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Host country: Serbia
Venue: Belgrade Arena
Dates: 20 May 2008 (Semi Final 1), 22 May 2008 (Semi Final 2), 24 May 2008 (Grand Final)
Presenters: Zeljko Joksimovic, Jovana Jankovic
Won by: Russia

Ireland is the most successful Eurovision country of all time, with seven wins overall from the likes of Dana, Johnny Logan and Linda Martin.

So it is rather surprising that it was Ireland who submitted what was possibly the most controversial Eurovision entry yet - the first puppet ever to compete in the 53-year history of the show. Eschewing the usual ballad in favour of a singing turkey generated far more interest in the contest in Ireland than in previous years. But some felt that Dustin the Turkey's song, 'Irelande, Douze Points', broke Eurovision rules by 'bringing the contest into disrepute', indirectly poking fun at former contestants and directly at a certain UK commentator.

Despite most of the pre-contest publicity focusing on the turkey, in the end, all the fuss proved to be over nothing. Dustin impressed neither the audience in the Belgrade Arena, where he was greeted by booing, nor the voters at home, and it is with great relief that he failed to make it past the semi-finals. Imagine if he had won the whole thing - the 2009 contest may well have ended up resembling The Muppet Show! (Or perhaps it does already...)

Dustin's entry was not the only joke song in the contest, however. Most bizarre was the Bosnian-Herzegovinan entry which involved a lunatic, a washing line and four brides doing some knitting. Almost as incomphrensible were the Spanish and Estonian entries (the former which ridiculously came in 16th, the latter failed to qualify). Latvia, meanwhile, entered a bunch of pirates, and Croatia employed the services of a 75 year-old rapper and scratcher (right) as their gimmick.

In spite of concerns that novelty acts such as these are helping to devalue the contest and making it harder to attract credible musicians, France also raised eyebrows by actually attracting a credible musician. The electro-pop producer Sebastien Tellier (below) has worked with the likes of Air and Daft Punk, but perhaps is best known for his epic track 'La Ritournelle'. His Eurovision entry, 'Divine', was controversially the first ever French entry to be sung almost entirely in English. Despite actually trying for once, France will be disappointed to still only finish in joint 18th place; and whether Monsieur Tellier emerged from the contest with his credibility intact is unclear.

Eurovision 2008 saw yet another change in format - almost all entrants now have to go through one of two semi-finals, with only the host country and the Big Four guaranteed a place in the Grand Final on Saturday night. This change was partly due to the ever-increasing of countries taking part - now up to 43, with San Marino and Azerbaijan making their debuts - but also to avoid a repeat of the controversy that surrounded the outcome of the 2007 contest where no Western European country managed to progress from the qualifying round.

For 2008 then, entries were divided between the two semi-finals on the basis of both geographical position and past voting patterns. The nine entries with the highest number of phone votes from each semi made it to the final, with the tenth entrant being the one with the highest jury vote of all the countries not already qualified - just to complicate things a little further.

This was all intended to help ensure a fairer mix of countries in the final - so did it work? Scandinavia did very well out of the new format, with Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden all progressing to the final (the latter 'saved' by the jury vote), as did Portugal, who hadn't been seen on a Saturday night since 2003; however, other stalwarts such as Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands once again failed to make it past the semi-finals.

But when it came to the scoring, it made little difference. With all 43 countries once again eligible to vote, it was no surprise that all the usual bloc voting patterns were very much in evidence. Russia comfortably won, while the UK's entry, by no means a bad song by former dustman Andy Abraham, finished joint bottom (with Germany and Poland). Just how can a competent, if not outstanding, performance from Andy be beaten fairly and squarely into last place by tosh from the likes of Latvia, Azerbaijan and Bosnia-Herzegovina?

"This is no longer a music contest," was Terry Wogan's answer, ending his commentary on a distinctly downbeat note. Doubtless Eurovision fans across Western and Central Europe are feeling similarly disillusioned, as their countries repeatedly score badly or fail to qualify at all. How long before the traditional Eurovision countries lose interest completely and join Austria in pulling out for good? Will 2008 be seen as the turning point - the beginning of the end for the Eurovision Song Contest?

Click here to view the 2008 scoreboard (opens in new window)

Countries voting are shown across the top, with each country's cumulative total after the country has voted shown in large type, and the points awarded in small type. Each country gave 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points to its top ten songs
BBC broadcast: Saturday 24 May 2008, 8.00-11.16pm. Commentary: BBC1 - Terry Wogan, Radio 2 - Ken Bruce. UK vote spokesperson: Carrie Grant

The following countries had to enter the first semi-final in order to stand a chance of participating in the Grand Final. Those highlighted in light blue progressed to the Grand Final; however the scores and placings were not revealed until after the contest. Germany and Spain (who qualified directly for the Grand Final) were eligible to vote in addition to the 19 participating countries.

Click here to view the 2008 semi-final 1 scoreboard (opens in new window)

Although the voting was not televised, this scoreboard shows the cumulative scores as well as the points awarded, as if the scoring had been announced in the traditional manner. Each country gave 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points to its top ten songs. The tenth finalist was the one with the highest jury score not already qualified by televoting; in practice this made no difference to the qualifying entrants from semi final 1
BBC broadcast: Tuesday 20 May 2008, 7.59-10.02pm. Commentary: BBC3 - Paddy O'Connell, Caroline Flack

The following countries had to enter the second semi-final in order to stand a chance of participating in the Grand Final. France, Serbia and the United Kingdom (who qualified directly for the Grand Final) were eligible to vote in addition to the 19 participating countries.

Click here to view the 2008 semi-final 2 scoreboard (opens in new window)

Although the voting was not televised, this scoreboard shows the cumulative scores as well as the points awarded, as if the scoring had been announced in the traditional manner. Each country gave 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points to its top ten songs. The tenth finalist was the one with the highest jury score not already qualified by televoting, hence Sweden qualified despite scoring fewer points than FYR Macedonia
BBC broadcast: Thursday 22 May 2008, 7.58-10.00pm. Commentary: BBC3 - Paddy O'Connell, Caroline Flack

Click below to see more images from all three nights' contests:

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