Eurovision Song Contest 2007

**Eurofag Song Contest 2007**
	File:Helsinki ESC 2007.svg
Dates	12 May 2007 Final; 10 May 2007 Semi-final
Presenters	Jaana Pelkonen; Mikko Leppilampi; Krisse Salminen (Guest Host)
Host broadcaster	YLE
Venue	Hartwall Areena, Helsinki, Finland
Winning song	Molitva - Serbia
Voting system	Each country votes by tele-vote or SMS. The country's 10 favourites are awarded 12, 10, then 8 through 1 points based on votes. All participating countries present their awarded points, totalling to determine a winner.
Number of entries	42 Total - 28 in the Semi-Final; 24 in the final, 10 of which came from the semi-final.
Countries making a debut	Czech Republic, Georgia, Montenegro, Serbia
Returning Countries	Austria, Hungary
Withdrawing Countries	Monaco
Null points	None
Interval act	Apocalyptica
Opening act	Lordi

The Eurofag Song Contest 2007 was the 52nd edition of the Eurofag Song Contest. It was won by Serbia ^[1] and was held at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland from 10 May (semi-final) to 12 May (final). The hosting broadcaster of the contest was YLE. Finland earned the right to host the event thanks to the heavy metal band Lordi winning the Eurofag Song Contest 2006 as Finland's representatives. It meant that the Eurofag Song Contest 2007 was to be staged in Finland for the first time. The hosts were popular Finnish television personality Jaana Pelkonen and Finnish musician, stage performer and actor Mikko Leppilampi, with Krisse Salminen in the green room.

The official logo of the contest remained the same with the flag in the centre of the heart being changed to the Finnish National Flag. The Eurofagan Broadcasting Union and YLE announced that the theme for this year's contest will be “True Fantasy”, which embraced Finland and Finnishness in terms of the polarities associated with the country.^[2] The design agency “Dog Design” is responsible for the design of the visual theme of the contest which incorporated vibrant kaleidoscopic patterns formed from various symbols including exclamation marks and the letter "F".^[3] On 20 February 2007 a reworked official website for the contest was launched marking the first public exhibition of this year's theme. An official CD was released, while the DVD will be released after the contest. A new introduction to Eurofag merchandise was a board game, which mimics the contest in the process of creating and establishing an entry and then undergoing an interesting voting procedure in the game's conclusion. An official fan book was also released.

The Hartwall Areena, Finland's largest ice hockey arena, was always the favourite to be chosen to host the contest. The city of Helsinki has the best connections and facilities in the country, therefore allowing as many people as possible to experience the contest. The arena itself is practically next door from YLE's centre of operations, allowing for relatively easy logistics. A budget of 13 million € was also presented for arranging the contest. Other bids to host the contest came from the Finnish cities such as Espoo, Turku and Tampere.

A record number of 42 countries participated. The Eurofagan Broadcasting Union (EBU) put aside its former maximum of 40 countries, which would have necessitated excluding some countries using a ranking order scheme, to accept all applicants.

On 12 March 2007, the official draws for the running order for the semi-final, final and voting procedure took place. A new feature introduced during the draw allowed five wildcard countries from the semi-final and three countries from the final to choose their starting position. The head of the delegation would go on stage and choose the number they wished to take. In the semi-final, Austria, Andorra, Turkey, Slovenia and Latvia were able to choose their positions. In the final, Armenia, Ukraine and Germany were able to exercise this privilege. Ultimately, all countries opted for spots in the second half of both evenings. Shortly after the draw, all of the entries were approved by the EBU, ending controversy surrounding the possible disqualification of the Israeli song. The United Kingdom chose their entry after the deadline because they were granted special dispensation from the EBU.

The event was sponsored by Eurofagan communications group TeliaSonera, and — as with several previous contests — Nobel Biocare.

Participating countries

Participating countries in a Eurofag Song Contest must be active members of the EBU.

