Best of National Finals 2008
2008′s edition was the fourth I did during after doing both 2005 and 2007 the year before; it was held the spring of 2008, between April and May, as explained in the rules here. 43 countries took part in the 2008 Eurovisiong Song Contest. 36 of them used some sort of national finals in which 578 songs were performed. I wrote down a list of 100 songs I liked and then came up with these top 30:
Albania | “Kjo botë merr frymë nga dashuria” Manjola Nallbani
Albania | “Përjetësisht” Rovena Dilo
Albania | “Po lind një yll” Rosela Gjylbegu
Albania | “S’ka fajtor në dashuri” Jonida Maliqi
Bosnia & Herzegovina | “Pokušaj” Laka
Bulgaria | “Nai-krasivoto litse” Misha Iliev
Croatia | “Kakav tuzan kraj” Ivana Radovniković
Czech Republic | “Jozef, moi kochany” Čechomor
Denmark | “Underneath the moon” Camille Rommedahl & Ulrik Hansen
Estonia | “Ice-cold story” Iiris Vesik
Estonia | “Real big money” SKA Faktor
Finland | “Missä miehet ratsastaa” Teräsbetoni
Finland | “Pleasure” Crumbland
France | “Divine” Sébastien Tellier
Hungary | “Piszkos tanc” Adrienn Szekeres
Iceland | “Friður á þessari jörð” Sigurður Þór Óskarsson
Iceland | “Fullkomið líf” Eurobandið
Israel | “Masa haiyai” Boaz Mauda
Latvia | “Fly to the moon” Janis Moisejs
Romania | “Dr. Frankenstein” LaGaylia Frazier
Romania | “La Storia della pioggia” Innesa & Millenium
Romania | “Run away” Catalin Josan
Russia | “Sny” Tamila Bloggy
San Marino | “Miodio” Complice
Serbia | “Oro” Jelena Tomasević
Sweden | “Hallelujah new world” Eskobar
Sweden | “Hero” Charlotte Perelli
Sweden | “Lay your love on me” Bodies Without Organs
Sweden | “Lullaby” Brandur
Turkey | “Deli” Mor ve Ötesi
Semifinal
My friends recieved the mp3 of these 30 songs and they have graded each of them with a 1 (awful) through 5 (great) system. For the first time, I saved the full results of the semifinal because four songs were tied at 36pts between 17th and 14th: only two of them could go through and the ones with the most 5pts could qualify. And so we have from 30th to 16th:
30 
San Marino | “Miodio” Complice
29 
Estonia | “Real big money” SKA Faktor
28 
Latvia | “Fly to the moon” Janis Moisejs
27 
Albania | “Kjo botë merr frymë nga dashuria” Manjola Nallbani
26 
Denmark | “Underneath the moon” Camille Rommedahl & Ulrik Hansen
25 
Sweden | “Lullaby” Brandur
24 Sweden | “Hallelujah new world” Eskobar
23 
Croatia | “Kakav tuzan kraj” Ivana Radovniković
22 
Romania | “La Storia della pioggia” Innesa & Millenium
21 
Finland | “Pleasure” Crumbland
20 
France | “Divine” Sébastien Tellier
19 Albania | “Po lind një yll” Rosela Gjylbegu
18 
Russia | “Sny” Tamila Bloggy
17 Romania | “Run away” Catalin Josan
16 Estonia | “Ice-cold story” Iiris Vesik
Final
So now that I had all 15 finalists, I used a computer “random playlist” to get the running order for the final:
01
Sweden
“Lay your love on me”
Bodies Without Organs
02
Iceland
“Friður á þessari jörð”
Sigurður Þór Óskarsson
03
Hungary
“Piszkos tanc”
Adrienn Szekeres
04
Turkey
“Deli”
Mor ve Ötesi
05
Romania
“Dr. Frankenstein”
LaGaylia Frazier
06
Israel
“Masa haiyai”
Boaz Mauda
07
Finland
“Missä miehet ratsastaa”
Teräsbetoni
08
Serbia
“Oro”
Jelena Tomasević
09
Iceland
“Fullkomið líf” Eurobandið
Sigurður Þór Óskarsson
10
Bosnia & Herzegovina
“Pokušaj”
Laka
11
Albania
“S’ka fajtor në dashuri”
Jonida Maliqi
12
Czech Republic
“Jozef, moi kochany”
Čechomor
13
Bulgaria
“Nai-krasivoto litse”
Misha Iliev
14
Albania
“Përjetësisht”
Rovena Dilo
15
Sweden
“Hero”
Charlotte Perrelli
Results
If you don’t remember those songs, you can check BoNF’s youtube page or this recap video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmXX6Cbqumw
