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. She has previously 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, where 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.

Source: More information about Belgrade

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