Show Watch: Eurovision 2007

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

SBS is about to get into the swing of Eurovision soon. We are off to Helsinki for the very first time! You can once again expect to hear the dulcet tones of Mr Terry Wogan (yay) for the Semi Final and Final.

And to kick your parties off, there is the added special, Finland Zero Points.

Here is all the essential info!

Thanks to Wikipedia:
The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 will be the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland on May 10 (for the semi-final) and May 12 (for the final). The hosting broadcaster of the contest is YLE. Finland earned the right to host the event thanks to the rock band Lordi winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 as Finland’s representatives. The victory in Athens, Greece on the May 20, 2006 was Finland’s first in their history of competing in the Eurovision Song Contest. It also meant that the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 will be the first Eurovision Song Contest to be arranged in Finland. The hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki are popular Finnish television personality Jaana Pelkonen and the Finnish musician, stage performer, and actor, Mikko Leppilampi.

A record of 42 countries will partipicate.

Semi Final
The semi-final includes those countries whose ranking on the scoreboard the previous year was not high enough to ensure direct qualification for the final. As of 2006, it is necessary for a country to attain a place within the top ten of the final scoreboard to be assured of direct qualification for next year’s grand final. The ten most highly-placed countries in the final are guaranteed a place in next year’s final, without the need to participate in next year’s semi. These ten positions exclude Big-Four countries; so that if, for example, Germany comes in the top ten, the 11th-placed non-Big-Four country will automatically qualify for next year’s final

The Big Four
From 2000 onwards, four particular countries would always qualify for the Eurovision final, regardless of their positions on the scoreboard in previous Contests. They earned this special status by being the four biggest financial contributors to the EBU (without which the production of the Eurovision Song Contest would not be possible). These countries are France, Germany,Spain and the United Kingdom. Due to their “untouchable” status in the Contest, these countries became known as the “Big Four”.

1 Bulgaria Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankoulov
Water
2 Israel
Teapacks
Push The Button
3 Cyprus Evridiki
Comme Ci, Comme Ça
4 Belarus Koldun
Work Your Magic
5 Iceland Eiríkur Hauksson
Valentine Lost
6 Georgia Sopho
Visionary Dream
7 Montenegro Stevan Faddy
Ajde Kroči
8 Switzerland Dj Bobo
Vampires Are Alive
9 Moldova Natalia Barbu
Fight
10 The Netherlands Edsilia Rombley
On Top Of The World
11 Albania Frederik Ndoci
Hear My Plea
12 Denmark Dq
Drama Queen
13 Croatia Dragonfly Feat. Dado Topić
Vjerujem U Ljubav
14 Poland The Jet Set
Time To Party
15 Serbia Marija Šerifović
Molitva
16 Czech Republic Kabát Malá Dáma
17 Portugal Sabrina
Dança Comigo
18 FYR Macedonia Karolina
Mojot Svet
19 Norway Guri Schanke
Ven A Bailar Conmigo
20 Malta Olivia Lewis
Vertigo
21 Andorra Anonymous
Salvem El Món
22 Hungary Magdi Rúzsa
Unsubstantial Blues
23 Estonia Gerli Padar
Partners In Crime
24 Belgium The Kmg’s
Lovepower
25 Slovenia Alenka Gotar
Cvet Z Juga
26 Turkey Kenan Doğulu
Shake It Up Shekerim
27 Austria Eric Papilaya
Get A Life – Get Alive
28 Latvia Bonaparti.Lv
Questa Notte

BOLD indicates through to FINAL.

Final
The participating countries of the final will be:
* the 4 automatic qualifiers;
* the top 10 placed countries from the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 final
* the top 10 placed countries from the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 semi-final;

1 Bosnia & Herzegovina Maria Šestić
Rijeka Bez Imena
2 Spain D’nash
I Love You Mi Vida
3 Semi-Final Qualifier
4 Ireland Dervish
They Can’t Stop The Spring
5 Finland Hanna Pakarinen
Leave Me Alone
6 Semi-Final Qualifier
7 Semi-Final Qualifier
8 Semi-Final Qualifier
9 Lithuania 4fun Love Or Leave
10 Greece Sarbel
Yassou Maria
11 Semi-Final Qualifier
12 Sweden The Ark
The Worrying Kind
13 France Les Fatals Picards
L’amour À La Française
14 Semi-Final Qualifier
15 Russia Serebro
Song #1
16 Germany Roger Cicero
Frauen Regier’n Die Welt
17 Semi-Final Qualifier
18 Ukraine Verka Serduchka
Dancing Lasha Tumbai
19 United Kingdom Scooch
Flying The Flag (For You)
20 Romania Todomondo
Liubi, Liubi, I Love You
21 Semi-Final Qualifier
22 Semi-Final Qualifier
23 Armenia Hayko
Anytime You Need
24 Semi-Final Qualifier

SBS Schedule:
Eurovision Grand Final 7:30pm Sun May 13 (delayed)

SBS will receive the United Kingdom’s broadcast, including commentary from Paddy O’Connell and Terry Wogan.

Winner: Serbia.
Marija Šerifović took out the show with her power ballad ‘Moltiva.’ Serbia scored 268 points, defeating Ukraine (235), Russia (207) and Turkey (163). It is Serbia’s first win.

Official Eurovision site. (Hear the songs!)
Wikipedia: Eurovision and Eurovision 2007
Alistair Birch’s EV blog with an Aussie voting scoresheet. Live from Helsinki!

Final scoring.

See Marija Šerifović’s winning act here.
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