Eurovision organizers continue to publish archived releases of the song contest on YouTube. Publications are done on Saturdays. As soon as the video becomes available on the platform, Eurovision fans share their impressions of viewing under the hashtag #EurovisionAgain.
At the same time, a spectator vote was organized on Twitter for the contest participants. And its results may differ significantly from the actual results of the event.
On June 20, the network published the final of 2008, which was held in the capital of Serbia, Belgrade. This show was a triumph for Russia: then Dima Bilan won the Eurovision (he already participated in the competition in 2006 and then won second place). Thanks to this success, the next Eurovision was held in Moscow.
However, now the voices were distributed quite differently than 12 years ago. Dima Bilan, according to the audience, is on the ninth line. Victory was awarded to Ukrainian singer Ani Lorak. In 2008, she left Belgrade with silver.
✨ Congratulations to @AniLorak 🇺🇦 for winning tonight's #EurovisionAgain fan vote!
We're also very happy to announce that Belgrade 2008 🇷🇸 will be available on the #Eurovision YouTube channel forever 'til the end of time so you can watch it again and again and again! 🤩 https://t.co/W1gfy5XXiK
“It's nice to receive such news from Europe!” - the singer commented on the message on her Instagram. She thanked the audience for their love and support.
By the way, Lorak currently lives and works in Russia. The song Shady Lady, which was performed by Lorak, was written by the poet Karen Kavalerian and musician Philip Kirkorov, who also live in Russia.
Kirkorov reacted to a similar victory with humor.
“I have always said that I will starve this Eurovision. Not by washing, so by skating, at least in this way I still took this Eurovision, ”the musician said in a commentary for MK.
The second and third place, according to the audience, were given to musicians from Greece and Iceland, respectively.
The producer Yana Rudkovskaya, in an interview with the 360 channel, noted that it is incorrect to compare the results of this competition and the vote of fans of the Twitter show. “Do tens of millions vote or three thousand fans vote? It is impossible to compare the voting of three thousand and millions of votes, these are different scales. I believe that the number that Dima had (and he had a chic number) cannot be repeated, ”she said.
- RIA News
- © Anar Movsumov
At Eurovision 2008, Dima Bilan performed the song Believe. His number was remembered for its bright production: a small ice rink with plastic ice was installed on the stage, on which the skater Evgeni Plushenko performed the choreographic composition. By the way, at that time he was the current Olympic champion. Bilan was also accompanied by the Hungarian violinist Edwin Marton.
In the comments to the post, the opinions of Twitter users were divided. For many, Dima Bilan was the only winner of the 2008 contest. Nevertheless, some users felt that “justice” had triumphed over Ani Lorak.
Interestingly, in 2008 and 2009 at the Eurovision Song Contest, important innovations were made. Interest in the competition increased year by year, so one semi-final, which was introduced in 2004, was replaced by two. To participate in the finals, representatives of all countries (except Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, as well as the host country) had to first get into the top 10 of their semifinals.
Also, 2008 was the last year when the professional jury did not have a 50% voting quota. Until that moment, the opinion of viewers remained a priority, and industry leaders were assigned a second role. The organizers claimed that when televoting there was a vote for representatives of neighboring countries or for the diaspora.
The leadership of the European Broadcasting Union noted that public voting is a model of genuine democracy. Nevertheless, the discrepancy between the viewers and the professional jury, which was observed in 2008, prompted the organizers to think about changing the system.