Eurovision Song Contest 2007
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This article or section contains information about scheduled or expected future events. It may contain information of a tentative nature and the content may change dramatically as the event approaches and more information becomes available. |
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| Dates | 12 May 2007 Final |
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| Presenters | Jaana Pelkonen Mikko Leppilampi |
| Host broadcaster | YLE |
| Venue | Hartwall Areena, Helsinki, Finland |
| Winning song | To be determined. |
| Voting system | Each country awards 1-8, 10, and 12 points to their 10 favourite songs |
| Number of entries | 24 in the final, up to 18 will not qualify from the semi-final |
| Countries making debut | Czech Republic, Georgia, Montenegro, Serbia |
| Returning Countries | Austria, Hungary |
| Withdrawing Countries | Monaco |
| Nul points | To be determined. |
| Interval act | To be determined |
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.
The official logo of the contest remains the same with the flag in the centre of the heart being changed to the Finnish. The EBU and YLE announced that the theme for this years contest will be “True Fantasy”, which will embrace Finland and Finnishness in terms of the polarities associated with the country. [1] The design agency “Dog Design”, is responsible for the design of the theme that will show the many expressions and traits that are incorporated with Finland. The theme incorporates vibrant kaleidoscopic patterns formed from various symbols including exclamation marks and the letter "F".[2] On February 20, 2007 a reworked official website for the contest was launched marking the first public exhibition of this year's theme. An official CD and DVD will be released and a new introduction to Eurovision merchandise is a board game which mimics the contest in the process of creating and establishing an entry and then undergoing an interesting voting procedure in the games conclusion.
The Hartwall Areena, Finland's largest ice hockey arena, was always the favourite to be chosen to host the contest. The city of Helsinki has the best connections and facilities in the country, therefore allowing as many people as possible to experience the Eurovision Song Contest. A budget of €13 million was also presented for arranging the contest. Other bids to host the contest came from the other Finnish cities such as Espoo, Turku, and Tampere.
During the Heads of Delegation meeting in March 2006, it was announced that qualification for the 2007 final would change from previous years, so that only the top six placed countries from the 2006 final, along with the four largest financial contributors to the EBU (the Big Four) automatically qualified, with the remaining places being filled by the top fourteen placed countries from the 2007 semi-final. However, in a press conference just before the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, the EBU stated that these changes to the qualification system would not take place [3], meaning that fourteen countries (the top ten placed countries from the 2006 final and the Big Four) automatically qualifying for the final, and ten others qualifying from the semi-final.
On 12 March 2007, the official draws for the running order for the semi-final, final, and voting procedure took place. A new feature introduced during the draw allowed five wildcard countries from the semi-final and three countries from the final to chose their starting position. The head of the delegation would go on stage and choose the number they wished to take. In the semi-final, Austria, Andorra, Turkey, Slovenia, and Latvia were able to choose their positions. In the final, Armenia, Ukraine, and Germany were able to use this privilege. Ultimately, all countries opted for spots in the second half of both evenings. Shortly after the draw, all of the entries were approved by the EBU, ending controversy surrounding the possible disqualification of the Israeli song. The United Kingdom chose their entry after the deadline because they were granted special dispensation from the EBU.
The event will be sponsored by European communications group TeliaSonera, and - as with several previous contests - Nobel Biocare.
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[edit] Individual entries
| Individual entries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 |
| Albania - Andorra - Armenia - Austria - Belarus - Belgium - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia - Cyprus - Czech Republic - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - Georgia - Germany - Greece - Hungary - Iceland - Ireland - Israel - Latvia - Lithuania - Republic of Macedonia - Malta - Moldova - Montenegro - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Portugal - Romania - Russia - Serbia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Turkey - Ukraine - United Kingdom
Note: Countries in italics are semi-finalists. |
[edit] Participating countries
Participating countries in a Eurovision Song Contest must be active members of the EBU.
Forty-three countries have submitted preliminary applications. Despite the fact that in previous years the maximum number of participating countries was forty, the EBU stated that all will be allowed to participate in 2007. Though they did not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Montenegro, Georgia, Austria and Hungary have all confirmed that they will contest in 2007. [4]
On 12 December 2006, Monaco confirmed that they have withdrawn their application and will not participate in the 2007 contest. [5]
On the 15 December 2006, the EBU confirmed that 42 countries will participate in the 2007 contest. [6]
[edit] Final
The participating countries of the final will be:
- the four automatic qualifiers;
- the top ten placed countries from the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 final
- the top ten placed countries from the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 semi-final;
In the event of automatic qualifiers withdrawing before the contest, then their places will be given to the next best placed country (or countries) from the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest final. As the 2006 results stand, Turkey, having finished in eleventh place, would be first in line.
