Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

The Beovizija 2008 stage in the Sava Centar, the venue for the festival.

Beovizija 2008 was the sixth edition of the Beovizija national final organised by RTS in order to select the Serbian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. The selection consisted of a semi-final featuring twenty songs and a final featuring ten songs to be held on 9 and 10 March 2008, respectively, at the Sava Centar in Belgrade. Both shows were hosted by Nina Radulović, Đorđe Maričić, Kristina Radenković and Branislav Katić, who were selected to be the hosts during a special selection show named Evropsko lice.[4] The two shows were broadcast on RTS1, RTS Sat, in Bosnia and Herzegovina on RTRS, via radio on Radio Belgrade as well as streamed online via the broadcaster's website rts.rs and the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[5] Originally, the semi-final was to be held on 19 February 2008 while the final was to be held a day later.[6] However, due to the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo on 17 February, the festival was delayed.[7]

Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries between 6 October 2007 and 1 December 2007. Artists were required to be Serb citizens and submit entries in Serbian, while songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit songs.[3][8] At the closing of the deadline, 100 submissions were received. A selection committee reviewed the submissions and selected twenty entries to proceed to the national final. The selection committee consisted of RTS music editors Ana Milićević, Anja Rogljić, Zoran Dašić, Nikoleta Dojčinović, Jelena Vlahović, Bilja Krstić and Miki Stanojević. The selected competing entries were announced on 24 December 2007.[9]

The semi-final took place on 9 March 2008 where twenty songs competed.[10] The ten qualifiers for the final were decided by a combination of votes from a jury panel consisting of Vladimir Marićić (jazz pianist and composer), Katarina Gojković (actress) and Aleksander Peković (director of RTS music production), and the Serbian public via SMS voting. Guest performers featured Eurovision contestants Laka, Kraljevi ulice and 75 Cents, Tamara with Vrčak and Adrian, Stefan Filipović, Isis Gee and Rebeka Dremelj, which would represent Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland and Slovenia in 2009, respectively. The show also featured a tribute to former Eurovision contestant, Toše Proeski, who represented Macedonia in 2004 and died in October 2007.[11] The tragically deceased singer received a lifetime achievement award.

Jelena Tomašević performing "Oro" at the Beovizija 2008 final

The final took place on 10 March 2008 and featured the ten qualifiers from the preceding semi-final. The winner, "Oro" performed by Jelena Tomašević featuring Bora Dugić, was decided by a combination of votes from a jury panel consisting of Petar Janjatović (music journalist), Slobodan Marković (composer) and Nena Kunijević (RTS music editor), and the Serbian public via SMS voting.[13] In addition to the competing entries, the Serbian music industry awards were handed as the interval act.

Jelena Tomašević and Bora Dugić took part in technical rehearsals on 17 and 18 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 23 and 24 May. The running order for the semi-finals and final was decided by through another draw on 17 March 2008 and Serbia was subsequently placed to perform in position 23, following the entry from Spain and before the entry from Russia.[18]

The Serbian performance featured Jelena Tomašević in a grey dress and Bora Dugić performing together with three backing vocalists, two of them which performed a choreographed routine, and a guitarist. The stage lighting and background LED screens predominately displayed dark blue colours. The performance also featured the use of a wind machine.[19][20] The five backing performers that joined Jelena Tomašević and Bora Dugić on stage were: Aleksandar Sedlar Bogoev, Jelena Đurić, Marko Vulinović and Mirjana Nešković.[21] Serbia placed sixth in the final, scoring 160 points.[22]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Serbia and awarded by Serbia in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Macedonia in the semi-final and to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final of the contest.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was watched by 4,562,000 people in Serbia, making it the most watched programme of all time in Serbia.[25]