Serbia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song „Oro“ written by Željko Joksimović and Dejan Ivanović. The song was performed by Jelena Tomašević featuring Bora Dugić. In addition to participating in the contest, the Serbian national broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest after winning the competition in 2007 with the song „Molitva“ performed by Marija Šerifović. RTS organised the national final Beovizija 2008 in order to select the Serbian entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade. The national final consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final on 9 and 10 March 2008, respectively. Twenty entries competed in the semi-final where the top ten qualified to the final following the combination of votes from a three-member jury panel and a public televote. The ten qualifiers competed in the final which resulted in „Oro“ performed by Jelena Tomašević featuring Bora Dugić as the winner following the combination of votes from a three-member jury panel and a public televote.
As the host country, Serbia qualified to compete directly in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 23 during the final, Serbia placed sixth out of the 25 participating countries with 160 points.
Beovizija 2008
Beovizija 2008 was the sixth edition of the Beovizija national final organised by RTS in order to select the Serbian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. The selection consisted of a semi-final featuring twenty songs and a final featuring ten songs to be held on 9 and 10 March 2008, respectively. Both shows were hosted by Nina Radulović, Đorđe Maričić, Kristina Radenković and Branislav Katić. The two shows were broadcast on RTS1, RTS Sat, in Bosnia and Herzegovina on RTRS, via radio on Radio Belgrade as well as streamed online via the broadcaster’s website rts.rs and the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.
The semi-finals were to be held on February 19, 2008 while the finals were to be held a day later.[5] However, due to the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo on 17 February, the festival was delayed until March 9 when the semi-finals took place and the finals which took place on March 10.
Format and winner
The same format set by Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) in Beovizija 2007 took place in 2008. The deadline for the submission of songs by artist to the national broadcaster was on December 15, 2007. One of the requirements for entry was that the songs must be performed in Serbian, however, the winning song can be sung in any language for Eurovision. On December 24, 2007, 20 semi-finalists were selected by a group of RTS judges: Ana Milićević, Anja Rogljić, Zoran Dašić, Nikoleta Dojčinović, Jelena Vlahović, Bilja Krstić and Miki Stanojević.
The semi-finalists performed on March 9, 2008. Via public televoting and a 3 team judging panel the scores were combined and the 10 highest ranking songs preceded to the finals. The same voting procedure occurred on the finals night, March 10, 2008, where a winning song was chosen – „Oro“.
Interval acts
The 2008 Beovizija semi-finals interval act included singers Stefan Filipović representing Montenegro, Rebeka Dremelj representing Slovenia, Kraljevi ulice and 75 Cents representing Croatia, Tamara, Vrčak and Adrian Gaxha representing Macedonia, Elvir Laković Laka representing Bosnia and Herzegovina and Isis Gee representing Poland.[9] The tragically deceased singer Toše Proeski received a lifetime achievement award. There was also a special tribute to him. Proeski was the winner of the first ever Beovizija in 2003.
In the finals interval act the Serbian music industry awards were handed out.
Stage
Beovizija is known to have one of the best stage designs in the national selection process for Eurovision. This year the stage symbolised the host city of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest – Belgrade. The stage represented a large public city square and a large amount of special effects and lighting were used to make the stage more attractive to the public.
Host couple
RTS as the host broadcaster of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 aired a show called Evropsko lice (European face). Through a team of expert judges and televoters each week couples battled for a chance to be the hosts of Beovizija 2008. They also have a chance to become the green room hosts at the Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade. Every week a couple was voted out based on public voting.
It was decided that there will be two host couples at Beovizija, both hosting over two nights. The winners of European face are Nina Radulović and Đorđe Maričić and Kristina Radenković and Branislav Katić. Kristina Radenković and Branislav Katić was the couple voted through to co-host the semi-final and final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade with Jovana Janković and Željko Joksimović. They were voted via public tele-vote. During both the semi-final and final the couples sang songs dedicated to the Eurovision host city Belgrade.
Competing entries
Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries between 6 October 2007 and 1 December 2007. Artists were required to be Serb citizens and submit entries in Serbian, while songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit songs. At the closing of the deadline, 100 submissions were received. A selection committee reviewed the submissions and selected twenty entries to proceed to the national final. The selection committee consisted of RTS music editors Ana Milićević, Anja Rogljić, Zoran Dašić, Nikoleta Dojčinović, Jelena Vlahović, Bilja Krstić and Miki Stanojević. The selected competing entries were announced on 24 December 2007.
