Beovizija

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Beovizija
Format	Entertainment
Created by	RTS
Country of origin	Serbia
Language(s)	Serbian
Venue	Sava Centar Belgrade, Serbia
Voting system	50% jury and 50% televoting 12,10,8,7,...,2,1 awarded to songs
Original run	2003 - present

Beovizija is a music festival and since 2007 the national selection for Serbia’s representative at the Eurovision Song Contest. Beovizija is organised and broadcast live each year by the national network RTS1. It is held during February in the Belgrade‘s Sava Centar. The competition started in 2004 and is annually one of the most watched entertainment events in Serbia.

[edit] History

Serbia and Montenegro was to enter the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 2004 since a 12-year expulsion. The expulsion was brought about the break out of wars in the former Yugoslavia under which Serbia and Montenegro participated for the last time in 1992.

Originally the festival was supposed to commence in 2004 and was to be the country’s selection for Eurovision however later Radio Television of Montenegro expressed the wish for a united festival in determining the countries contender at the European event. It was decided that Beovizija would be Serbia’s semi final while Montevizija (held in Podgorica) would be Montenegro’s semi final. The best from the two would compete in a united finals show contest under the name Evropesma.

2008 Beovizija stage

The first Beovizija was held a year before Serbia and Montenegro entered Eurovision and was more of an awards night for the Serbian music industry. In 2003 and 2004 28 songs competed while 25 were allowed to compete in 2005 and 2006. The voting system has always been 50% jury and 50% televoting (excluding 2003 when there was no voting) while 12,10,8,7,...,2,1 are awarded to songs. However the number of jury members has changed. From 2004 - 2006 there were 8 jury members while from 2007 there have been only 3 members of the jury for both the semi-finals and finals night.

In 2006 Serbia and Montenegro peacefully split after a referendum. Serbia became an independent country and thus Beovizija became the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. The country was to debut for the first time independently in 2007. Marija Šerifović - Serbia’s representative won Eurovision that year.

Currently Beovizija is held over two nights in February. The semi-finals consist of 20 songs. The public’s and jury’s vote is combined to determine the 10 best songs to proceed to the final. Similarly the winner of Beovizija is determined. The Serbian music industry awards are still handed out on the final night of Beovizija.

In 2008 the semi-finals were to be held on February 19, 2008 while the finals a day later.^[1] However due to the declaration of independence on behalf of Kosovo, the festival was delayed until March 09 when the semi-finals took place and the finals which took place on March 10.^[2]

[edit] Host couples

Beovizija 2008 host couples; Kristina Radenković and Branislav Katić (to the left) and Nina Radulović and Đorđe Maričić (to the right)

[edit] Format

The basic format of the contest since 2004 is that there are approximately twenty singers. Each sing their song once. There is then a ten minute interval where the viewers are encouraged to SMS and phone in the name of their favourite song. The public vote is incorporated in the special jury’s vote. The singer with the most votes wins the contest.

In 2007 the format of the show changed. Beovizija was held over two nights. On the first night there were twenty singers hoping to go into the final of Beovizija held two days later. Ten singers that had the biggest public vote pass to the finals. At the finals of Beovizija they once again sing their song. There is then a ten minute interval where the viewers are encouraged to SMS and phone in the name of their favourite song. During the interval, Serbian industry music awards are handed out. The public vote is incorporated in the special jury’s vote. The singer with the most votes wins the contest and represents Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Beovizija has been commended for the very attractive and innovative stage designs which change each year.

In 2007 the singers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia that were selected to represent their countries at that year's Eurovision in Helsinki appeared on stage at Beovizija to sing their songs. All performers received a warm welcome from the audience.

[edit] International broadcast

In 2008 Beovizija for the first time was broadcast on an international scale. In addition to being aired in Serbia on RTS1, the contest was also aired on RTS Sat (RTS' satellite network), RTS website available globally at www.rts.rs, on the official Eurovision website also available globally at www.eurovision.tv and on RTRS in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[edit] Past Beovizija winners

[edit] Serbian entries in the Eurovision Song Contest

Explanation of colour codes: Gold = Victory

[edit] External links

• http://www.rts.co.yu/euro
• http://www.evropesma.org
• http://www.eurovision.tv
• http://www.pesmaevrovizije.com
• http://www.evropesma.co.sr
• Video of song "Molitva" at the final of Eurovision 2007
• Video of song "Molitva" at the semifinal of Eurovision 2007
• Beovizija Song Contest Serbia