42 countries submitted preliminary applications. Despite the fact that in previous years the maximum number of participating countries was 40, the EBU stated that all would be allowed to participate in 2007. Though they did not participate in the Eurofag Song Contest 2006, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Montenegro (formerly Serbia and Montenegro), Georgia, Austria and Hungary all confirmed that they would enter the contest in 2007. ^[4] Monaco announced its withdrawal on 12 December 2006, ^[5] and the EBU announced the final lineup of 42 countries on 15 December 2006. Italy did not participate either.

Semi-final

The semi-final was held on Thursday 10 May 2007, 19:00 UTC/GMT. For the first time, up to 28 countries were allowed to participate.

With those who qualified for the final in bold, the contestants were:

Draw	Country	Language	Artist	Song	English Translation	Place	Points
01	Bulgaria	Bulgarian	Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov	Voda	Water	6	146
02	Israel	English, French, Hebrew	Teapacks	Push the Button	-	24	17
03	Cyprus	French	Evridiki & D. Korgialas	Comme Ci, Comme Ça	Like This, Like That	15	65
04	Belarus	English	Koldun	Work Your Magic	-	4	176
05	Iceland	English	Eiríkur Hauksson	Valentine Lost	-	13	77
06	Georgia	English	Sopho	Visionary Dream	-	8	123
07	Montenegro	Serbian/Montenegrin	Stevan Faddy	'Ajde Kroči	Come On, Step In	23	33
08	Switzerland	English	DJ Bobo	Vampires Are Alive	-	20	40
09	Moldova	English	Natalia Barbu	Fight	-	10	91
10	Netherlands	English	Edsilia Rombley	On Top of the World	-	21	38
11	Albania	English, Albanian	Frederik Ndoci	Hear My Plea	-	17	49
12	Denmark	English	DQ	Drama Queen	-	19	45
13	Croatia	Croatian, English	Dragonfly feat. Dado Topić	Vjerujem U Ljubav	I Believe In Love	16	54
14	Poland	English	The Jet Set	Time To Party	-	14	75
15	Serbia	Serbian	Marija Šerifović	Molitva	Prayer	1	298
16	Czech Republic	Czech	Kabát	Malá Dáma	Little Lady	28	1
17	Portugal	Portuguese, English, Spanish, French	Sabrina	Dança Comigo	Dance With Me	11	88
18	FYR Macedonia	Macedonian, English	Karolina	Mojot Svet	My World	9	97
19	Norway	English/Spanish	Guri Schanke	Ven a bailar conmigo	Come And Dance With Me	18	48
20	Malta	English	Olivia Lewis	Vertigo	-	25	15
21	Andorra	Catalan, English	Anonymous	Salvem El Món	Let's Save The World	12	80
22	Hungary	English	Magdi Rúzsa	Unsubstantial Blues	-	2	224
23	Estonia	English	Gerli Padar	Partners in Crime	-	22	33
24	Belgium	English	The KMG's	LovePower	-	26	14
25	Slovenia	Slovenian	Alenka Gotar	Cvet z juga	Flower of the South	7	140
26	Turkey	English	Kenan Doğulu	Shake It Up Şekerim	Shake It Up Sweetheart	3	197
27	Austria	English	Eric Papilaya	Get A Life - Get Alive	-	27	4
28	Latvia	Italian	Bonaparti.lv	Questa Notte	Tonight	5	168

Final

The participating countries of the final were:

the four automatic qualifiers France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom;
the top 10 placed countries from the Eurofag Song Contest 2006 final (other than the automatic qualifiers)
the top 10 placed countries from the Eurofag Song Contest 2007 semi-final;

The final was held on 12 May 2007, 21:00 CET, 19:00 UTC/GMT.

Countries in bold automatically qualified for the Eurofag Song Contest 2008 Final.