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Aleksa Jelić and Ana Štajdohar | „Beli jablan“ (Бели јаблан) | Boris Krstajić, Boban Janković |
| Andrej Ilić Band | „Tijana“ (Тијана) | Vladimir Jovančić |
| Beauty Queens | „Zavet“ (Завет) | Vladmir Graić, Saša Milošević Mare |
| Betty Boop | „Kvar“ (Квар) | Ognjen Cvekić |
| Dejan Vozlić | „Ako me čuješ“ (Ако ме чујеш) | Dejan Vozlić |
| Denis and Obule | „Bezimena“ (Безимена) | Bane Opačić |
| Drum’n’Zez | „Dunav“ (Дунав) | Drum’n’Zez, Vojislav Malešev |
| Ivana Ćosić | „Kao da hodam“ (Као да ходам) | Ivana Ćosić |
| Jelena Tomašević feat. Bora Dugić | „Oro“ (Оро) | Željko Joksimović, Dejan Ivanović |
| Lejla Hot | „Da si tu“ (Да си ту) | Lejla Hot |
| Marko Vulinović | „Sada ili nikada“ (Сада или никада) | Vladimir Preradović, Marko Vulinović |
| Mogul | „Možda baš“ (Можда баш) | Nihad Petonjić, Ana Petonjić |
| Negative | „S tobom bih ostala“ (С тобом бих остала) | Vuk Protić |
| Nenad Ćeranić | „Slepa ulica“ (Слепа улица) | Srdan Simić Kamba, Antonija Šola |
| Ognjen and Friends | „Čućemo, čućete…“ (Чућемо, чућете…) | Ognjen Popović, Tijna Mangović, Ivan Aleksijević |
| Sloba Bajić | „Prečica do dna“ (Пречица до дна) | Dragana Jovanović |
| Studio Alektik and Cveta Majtanović | „Iznad nas“ (Изнад нас) | Petar Jelić, Aleksandra Berček |
| Tamara Nikezić | „Nisi prvi“ (Ниси први) | Leontina Vukomanović |
| Zana | „U život kockam se…“ (У животу коцкам се…) | Žika Zana, Jelena Zana |
| Zoe Kida and Zemlja gruva | „Čudesni svetovi“ (Чудесни светови) | Zemlja gruva |
Semi-final
The semi-final took place at the Sava Centar in Belgrade on 9 March 2008 where twenty songs competed.[14] The ten qualifiers for the final were decided by a combination of votes from a jury panel consisting of Vladimir Marićić (jazz pianist and composer), Katarina Gojković (actress) and Aleksander Peković (director of RTS music production), and the Serbian public via SMS voting. Guest performers featured Eurovision contestants Laka, Kraljevi ulice and 75 Cents, Tamara with Vrčak and Adrian, Stefan Filipović, Isis Gee and Rebeka Dremelj, which would represent Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland and Slovenia in 2009, respectively. The show also featured a tribute to former Eurovision contestant, Toše Proeski, who represented Macedonia in 2004 and died in October 2007.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Televote | Total | Place |
| Votes | Points | ||||||
| 1 | Studio Alektik and Cveta Majtanović | „Iznad nas“ | 4 | 1,732 | 8 | 12 | 4 |
| 2 | Drum’n’Zez | „Dunav“ | 0 | 774 | 5 | 5 | 9 |
| 3 | Negative | „S tobom bih ostala“ | 2 | 145 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| 4 | Mogul | „Možda baš“ | 0 | 149 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| 5 | Nenad Ćeranić | „Slepa ulica“ | 0 | 135 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| 6 | Betty Boop | „Kvar“ | 3 | 872 | 6 | 9 | 6 |
| 7 | Sloba Bajić | „Prečica do dna“ | 0 | 266 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| 8 | Aleksa Jelić and Ana Štajdohar | „Beli jablan“ | 5 | 1,288 | 7 | 12 | 3 |
| 9 | Beauty Queens | „Zavet“ | 12 | 1,749 | 10 | 22 | 1 |
| 10 | Andrej Ilić Band | „Tijana“ | 0 | 255 | 2 | 2 | 13 |
| 11 | Lejla Hot | „Da si tu“ | 6 | 219 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| 12 | Ivana Ćosić | „Kao da hodam“ | 0 | 68 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 13 | Tamara Nikezić | „Nisi prvi“ | 1 | 182 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| 14 | Dejan Vozlić | „Ako me čuješ“ | 0 | 230 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| 15 | Zana | „U život kockam se…“ | 0 | 129 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| 16 | Marko Vulinović | „Sada ili nikada“ | 8 | 204 | 0 | 8 | 7 |
| 17 | Zoe Kida and Zemlja gruva | „Čudesni svetovi“ | 0 | 527 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 18 | Ognjen and Friends | „Čućemo, čućete…“ | 10 | 208 | 0 | 10 | 5 |
