frameless}} Participating countries Countries that participated in the past but not in 2008
Vote
Voting system
Each country awards 1–8, 10, and 12 points to their 10 favourite acts, plus additional panel of experts awards maximum of 48 points to their favourites.
The Eurovision Dance Contest 2008 was the second and final edition of the Eurovision Dance Contest and was held in Glasgow, Scotland, hosted by the BBC on 6 September. The presenters were, as in the previous edition, Graham Norton and Claudia Winkleman. The contest took place at the SEC Centre.[1]
The winners of contest were Edyta Herbuś and Marcin Mroczek of Poland who achieved a score of 154 points. 2nd place went to Russia, 3rd place to Ukraine, 4th place to Lithuania and 5th place to Azerbaijan who were participating for the first time.
In a change to the rules, professional couples were no longer eligible to enter the contest. At least one dancer from each couple had to be a local celebrity, not professionally trained to dance.[2] A further change was that each couple only performed once. In 2007 each couple performed a ballroom or Latin routine followed by a freestyle dance incorporating national flavour; in the 2008 contest, the latter freestyle dance continued and this time could include elements of traditional Latin and ballroom.[1] A panel of experts was introduced with an approximate weight of 23% of the total outcome and the rest 77% determined through televoting. The highest possible points from the jury were 48 while the televoting cast a maximum of 156 points.[3][better source needed]
Location
SEC Centre, in Glasgow – host venue of the 2008 contest.
The SEC Centre is Scotland's largest exhibition centre, located in the district of Finnieston on the north bank of the River Clyde, Glasgow. The venue's holding company SEC Limited, is 91% owned by Glasgow City Council and 9% owned by private investors. It is probably best known for hosting concerts, particularly in Hall 4 and Hall 3.
Since the opening of the original buildings in 1985, the complex has undergone two major expansions; the first being the SEC Armadillo in 1997, and then the OVO Hydro arena in 2013.
The host city and venue was announced by the BBC on 7 July 2008.[1] The contest was attended by an audience of 2,000.[4]
Format
Rules and participants
According to the 2007 rules Section 2.2[5] on the official website, all entrants in the Eurovision Dance Contest 2007 agreed to take part in 2008 when signing up for the first contest. However, in June 2008, Switzerland announced their withdrawal from the contest without specifying a reason,[6] while Germany also decided to withdraw from the event later the same month, due to comparatively low ratings for the 2007 contest in the country.[7]
The running order was announced on 8 August.[8] Due to a scheduling clash with the 2010 FIFA World Cup preliminaries, the Spanish broadcaster announced its late withdrawal on 28 August, just days before the contest was scheduled to took place.[9] In July, they held a national selection show Quiero Bailar and named singer Rosa López and dancer Nieto as their representatives in the contest.[10] According to the draw they were supposed to be 15th couple to perform.[8]
As the number of dances was reduced, with each couple performing once instead of twice, new countries were allowed to enter the competition, but the only new country to enter the contest was Azerbaijan.[3]
The opening of the show featured Red Hot Chilli Pipers playing a Scottish-flavoured medley of known songs, with all participating couples presented on stage in order of performance.[11] The interval act featured a group dance routine and was followed by sopranoLesley Garrett and the Carousel cast, performing a medley of "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "You'll Never Walk Alone" accompanied by the City of Glasgow Chorus.[12]
Controversy
Azerbaijan and Greece announced professional dance couples as their representatives at the Eurovision Dance Contest 2008. According to the regulations of the contest,[5] professional couples were not allowed to take part in the competition. The EBU specified that the couple had to be composed of one professional (defined as a dancer who earns his or her living through dance and dance-related activities), and one non-professional known in a field other than dance. The non-professional was not required to be a celebrity, as long as he or she was known in his field, and it was also not a requirement that the non-professional had no dance experience.[2] Since the representatives for Azerbaijan and Greece both consisted of two professional dancers, however, it is not clear why their entries were considered valid.
