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TV Committee approves plan
Eurovision: 2 semi finals confirmed!
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.
More news to come. Stay tuned to esctoday.com.
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@ Molly Parton
You are right, Austria had bad Songs, even this Year, but not the badest. If Turkey, or Russia had had this Song, it would be really higher placed probably in the Top10.
Good luck all participants!
We wanna have goooooood songs 2008!
Lucky 8B
Does Austria really have no friends? I think you mean that they have just had terrible, terrible songs.
Boban
Yes indeed. There will be an opportunity to make almost every piece of concrete in Belgrade into a postcard. Heaven.
I am from Germany, too.
I still do not understand why they do not get rid off this stupid big 4-rule.
Real Eurovision fans will watch this event even if te own country did not qualify...
@ Ramón Ramos
I am myselve from Germany, and it would be better for us, if we were in the Semi-Final. Now we can be sure, that we will take the last 4 Places in the Final.
OMG some of you are going on like chooks without heads....EUROVISION WILL NOT DIE!
This argument will run and run, but just imagine the bit 4 weren't paying to be automatically qualified, not TAKING PART for a few yrs because of neighbour and diaspora voting. What would the viewing figures in western europe be then...... and how long would the contest survive then..... yes, the rising economies of eastern europe might pick up the tab, but the Eurovision Song Contest as we know it ...(in the original countries) would be dead and gone... of course. it is unfair and maybe..... the argument about the big 4 and western europe sending crap every year just doesn't wash..... well, then again, perhapsI should listen to the last few entries from certain countries to reassess my judgment of good music.......
okay, but if they must be pre-qualified every year at least send a good entry instead of a joke. its like they dont even care, as if they are forced to send someone and couldnt care less about who it is and what they do.
john if other countries want to spend as much as the big 4 towards the EBU then let them , the big 4 would happily save its viewers money and enter the semi finals,but as the rest dont seem able or willing to pay more then its only right that the big 4 should get automatic entry. you wouldnt pay to see a show and then not be allowed in would you? and even if the big 4 entered the semis the thinly hidden dislike from other countries would mean that even if they sent a great song it would never win, and then the licence payers wopuld demand that their home broadcasters withdraw all funding and that would spell the end of eurovision
you know what the funniest thing is, how people complain that the top10 shouldnt automatically qualify to prevent crap songs for being in the final, yet the fact that the big 4 send crap songs every year and they still will be able to is hilarious. The fact that people approve of the big 4 but not others is a total contradiction in itself. the only pre-qualifying country should be the winner.
I strong support this decission. About the big 4, they are the financial pillar of the ESC. If their place in the final would not be assured, the viewing rates would decrease dramatically and, so, you can imagine the consequence. Be honest and do not blame the big 4.
Yes Mike we will wait and see 
Nil tr is soooooo right!Right right right!You hear that?
Nil tr is right! 
The Founder 4 countries should have been in semis for the first time.Because this is the first time of this format.It will be different to watch the divided Semi Finals.
CAN
Hallelujah............
@ huseyin
they did warn them
they said that the top 10 wouldnt nessersaraly qualify for the final, but they all assumed they would
Yes, Kathrin Schmidt, but during the ESC weeks in Helsinki the EBU announced that no changes would take place before 2009. Now they are betraying that word. That is the problem. Especially in combination with EBU bending the rule on maximum number of participants last december. The changes are probably necessary, but it would have been enough to announce now that they will certainly take place in 2009. 'Don't be hasty.' In the present situation, the image of EBU 
reliability and decision making does not look good. They may want to appear flexible but end up looking like a rather panicky lot
In the Semi-Final, this would maybee be a Solution against Diaspora-Voting, but if in the Final all Countries can vote, it will be like this Year. We can say almost sure the last 4 Places in the Final:
22. Germany
23. Spain
24. United Kingdom
25. France.
If they really want to make it fairer, the should make the 1-Phone-1-Call Rule. So there would be Diaspora-Voting again. And Friendship-Voting is only there, because if People emigrate, they go often to a Neighbour-Country. Nobody says "I vote for this Country, because i like it so much", they say "I vote for this Country, because I was born in it".
But this is great, for Countries like Malta or Austria, that have good Songs, but no "Friends".
The Big4 Shouldn´t vote in the Semi-Finals, because they are multi-ethnic Staates, and maybe Countries would only go to Final, because of them.
I don't think the top 10 countries who are "robbed" of final places should cry out loud. Now they have an opportunity to performing twice!
And most of them have such large advantages they will qualify anyway.
It was clear BEFORE the ESC 2007 that a place among the best ten don't guarantee a place in the final in 2008. There was talks BEFORE the ESC 2007 about changing the format of the ESC. So I really don't understand why so many people complain about the unfairness of this new rules. I understand that some people are disappointed but this decision is not unfair. Everyone know of the possibility of new rules before the ESC 2007.
Yay!! More Eurovision nights!! More Parties!! More postards of Belgrade Serbia!!!! This is great. But omg I cant believe that only Serbia and big 4 qualify!! That is sooo unfair!! Imagine the countries dispair.
Good finaly more countries will have chance to get in the final,not only east
i dont think this is quite fair to those countries that qualified to the finals of 2008 like turkey,greece,bulgaria etc... it isnt fair because all these countries who quolified has been taken off from finals and put back to semi finals so i think they should have done this for the 2009 contest and actually warn people before doing this because it really doesnt sound right to me and im sure some of you would agree with me! 
but good luck to those anyway
It is a step in the right direction as many have said. Best thing we can do is wait and see how it pans out. I think though that only the countries in the respective semi-finals should be allowed to vote in them - this would reduce the effect of diaspora voting as there will be no Big 4 votes for some countries who usually benefit from them, and depending on the system used to split the semis, it is unlikely that any bloc would be able to rely on votes from any more than maybe 2 or 3 of its neighbours. But we can't really predict what will happen before the full details are released and see how it works.
Well, mr Svante S..... I do see you point of few....more EURO'S, but it will not improve tha chances of the big four. The only way an ESC will survive is back to juries and artists that can sing, instead of half naked people that know how to move, but not how to sing
this is GREAT news
But the socalled BIG 4 should be in the semi-finals too
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