The final will be held on 12 May 2007, 19:00 UTC/GMT.
| Draw | Country | Language | Artist | Song | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian | Maria Šestić | Rijeka Bez Imena | River Without A Name |
| 02 |  Spain |
Spanish | D'NASH | I Love You Mi Vida | I Love You My Darling |
| 03 | TBA | Semi-finalist | Semi-finalist | ||
| 04 |  Ireland |
English | Dervish | They Can't Stop The Spring | - |
| 05 |  Finland |
English | Hanna Pakarinen | Leave Me Alone | - |
| 06 | TBA | Semi-finalist | Semi-finalist | ||
| 07 | TBA | Semi-finalist | Semi-finalist | ||
| 08 | TBA | Semi-finalist | Semi-finalist | ||
| 09 |  Lithuania |
English | 4Fun | Love Or Leave | - |
| 10 |  Greece |
English | Sarbel | Yassou Maria | Hello Maria |
| 11 | TBA | Semi-finalist | Semi-finalist | ||
| 12 |  Sweden |
English | The Ark | The Worrying Kind | - |
| 13 |  France |
French, English | Les Fatals Picards | L'Amour À La Française | Love - The French Way |
| 14 | TBA | Semi-finalist | Semi-finalist | ||
| 15 |  Russia |
English | Serebro | Song #1 | - |
| 16 |  Germany |
German | Roger Cicero | Frauen regier'n die Welt | Women Rule The World |
| 17 | TBA | Semi-finalist | Semi-finalist | ||
| 18 |  Ukraine |
Ukrainian, German, Mongolian, English |
Verka Serduchka | Dancing Lasha Tumbai | - |
| 19 |  United Kingdom |
English | Scooch | Flying the Flag (for You) | - |
| 20 |  Romania |
English, Italian, Spanish, Russian, French, Romanian |
Todomondo | Liubi, Liubi, I Love You | Love, Love, I Love You |
| 21 | TBA | Semi-finalist | Semi-finalist | ||
| 22 | TBA | Semi-finalist | Semi-finalist | ||
| 23 |  Armenia |
English, Armenian | Hayko | Anytime You Need | - |
| 24 | TBA | Semi-finalist | Semi-finalist |
[edit] Semi-Final
The semi-final will be held on 10 May 2007, 19:00 UTC/GMT. For the first time, up to 28 countries will be allowed to participate.
The participating countries of the semi-final will be:
[edit] Non-participating regions where the contest will be broadcast
Of the countries which cannot participate, 
Australia have confirmed that they will broadcast the event on SBS[1]. The 
United States and 
Puerto Rico have broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest in recent years, so they are likely to do so again. 
Azerbaijan were willing to enter the contest but as AzTV becomes an EBU member during 2007, they were instructed to wait for another year [7]. Another Azerbaijan broadcaster, OTV, has confirmed that it will again broadcast the contest. 
Japan, the 
Netherlands Antilles and 
Suriname may broadcast as well, as they have also broadcast the contest in the past. While 
Liechtenstein has no television broadcaster of its own, Liechtensteiners can watch the contest on Swiss, Austrian or German television. The official Eurovision Song Contest website will also provide streaming.
Gibraltar will broadcast only the final. 
Monaco will broadcast the final on TMC. However they withdrew from this competition in December. A return is possible next year. 
Slovakia will most likely also broadcast the final on their national television in 2007. STV is in the process of examining their budget to re-enter the contest in 2008.
[edit] Commentators
- Bosnia and Herzegovina - Dejan Kukrić
Estonia - Marko Reikop- France - Julien Lepers & Tex
- Greece - Fotis Sergoulopoulos & Maria Bakodimou
- Ireland - Marty Whelan
Latvia - Kārlis Streips
FYR Macedonia - Milanka Rašić
Malta - Antonia Micallef
Norway - Per Sundnes
Poland - Artur Orzech
Portugal - Eládio Clímaco- Spain - Beatriz Pécker
- Sweden - Kristian Luuk and Josef Sterzenbach
- United Kingdom - Paddy O'Connell (semi-final) & Terry Wogan (final)
[edit] Map
* Green = Countries qualified directly into the Final
* Red = Countries in the semi-final
* Purple = Countries that participate for the first time and are in the semi-final
* Orange = Countries that are returning to the contest and are in the semi-final
* Yellow = Countries that have participated in the past but will not this year
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.yle.fi/eurovision/main.php?id=1416
- ^ http://www.eurovision.tv/content/view/190/1/
- ^ http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/6171
- ^ http://esckaz.com/2007/event.htm
- ^ http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/6987?PHPSESSID=8c91c03a26ac04dba02db69389da757e
- ^ http://www.eurovision.tv/archive.html
- ^ http://esckaz.com/2007/event.htm
[edit] External links
- Eurovision.tv - Eurovision Song Contest official website
- Official Tickets for Eurovision 2007 Eurovision 2007
- Eurovision Song Contest, Entries & National Finals
- Official Helsinki Tourist Information
- Guide map of Helsinki and Metropolitan area
- Eurovision Multimedia Site
- AlbumRankings.com Eurovision Section - Watch music videos with lyrics and vote for your favourite songs
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