It is worth noting that, had the judges not been introduced (and thus only the televote been used), Poland would still have won the competition by 31 points. However, Ukraine and Russia would have shifted places therefore Ukraine would have finished 2nd and Russia finishing 3rd.
Voting results[13][14]
Voting procedure used:
100% televoting
100% jury vote
Total score
Televoting score
Expert jury score
Televote
Sweden
Austria
Denmark
Azerbaijan
Ireland
Finland
Netherlands
Lithuania
United Kingdom
Russia
Greece
Portugal
Poland
Ukraine
Contestants
Sweden
38
34
4
3
10
7
1
2
2
2
3
4
Austria
29
29
3
2
1
3
4
5
4
5
1
1
Denmark
102
54
48
8
7
1
3
8
2
6
4
1
7
2
5
Azerbaijan
106
78
28
5
8
7
1
4
12
1
10
6
4
12
8
Ireland
40
40
4
6
2
5
8
7
6
2
Finland
44
32
12
12
6
5
1
3
2
3
Netherlands
1
1
1
Lithuania
110
78
32
7
7
4
10
6
5
10
5
4
5
8
7
United Kingdom
47
39
8
1
4
5
3
8
10
1
3
1
3
Russia
121
97
24
6
6
2
8
4
12
8
10
12
10
7
12
Greece
72
32
40
4
2
2
5
3
3
3
6
4
Portugal
61
61
3
5
1
7
6
6
2
7
6
7
5
6
Poland
154
134
20
10
12
12
10
12
10
12
8
12
8
10
8
10
Ukraine
119
103
16
2
10
8
12
5
4
7
7
6
12
8
12
10
12 points
The maximum twelve points awarded by each country (to the couple who had received the most phone votes) were allocated as follows:
N.
Contestant
Nation(s) giving 12 points
5
Poland
Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom
3
Russia
Finland, Greece, Ukraine
Ukraine
Azerbaijan, Portugal, Russia
2
Azerbaijan
Lithuania, Poland
1
Finland
Sweden
Professional jury
An expert jury of International DanceSport Federation judges from non-participating countries acted as a jury in the contest. After each performance, each jury member awarded each performance up to 12 points. The jury members were:[15]
Juror A: Singapore – Gladys Tay (head judge)
Juror B: Germany – Sven Traut
Juror C: Slovenia – Barbara Nagode Ambrož
Juror D: France – Michelle Ribas
The points below were converted (giving the jury vote the weight of four countries' votes in the total result) into 4 sets of 12 points, 12 for the first place couple on the jury leaderboard, 10 points for second, 8 points for third and so on, down to 1 point for 10th. The other four couples, do not receive any points from the judges.[16]
Detailed jury votes[17]
Draw
Song
Jurors
Total
Juror A
Juror B
Juror C
Juror D
1
Sweden
8
8
8
7
31
2
Austria
7
7
7
7
28
3
Denmark
12
12
12
12
48
4
Azerbaijan
12
10
10
10
42
5
Ireland
7
7
8
7
29
6
Finland
10
8
8
8
34
7
Netherlands
8
7
7
6
28
8
Lithuania
12
10
10
10
42
9
United Kingdom
8
10
8
8
34
10
Russia
10
12
10
10
42
11
Greece
10
12
12
10
44
12
Portugal
8
7
8
7
30
13
Poland
10
10
12
8
40
14
Ukraine
10
10
10
8
38
Spokespersons
The order in which each country announced their votes was done in order of performance. The spokespersons are shown alongside each country.[18]
Most countries sent commentators to Glasgow or commentated from their own country, in order to add insight to the participants and, if necessary, provide voting information.[18]
Among the countries that took part, Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Macedonia, Iceland, Israel, Malta and Spain also broadcast the event without sending representatives.[19] In accordance with the rules, Spanish broadcaster TVE were obliged to broadcast the contest live due to their late withdrawal as an active participant.[20] The EBU initially confirmed that the event would be broadcast on the network's second channel La 2 "for the benefit of Spanish viewers",[21] however TVE later confirmed it would be delayed by one hour without specifying a reason.[22] Australia also broadcast the contest on 6 May 2009, as a lead up to the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, on SBS.[23] This was the first time Australia had broadcast the Eurovision Dance Contest, after failing to broadcast the 2007 edition, and was aired without any commentary.
Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
^ abc"The Eurovision Dance Contest Glides into Glasgow". BBC Press Office. 7 July 2008.
^ ab"World Dance Sport 2008" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 January 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
^ ab"Eurovision Dance Contest 2008 information page". ESCKaz.com.
^ abc"Poland wins 2008 Eurovision Dance Contest!". 12 September 2008. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^ ab"Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
^"ARD zieht sich vom "Dance Contest" zurück". Quotenmeter. 13 June 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^"Korb für Dance Contest". www.wr.de. 13 June 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^ ab"Order of performances announced!". 20 August 2008. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
^"EBU confirms Spain's EDC withdrawal". ESCToday.com. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^Hondal, Victor (14 July 2008). "Spain: Nieto to join Rosa in Glasgow". ESCToday.com. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
^"It gets serious!". 9 September 2008. Archived from the original on 9 September 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
^"West End hit in Eurovision Dance Contest!". 22 January 2009. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
^ abcd"Eurovision Dance Contest 2008 | The participants". 13 September 2008. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^Klier, Marcus (7 September 2008). "Voting analysis of the Eurovision Dance Contest 2008". ESCToday.com. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
^"The Jury". Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Hello Europe, this is Glasgow calling!". 12 September 2008. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
^Klier, Marcus (6 September 2008). "Live: Eurovision Dance Contest 2008". ESCToday.com. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
^ abcdefgh"Dancers getting nervous in Glasgow!". 12 September 2008. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^"EBU.CH :: 2008_09_03_EDC". 10 September 2008. Archived from the original on 10 September 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^"Espanja vetäytyi Eurotansseista | yle.fi | Arkistoitu". vintti.yle.fi. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^"TVE no participará pero tendrá que emitir el Festival de Eurovisión de Baile por La 2, según la UER". www.eurovision-spain.com. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^"TVE emitirá Eurovision Dance por La 2 a partir de las 22:00 horas". www.eurovision-spain.com. 4 September 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^"Dancing Stars sind bereit für Glasgow!". www.oe24.at. 2 September 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^"Azerbaijan at Eurovision Dance Contest 2008 - Азербайджан на Танцевальном Евровидении 2008 ESCKaz.com". esckaz.com. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
^"Europæisk Danse Grand Prix 2008 - TV 2". tvtid.tv2.dk. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^"Sirpa Suutari-Jääskö ja Johanna Pirttilahti kommentoivat Eurotansseja Kakkosella | yle.fi | Arkistoitu". vintti.yle.fi. 16 July 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^"Lietuvių pora šokių "Eurovizijoje" užėmė 4 vietą". tv3.lt@. 6 September 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^"Untitled Document". Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
^"TVP1, TVP2 i TVN w górę, Polsat stoi w miejscu" (in Polish). 9 September 2008. Archived from the original on 28 April 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2023 – via Wirtualne Media.
^"Edyta Herbuś i Marcin Mroczek podbili Europę!" (in Polish). Onet.pl. 6 September 2008. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
^"Danny & Jeanette dansar i Europa". Aftonbladet. 4 July 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^Reynolds, Simon (7 July 2008). "Eurovision Dance Contest heads to Glasgow". Digital Spy. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^Murray, Gavin (26 April 2009). "Australia & New Zealand: Full Eurovision schedule". ESCToday.com. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
^"Tímarit.is". Fréttablaðið (in Icelandic). 6 September 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2023 – via timarit.is.
^""Quiero pasar por delante de Telecinco"". El Correo (in Spanish). 9 July 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
^ abcd"EDC 2008: Ratings Round-Up". www.worlddancesport.org. 9 September 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
^"TV ratings: BBC1 gets Saturday-night swing". the Guardian. 8 September 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2023.