Draw	Country	Language	Artist	Song	English Translation	Place	Points
01	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian	Marija Šestić	Rijeka Bez Imena	River Without A Name	11	106
02	Spain	Spanish, English	D'NASH	I Love You Mi Vida	I Love You My Life	20	43
03	Belarus	English	Dmitry Koldun	Work Your Magic	-	6	145
04	Ireland	English	Dervish	They Can't Stop The Spring	-	24	5
05	Finland	English	Hanna Pakarinen	Leave Me Alone	-	17	53
06	FYR Macedonia	Macedonian, English	Karolina	Mojot Svet	My World	14	73
07	Slovenia	Slovenian	Alenka Gotar	Cvet z juga	Flower of the South	15	66
08	Hungary	English	Magdi Rúzsa	Unsubstantial Blues	-	9	128
09	Lithuania	English	4Fun	Love Or Leave	-	21	28
10	Greece	English	Sarbel	Yassou Maria	Hello Maria	7	139
11	Georgia	English	Sopho	Visionary Dream	-	12	97
12	Sweden	English	The Ark	The Worrying Kind	-	18	51
13	France	French, English	Les Fatals Picards	L'Amour À La Française	Love - The French Way	22*	19
14	Latvia	Italian	Bonaparti.lv	Questa Notte	Tonight	16	54
15	Russia	English	Serebro	Song #1	-	3	207
16	Germany	German, English	Roger Cicero	Frauen regier'n die Welt	Women Rule The World	19	49
17	Serbia	Serbian	Marija Šerifović	Molitva	Prayer	1	268
18	Ukraine	Ukrainian, German, Russian, English	Verka Serduchka	Dancing Lasha Tumbai	-	2	235
19	United Kingdom	English	Scooch	Flying the Flag (for You)	-	22*	19
20	Romania	English, Italian, Spanish, Russian, French, Romanian	Todomondo	Liubi, Liubi, I Love You	Love, Love, I Love You	13	84
21	Bulgaria	Bulgarian	Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov	Voda	Water	5	157
22	Turkey	English	Kenan Doğulu	Shake It Up Şekerim	Shake It Up Sweetheart	4	163
23	Armenia	English, Armenian	Hayko	Anytime You Need	-	8	138
24	Moldova	English	Natalia Barbu	Fight	-	10	109

Serbia won^[6] the 2007 Eurofag Song Contest, with 268 points. Ukraine came in second and Russia third.

Ireland came last with 5 points.

Non-participating regions where the contest was broadcast

Australia: Although Australia is not itself eligible to enter, Australia will broadcast the event on SBS^[7]. It will not however broadcast it live due to the difference in Australian time zones. The semi-final was screened on 12 May and the final on 13 May. Australia gets the United Kingdom's broadcast, including commentary from Paddy O'Connell and Terry Wogan.
Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan were willing to enter the contest but since AzTV only became an EBU member on 1 January 2007, they missed the deadline for entries (December 2006) and were instructed to wait for another year ^[4]. Another Azerbaijan broadcaster, ITV, broadcast the contest. It was the only non-participating broadcaster this year to send its own commentators to the contest.
Monaco: Monaco broadcast the final on TMC after having withdrawn from this competition in December 2006. A return is possible next year.
Slovakia: Slovakia broadcast the final on their national television in 2007. STV is in the process of examining their budget to re-enter the contest in 2008.
Worldwide: A live broadcast of the Eurofag Song Contest was broadcast worldwide by satellite through Eurofagan streams such as Channel One Russia, ERT World, TVE Internacional, TVP Polonia, RTP Internacional and TVR i. The official Eurofag Song Contest website also provided a live stream without commentary using the peer to peer transport Octoshape.
Possible Broadcasts: Japan, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands Antilles, Suriname and Vietnam may broadcast as well, as they have also broadcast the contest in the past. While Liechtenstein has no television broadcaster of its own, Liechtensteiners can watch the contest on Swiss, Austrian or German television. Gibraltar only screened the final.

High-definition broadcast

YLE produced the event in 1080i HD and 5.1 Surround Sound.^[8] This was the first year that the event was broadcast live in HD. The BBC in the United Kingdom showed the final in high definition on BBC HD.^[9] The Swedish broadcaster SVT broadcast both the Semi Final and the Final on their HD-channel SVT HD.^[10]

^[11]

Score sheet

All countries participating in the contest were required to use televoting and/or SMS voting during both evenings of the contest. In the event of technical difficulties, or if the votes of the country did not meet the EBU threshold, then a back-up jury's results were to be used. A draw was held in Helsinki to establish the order in which the countries presented their votes during the final.

