Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Skopje Fest 2008 was a song contest organised by MRT that served as Macedonia's national final to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Fifteen entries participated in the competition which took place on 23 February 2008 at the Metropolis Arena in Skopje, hosted by Živkica Gjurčinovska and Borislav Tnokovski and was broadcast on MTV 1 and MTV Sat.[4][5]

A submission period was opened for interested artists and composers to submit their songs between 30 November 2007 and 31 December 2007.[6] MRT received 130 submissions at the closing of the deadline. Fifteen entries were selected from the open submissions, while an additional six entries were submitted by well-known composers directly invited by MRT for the competition. The twenty-one competing artists and songs were announced on 12 January 2008 during a press conference at the M-1 Studio in Skopje.[7][8]

On 14 January 2008, MRT announced that all six entries written by invited composers: "Apolon" performed by Maja Vukićević, "Kubana" performed by Agon and Džoksi, "Životot e tvoj" performed by Sanja Lefkova, "Slatka mala" performed by Igor Šarevski, "Eden čekor ili dva" performed by Filip Jordanovski and "Holivud" performed by Bojan and Big Mama were withdrawn from the competition due to negative reactions from composers of the entries selected from the open submissions.[9]

The final took place on 23 February 2008. Fifteen entries competed and a 50/50 combination of public televoting and a five-member jury panel selected "Vo ime na ljubovta" performed by Tamara, Vrčak and Adrian as the winner.[10] The jury panel consisted of Kire Kostov (composer and conductor), Sanja Šuplevska-Boiral (violinist), Vesna Maljanovska (musicologist and music journalist), Anita Latifi (journalist) and Lidija Kočovska (singer).[11] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the competition featured guest performances by Makmodels, Silvi Bend, 2008 Belarusian Eurovision representative Ruslan Alekhno and 2006 Bosnian Eurovision representative Hari Mata Hari. The show also featured a tribute to 2004 Macedonian Eurovision representative Toše Proeski who died in 2007.[12][13]

It was revealed in late March that "Vo ime na ljubovta" would be performed in English at the Eurovision Song Contest as "Let Me Love You".[14] Vrčak worked with Macedonian producers Valentino Skenderovski and Robert Bilbilov to create the final version of the song in the Netherlands, which was released on 7 April along with its Turkish, Albanian, Serbian and Russian versions.[15]

Tamara, Vrčak and Adrian made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Let Me Love You" as the Macedonian Eurovision entry. On 2 March, Tamara, Vrčak and Adrian performed "Let Me Love You" during the presentation show of the 2008 Bosnian Eurovision entry, BH Eurosong Show 2008.[16] The trio also performed the song during the semi-final of the Serbian Eurovision national final Beovizija 2008 on 9 March.[17]

Tamara, Vrčak and Adrian performing during the second semi-final

Tamara, Vrčak and Adrian took part in technical rehearsals on 14 and 17 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 21 and 22 May.[22] The Macedonian performance featured Tamara, Vrčak and Adrian performing together with two dancers and a backing vocalist; Tamara wore a black dress while Vrčak and Adrian were in white outfits. The background LED screens displayed blue and white colours.[23][24] The two dancers that joined Tamara, Vrčak and Adrian on stage were Aleksa Raifović and Toma Đorđević and the backing vocalist was Nade Talevska.[25]

At the end of the show, Macedonia was not announced among the 10 qualifying entries in the second semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. This marked the first time that Macedonia failed to qualify to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest from a semi-final since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004. It was later revealed that Macedonia placed tenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 64 points.[26]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Macedonia and awarded by Macedonia in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Albania in the semi-final and the final of the contest.