politician, and a second is a current one. The song was the first Estonian entry to be in neither the Estonian or English languages. Instead, the song was mostly in Serbo-Croatian with sections in German and Finnish. They failed to qualify for the final.

Geta Burlacu performed A Century Of Love to represent Moldova. The song, written by Oleg Baraliuc and Viorica Demici, failed to qualify.

San Marino, which is entirely surrounded by Italy and has a population of 31,000, debuted at the contest this year. The nation's first representative was Miodio with Complice. Described as "a melodic song from our tradition" by Sanmarinese Eurovision delegation head Alessandro Capicchioni, failed to qualify.

Ishtar represented Belgium with O Julissi. The song, composed by band member Michel Vangheluwe, bears the unusual distincton of being sung entirely in a language which does not actually exist. Sung by frontwoman Soetkin Baptist the words "kolosali krokodili" bear a resemblance to English, while the rest are designed to resemble Ukrainian and Serbian. It was hoped this would appeal to those in the Balkans and the former Soviet Union, but the song failed to qualify.

Israel was represented by Bo'az Ma'uda performing The Fire in Your Eyes. He sang alongside five backing singers whilst wearing a silvery-blue vest. Many members of the live audience could be seen waving Israeli flags. He won a place in the final with his song, which was written by Dana International and Shai Kerem.

Elnur Huseynov and Samir Javadzadeh represented Azerbaijan with Day After Day, which was written by Govhar Hasanzadeh and lyrics by Zahra Badalbeyli. The performance featured backing performers clad in large 'angel' wings, as was one of the performers. The song has won a place in the final.

Norway was represented by Maria Haukaas Storeng singing Hold On Be Strong, which was written by Mira Craig. Almost a million Norwegian viewers tuned in to watch the singer win a place in the final. Both her and songwriter Craig expressed delight at being chosen to go through to the final.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Eurovision 2008: First semi-final held in Belgrade by Wikinews contributors under CC BY 2.5. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. Contributor history.