ESCToday.com

 

Two semi-finals in 2008 confirmed

The Eurovision Song Contest format for 2008 will, as revealed by esctoday.com on July 31st, change to a two semi final system. At a meeting of the TV Committee of the European Broadcasting Union in Verona today, it was decided to approve the proposal of hosting two Semi-Finals for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest.

 

The proposal was put together by the Reference Group of the contest. Only the Host Country, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom are automatically qualified for the Final. All other participants will participate in one of two Semi-Finals.

 

Executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest, Svante Stockselius told eurovision.tv:

 

"We are convinced that the introduction of a second Semi-Final contributes to a more stable future for the Eurovision Song Contest...We carefully listened to the suggestions of Members and fans and we took notice of the critical remarks in the press. After evaluating several scenarios, it was decided to introduce a second Semi-Final already in 2008. This increases the fairness of the competition, opens doors to a more interesting final and production-wise, it is the most flexible solution," he underlined.

Back-up juries coming back?

esctoday.com has learnt that the results of the back-up jury will have more of an impact. Of the ten countries that will qualify from each semi final only the top nine countries are guaranteed to win a place in the final. The tenth country to qualify will be the highest ranked country from the back-up jury that has not already qualified through the televote.

 

This change clearly shows that Svante Stockselius' comments today that the EBU has "carefully listened to the suggestions of Members and fans and we took notice of the critical remarks in the press" is not without foundation. Many fans would like to see more jury involvement.

 

This move is expected to be popular with fans, and will be a further method to reduce the effect of diaspora voting at the Eurovision Song Contest. This in alignment with the two semi final system expected to reduce the impact of political or neighbourly voting, is likely to lead to a fairer overall qualification process.

 

So who gains and who loses with the new format?

The change in format is likely to improve the chances of qualification for some countries, others will feel aggreved at the proposed change. What of the viewers and the fans? The changes made public so far seem sure to mean a less predictable outcome and more fun in the show.

The most notable losers initially are Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Belarus, Greece, Armenia, Hungary and Moldova, who all lose their automatic place in the 2008 final. Although the rules of the 2007 event clearly stated that a top ten finish would not guarantee an automatic place in the 2008 final, it is likely that these countries will feel aggrieved. This is especially true for Bulgaria and Belarus, as they have never qualified from the semi finals before.

 

The news is not all bad for them, as the history of the Eurovision Song Contest since the semi final was introduced is that pre-qualified songs fair badly at the event. In 2006, only two of the fourteen pre-qualified finalists finished in the top half of the scoreboard. Only five countries from fourteen that did not take part in the 2007 semi final finished in the top half of the final scoreboard in Helsinki.

 

The winners are most likely to be European island nations such Iceland, Ireland, Malta and Cyprus who have all seen their results fall sharply since the introduction of so many new countries. Countries such as Portugal and Israel, Belgium and The Netherlands will also feel additional hope. They are also more likely to attract stronger candidates due to a greater chance of qualification.

 

The counter argument to the political voting view is that 'Western Countries' do not send good enough entries. Therein lies a catch 22 situation, because performers in many countries do not see how they could qualify even with a good song. As a result some countries have struggled to find suitable singers for a national selection show or an internal selection. Evridiki and Edsilia Rombley were both big names at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007, and both tipped to do well in the final, neither succeeded in passing from the semi final.

 

The Big Four (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the host country are guaranteed a place in the final, however this has been a disadvantage since the introduction of the semi final system with the Big Four consistently featuring near the bottom of the scoreboard. Their song is only heard once, whereas the semi finalists songs are heard twice by people watching both shows. By splitting the comeptition in half, this effect may be reduced slightly, but it still seems that being a high financial contributor is ironically, a serious disadvantage to success at the competition.

 

The greatest winner here seems to be the Eurovision Song Contest and its fans and viewers. The contest will become (slightly) less predictable, it is likely to promote and attract higher quality names and talents to the event.

we'll see how this will roll next year ^_^

and don't read any of the semi voting :???: is there gonna be a vote only from the countries that participate in that particular semi or every participating country (including the 5 prequal. finalists) must vote in both semies :unsure:

I supose every participating country will must vote in the final no matter if they make the actual final :) right ? :lol:

But how will this change the problem of neighbour countries just voting for each other... it won't, so the problem still hasn't been solved, they have just made the contest even more confusing...

one word to describe this "eh?"

Well, it seems good, but we need the 100% pot idea for semi votes that the guy at AKOE put forward :(