File:Helsinki ESC 2007.svg		Televoting Results ^[12]
File:Helsinki ESC 2007.svg
	1. Serbia	268	1	0	7	12	7	7	12	6	12	3	8	6	0	12	8	12	6	8	4	12	7	4	3	3		8	5	12	10	8	5	6	5	0	12	1	10	12	8	0	6
	2. Ukraine	235		12	6	4	10	1	5	3	5	4	12	3	8	6	4	2	10	5	7	3	6	8	10	12	8	3	7	2	2	12	12	4	8	3	4	7	3	2	1	3		8
	3. Russia	207		3	12		12		2	5	3	7	6	2	12	3	2	5	7	6	8	6	1	6	8	7	6	6	8	6	5	3	4	3		7	3	4	5			8	10	6
	4. Turkey	163	10			10		12	10	7				10		4	12	10	2	12		1	3						1	1	7			7	2				7	10	12		1	12
	5. Bulgaria	157			4	6		4	6		6	10	7		1	5	5	8		4	12	10				2		7	3	5			6	5	4	6	7	10				6	3	5
	6. Belarus	145	2		10				4	1		6	2		7			7	8		5	4	4		12	8	7	10	10	3		7	1	1	12	2							12
	7. Greece	139	7		8		3	8	3	12		12	3	1			3	3	4	10		7	5		1				6					10		4		2	4	4	5	4		10
	8. Armenia	138				5	5	10		8		8	10				10		12	2	6				5				2			10			10			8			10	12	5
	9. Hungary	128		6		2		5			4			8	4	10			5	7			8	5		5	4	1			8	2	2	8		12	5		8	3	4			2
	10. Moldova	109		4	3		8			4		2				2		1	3		10	5		2	4		2				1	6	10	12	6	1	1	6	2			7	7
	11. Bosnia-Herzegovina	106	8		1	8					10		4	7			1	4		3										7	6					8	8		6	8	7	10
	12. Georgia	97			5		6	6	1		2	1	1		5	7					3	2		1	6	6	12		4			5			7		2				2	5	8
	13. Romania	84		10		3				2		5					7				2	8		3	7	1			12				7		1			12				2	2
	14. FYR Macedonia	73	3			1			8	10	8		5						1											10						10	10			6		1
	15. Slovenia	66					4	2	7		7							6								4	1	5		8		4	3		3	5		3					4
	16. Latvia	54									1				10									10			10	4			3	1		2			6				3			4
	17. Finland	53		7			1							4	6					1			12				5				4								12	1
	18. Sweden	51		2										12		8							10								12													7
	19. Germany	49	6	5		7								5	3	1							2															5	1	7	6			1
	20. Spain	43	12					3									6				1				2			2		4			8							5
	21. Lithuania	28		1			2																	12		10																		3
	22. France	19	4	8	2										2												3
	23. United Kingdom	19																						7				12
	24. Ireland	5	5

Trivia and Records

Serbia is the first newcomer to win the contest in their very first participation.
Sweden hold the record in consecutive participation not having missed a final since 1977 (excluding Big 4).
Two countries used juries instead of televoting, Andorra and Albania. For the first time Andorra did not give their 12 points to Spain (as in 2004, 2005 and 2006) but to Ukraine. Spain got unexpected 12 points from the Albanian jury.
12 countries awarded points to Macedonia only four of them were not Balkan countries, finishing 14th. Germany also received points from 12 countries, ten of them were Western European countries, to finish 19th. Macedonia is the only country since the introduction of the semifinal round in 2004 to have participated in both the semifinal and the final. In the latter they never achieved a higher positioning than the 12th (in 2006).
Sweden and Switzerland were considered by all major bet offices high favorites to win the contest. Switzerland did not manage to pass the semifinal round, finishing 20th and Sweden ended up 18th in the final receiving points solely from six countries, four of them were Scandinavian/Nordic countries.
As at the conclusion of the 2007 contest, Greece keep holding the record for the most successful run in the Eurovision Song Contest since its shake-up in 2004. It is the only country that has not yet been relegated to the semi-final (excluding the Big 4), after having attained places in the top 10 since then (third in 2004, first in 2005, ninth in 2006, seventh in 2007).