The Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Jovana Jankovic and Zeljko Joksimovic hosted all three evenings of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.

Jovana Jankovic is well-known for hosting live television shows. Earlier this year, she hosted the Semi-Final allocation draw, which was broadcast live across Europe. She currently works for Serbia's national television station, RTS, hosting the morning programme and has become the corporate face of the network.

Zeljko Joksimovic is one of the most popular musicians in Serbia. In 2004, he represented Serbia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Turkey with the song "Lane Moje", and he finished second. Two years later, he composed the song "Lejla" for the Contest for Bosnia & Herzegovina, performed by musician Hari Mata Hari. The song was placed third.

He also composed the song "Oro" for the Serbian national final in 2008, as performed by Jelena Tomasevic, and this represented Serbia in the Final.

Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It lies at the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers in north central Serbia. The city is the largest in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and the fourth largest in Southeastern Europe, after Istanbul, Athens and Bucharest.

One of Europe's oldest cities, Belgrade's wider city area was the birthplace of the largest prehistoric culture of Europe, the Vinca culture. The foundation of the city itself dates back to Celtic and later, Roman periods, followed by the settlement of Slavs around the 7th century.

In medieval times, it was in the possession of Byzantine, Frankish, Bulgarian, Hungarian and Serbian rulers, until it was conquered by the Ottomans in 1521 and became the seat of the Pashaluk of Belgrade. It became the capital of an independent Serbian state for the first time in 1284 (lost to Hungary in 1427), the status that it would regain only in 1841, after the liberation from the Ottomans. In the 20th century, it was also the capital of several incarnations of Yugoslavia, up to 2006, when Serbia became an independent state again.

Belgrade has the status of a separate territorial unit in Serbia, with its own autonomous city government. Its territory is divided into 17 municipalities, each having its own local council.

It covers 3.6% of the territory of Serbia, and 21% of the Serbian population lives in the city. Belgrade is the central economic hub of Serbia, and the capital of Serbian culture, education and science.

Source: More information about Belgrade

The Belgrade Arena became the city's trademark and one of the new symbols of the Serbian capital, as well as the place of interest for visitors to the capital and the country. This extraordinary building was the work of architect Vlada Slavica.

The Belgrade Arena complex consists of three units: a large hall, a small hall, and the parking space. The large hall has six levels with a seating capacity of 20,000 to 25,000 depending on the event.

The small hall covers two levels; the over-all dimensions of the hall are 30 x 60m and it serves as the ancillary facility that is used for athletes' preparation and training. It was designed as the facility where the athletes can warm up and then, through the underground pedestrian walkway, under the road on the South, go to the large hall. The field in the small hall is 29.20m x 43.70m and the height of the hall is 10m. It is possible to divide it into two basketball fields (with wall mounted basketball hoops). With all its ancillary facilities (4 dressing-rooms, café bar, gym, reception desk, and 1 cargo lift connecting these two levels), it can operate as a completely independent unit.

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The European Broadcasting Union verified that 43 countries would present their songs in Belgrade.

San Marino, as well as the newest EBU member, Azerbaijan, debuted at the 2008 contest.

Austria did not compete stating that "we've already seen in 2007 that it's not the quality of the song, but the country of origin that determines the decision."

The following countries competed in the two semi-finals broadcast live on Tuesday 20 May, 2008 and Thursday 22 May, 2008 and failed to qualify for the Final.

(The top nine countries - determined by public telephone votes - from both semi-finals plus two wildcard countries from the jury were represented in the final).

The songs represented in the Final are shown in running order for the Contest.

1. Russia - Dima Bilan "Believe" Pts. 272
2. Ukraine - Ani Lorak "Shady Lady" Pts. 230
3. Greece - Kalomira "Secret Combination" Pts. 218
4. Armenia - Sirusho "Qele Qele" Pts. 199
5. Norway - Maria Haukaas Storeng "Hold On Be Strong" Pts. 182
6. Serbia - Jelena Tomasevic "Oro" Pts. 160
7. Turkey - Mor ve Ötesi "Deli" Pts. 138
8. Azerbaijan - Elnur and Samir "Day After Day" Pts. 132
9. Israel - Boaz "The Fire in Your Eyes" Pts. 124
10. Bosnia and Herzegovina - Laka "Pokusaj" Pts. 110
11. Georgia - Diana Gurtskaya "Peace Will Come" Pts. 83
12. Latvia - Pirates of the Sea "Wolves of the Sea" Pts. 83
13. Portugal - Vânia Fernandes "Senhora do Mar (Negras Águas)" Pts. 69
14. Iceland - Euroband "This is My Life" Pts. 64
15. Denmark - Simon Mathew "All Night Long" Pts. 60
16. Spain - Rodolfo Chikilicuatre "Baila el Chiki Chiki" Pts. 55
17. Albania - Olta Boka "Zemrën E Lamë Peng" Pts. 55
18. Sweden - Charlotte Perrelli "Hero" Pts. 47
19. France - Sébastien Tellier "Divine" Pts. 47
20. Romania - Nico and Vlad "Pe-o Margine de Lume" Pts. 45
21. Croatia - Kraljevi Ulice and 75 cents "Romanca" Pts. 44
22. Finland - Teräsbetoni "Missä miehet ratsastaa" Pts. 35
23. Germany - No Angels "Disappear" Pts. 14
24. Poland - Isis Gee "For Life" Pts. 14
25. United Kingdom - Andy Abraham "Even If" Pts. 14