| 19 | Denis and Obule | „Bezimena“ | 0 | 190 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 20 | Jelena Tomašević feat. Bora Dugić | „Oro“ | 7 | 4,409 | 12 | 19 | 2 |
Detailed Jury Votes – Semi-final
| Draw | Song | V. Marićić | K. Gojković | A. Peković | Total | Points |
| 1 | „Iznad nas“ | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 4 |
| 2 | „Dunav“ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | „S tobom bih ostala“ | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 2 |
| 4 | „Možda baš“ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | „Slepa ulica“ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | „Kvar“ | 2 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
| 7 | „Prečica do dna“ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | „Beli jablan“ | 0 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 5 |
| 9 | „Zavet“ | 6 | 12 | 12 | 30 | 12 |
| 10 | „Tijana“ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | „Da si tu“ | 10 | 6 | 5 | 21 | 6 |
| 12 | „Kao da hodam“ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | „Nisi prvi“ | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 14 | „Ako me čuješ“ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | „U život kockam se…“ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | „Sada ili nikada“ | 8 | 10 | 6 | 24 | 8 |
| 17 | „Čudesni svetovi“ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | „Čućemo, čućete…“ | 12 | 7 | 7 | 26 | 10 |
| 19 | „Bezimena“ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | „Oro“ | 7 | 8 | 8 | 23 | 7 |
Final
The final took place at the Sava Centar in Belgrade on 10 March 2008 and featured the ten qualifiers from the preceding semi-final. The winner, „Oro“ performed by Jelena Tomašević featuring Bora Dugić, was decided by a combination of votes from a jury panel consisting of Petar Janjatović (music journalist), Slobodan Marković (composer) and Nena Kunijević (RTS music editor), and the Serbian public via SMS voting
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Televote | Total | Place |
| Votes | Points | ||||||
| 1 | Betty Boop | „Kvar“ | 7 | 1,51 | 6 | 13 | 4 |
| 2 | Beauty Queens | „Zavet“ | 8 | 3,504 | 8 | 16 | 3 |
| 3 | Drum’n’Zez | „Dunav“ | 1 | 1,02 | 5 | 6 | 9 |
| 4 | Marko Vulinović | „Sada ili nikada“ | 6 | 311 | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| 5 | Aleksa Jelić and Ana Štajdohar | „Beli jablan“ | 10 | 3,634 | 10 | 20 | 2 |
| 6 | Studio Alektik and Cveta Majtanović | „Iznad nas“ | 4 | 2,525 | 7 | 11 | 5 |
| 7 | Jelena Tomašević feat. Bora Dugić | „Oro“ | 12 | 8,653 | 12 | 24 | 1 |
| 8 | Ognjen and Friends | „Čućemo, čućete…“ | 3 | 425 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| 9 | Zoe Kida and Zemlja gruva | „Čudesni svetovi“ | 2 | 784 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| 10 | Lejla Hot | „Da si tu“ | 5 | 732 | 3 | 8 | 6 |
Detailed Jury Votes – Final
| Draw | Song | P. Janjatović | S. Marković | N. Kunijević | Total | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | „Kvar“ | 5 | 10 | 6 | 21 | 7 |
| 2 | „Zavet“ | 7 | 6 | 10 | 23 | 8 |
| 3 | „Dunav“ | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| 4 | „Sada ili nikada“ | 3 | 12 | 5 | 20 | 6 |
| 5 | „Beli jablan“ | 10 | 5 | 8 | 23 | 10 |
| 6 | „Iznad nas“ | 8 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 4 |
| 7 | „Oro“ | 12 | 8 | 12 | 32 | 12 |
| 8 | „Čućemo, čućete“ | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 3 |
| 9 | „Čudesni svetovi“ | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| 10 | „Da si tu“ | 4 | 7 | 7 | 18 | 5 |
Jelena Tomaševic previously came 11th in the 2004 Serbia & Montenegro Final & 2nd in 2005. At the ESC, where one of her backing singers was Marko Vulinovic, she came 6th. Beauty Queens were backing singers for Serbia in ESC 2007.