This year's Eurovision Song Contest will be the biggest in the event's fifty two year history, both in terms of participating countries but also in terms of the shows which will be produced. With 43 countries now actively involved in the competition, it has been decided to have two semi-finals, rather than the one which was introduced in 2004.

As announced in Helsinki, the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest will be staged on Saturday May 24th, reverting to a more typical date, after the earlier slot in 2007. The first semi-final will be broadcast on Tuesday 20th May, with the second show on Thursday May 22nd. The fact that there will now be three shows has extended the rehersal schedule and you can find the details of that below. 

After the controversial voting patterns seen in recent years and which for many people ruined the 2007 contest, the EBU has decided to have the most radical shake-up of the format of the competition since 2004. The most obvious change is that there will now only be five automatic finalists; 2007 winners Serbia and the "Big 4" financial contributors: France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. This spells disappointment for the other nine countries who finished in the Top 10 in Helsinki, as under the previous format, they would also have been automatically qualified for the 2008 final. Instead they will now join all the other entrants in the two semi-finals, which will be broadcast on the Tuesday and Thursday before the final.

The limit on the number of participating countries was increased to 45, meaning that up to 20 countries could compete in each semi-final. In the end only 43 countries will go to Belgrade, with newcomers San Marino and Azerbaijan, making their debuts, while Austria has decided to opt out for 2008. There is no sign of Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Slovakia or Morocco re-entering the contest. 

Ten countries will qualify from each semi-final, and critically, only the countries participating in the semi-final and two of the "Big 4" and Serbia will vote in that semi, although any participating broadcaster can transmit both semis. Also a minor adjustment will mean that the televoters choose nine of the ten qualifiers, and the back-up juries will select the tenth, based on the highest ranking points from all the juries after the nine puublic choices are known. 

After originally suggesting that the two semi-finals, would be divided by time zone which would have meant that both Eastern and Western Europe would be guaranteed ten places in the final and then toying with the idea of an open draw, which could well have suffered from the same voting problems as the past, the EBU Reference Group have come up with a compromise. For the semi-final draw, the participating countries will be divided into pots based on statistical data, geographical position and voting patterns since 2004, and a equal number of countries will go into each semi-final. This is likely to mean that the infamous voting blocks which have brought the contest into disrepute are likely to be broken up for the semi-finals, as well as diluting the impact of the immigrant votes.

An inital draw for the which countries would participate in each semi-final was made in January, and on March 17th, the running order for each show and for the voting in the final was made. On the left you  can see the drawing of the running order for the voting sequence.

The new format means that there will be 25 counties in the Eurovision Song Contest final for the first time since 1998. For the final, one thing that is unlikely to change is the controversial voting sequence, introduced in 2005. The fact that up to 43 countries will still be voting in the final, means that each country will have less than a minute to call in its votes, and once again, only the 12, 10 and 8 points will be announced by the spokeperson, with the rest being added automatically by the scoreboard computer

In the final, the "Big 4" and hosts Serbia, will perform in the following draw positions;

At this stage we don't know where the qualifiers from each semi-final will be drawn. At the end of each semi-final, when the envelopes are opened, a draw the position in the in final will be allocated at random. Consequently the last country who's envelope is opened could open the show. 

The one thing we do know is the order of the voting and should Ireland qualify from the semi-final, it could mean that we take an early lead, as the U.K., Ireland's biggest supporters at Eurovision will vote first. Ireland hasn't led in the Eurovision Song Contest voting since The Mullans took a surprise early lead back in 1999.

The increase in the number of show, has also extended the rehearsal schedule, with the first rehearsals starting on Sunday May 11th, a full 13 days before the final. Right now the exact timetable is still being developed, but this is the information we have on the rehearsal schedule, right now.