Eurovision Song Contest 2007

Eurovision Song Contest 2007 "True Fantasy"
Semi-final date	10 May 2007
Final date	12 May 2007
Presenter(s)	Jaana Pelkonen Mikko Leppilampi Krisse Salminen (Green Room)
Host broadcaster	YLE
Venue	Hartwall Areena Helsinki, Finland
Winning song	Serbia "Molitva"
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 perticipating countries present points, totalling them to determine a winner.
Number of entries	42
Debuting countries	Czech Republic  Georgia  Montenegro  Serbia
Returning countries	Austria  Hungary
Withdrawing countries	Monaco
Nul points	None
Opening act
Lordi movie from Rovaniemi
Interval act
Apocalyptica
Participation Map      Participating participants     Countries who did not qualify for the final     Non-participants that have entered in the past
Eurovision Song Contest
◄2006        2008►

The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It was won by first-time appearance as an independent country Serbia ^[1] and was held at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland from 10 May to 12 May. The host broadcaster was YLE. Finland earned the right to host the event after heavy metal band Lordi's victory at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. It was the first time the Contest had been held in Finland. A budget of €13 million was presented for arranging the contest. Other bids to host the contest came from Espoo, Turku and Tampere. The hosts were Finnish television personality Jaana Pelkonen and Finnish musician, stage performer and actor Mikko Leppilampi. Krisse Salminen acted as guest host in the green room, and reported from the crowds at the Senate Square.

A record number of 42 countries participated. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) put aside its limit of 40 countries, which would have meant excluding some countries using a ranking order scheme.

After Lordi scored the first ever Eurovision victory with a hard rock song in 2006, several countries sent rock songs to the Contest rather than the soft pop and schlager styles more closely associated with Eurovision. This trend continued at the 2008 and 2009 Contests.

Contents 1 Visual design 2 Format 3 Individual Entries 4 Participating countries 5 Results 5.1 Semi-final 5.2 Final 5.2.1 Voting during the final 6 International broadcasting 6.1 Other involved countries 6.2 High-definition broadcast 7 Score sheet 7.1 Semi-final 7.2 Final 7.2.1 12 points 8 Commentators 8.1 Commentators for participating countries 8.2 Commentators for non-participating countries 9 Spokespersons 10 Controversy 11 Returning artists 12 Gallery 13 References 14 External links

Visual design

The official logo of the contest remained the same as 2006; the flag in the centre of the heart was changed to the Finnish flag. The European Broadcasting Union and YLE announced that the theme for the 2007 contest would be "True Fantasy", which embraced Finland and "Finnishness" in terms of the polarities associated with the country.^[2] The design agency Dog Design was 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] The stage was in the shape of a kantele, a traditional Finnish instrument. 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 and DVD were released (but no HD DVD or Blu-ray, despite the event being broadcast in high definition for the first time). An official fan book was also released. The themes of the postcards (short videos between the acts) were short stories happening in different Finnish places.

Format

On 12 March 2007, the draws for the running order for the semi-final, final and voting procedure took place. A new feature allowed five wild-card countries from the semi-final and three countries from the final to choose their starting position. The heads of delegation went on stage and chose the number they would 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. All countries opted for spots in the second half of both evenings. Shortly after the draw, the entries were approved by the EBU, ending the possibility of disqualification for the Israeli song. The United Kingdom chose their entry after the deadline because they were granted special dispensation from the EBU.

The contest saw some minor changes to the voting time-frame. The compilation summary video of all entries including phone numbers was shown twice. The voting process was the same as 2006 except there was fifteen minutes to vote, an increase of five on the 2006 Contest. In the final, the results from each country were once again shown from one to seven points automatically on screen and only eight, ten and twelve were read by the spokespeople. For the first time, the winner was awarded a promotion tour around Europe, visiting Denmark, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Greece and Germany. The tour was held between 16 May and 21 May. The event was sponsored by European communications group TeliaSonera, and — as with several previous contests — Nobel Biocare. Apocalyptica were the interval act, and played a medley of songs: Worlds Collide, Faraway and finally Life Burns!, but without the usual lyrics.

Individual Entries

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 Albania · Andorra · Armenia · Austria · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Georgia · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Ireland · Israel · Latvia · Lithuania · Macedonia · Malta · Moldova · Montenegro · Netherlands · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia · Serbia (winner) · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey · Ukraine · United Kingdom Italics indicates semi-finalists who did not advance to the final.

Participating countries

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

42 countries submitted preliminary applications. Although in previous years the maximum number of participating countries was 40, the EBU allowed all 42 to participate in 2007. The Czech Republic, Serbia, Montenegro and Georgia all entered the contest for the first time 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.

Results

Semi-final

The semi-final was held on 10 May 2007 at 21:00 (CET). 28 countries performed and all 42 participants voted.

• Gold denotes which entry won the Semi Final and Qualified.
• Red denotes which entry finished last in the Semi Final.
• The other 9 countries qualified for the final are highlighted.

Draw	Country	Language	Artist	Song	English translation	Place	Points
01	Bulgaria	Bulgarian	Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov	"Water"	—	6	146
02	Israel	English, French, Hebrew	Teapacks	"Push the Button"	—	24	17
03	Cyprus	French	Evridiki	"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	Montenegrin [6]	Stevan Faddy	"'Ajde, kroči"	Come on, step in	22	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" (Молитва)	Prayer	1	298
16	Czech Republic	Czech	Kabát	"Malá dáma"	Little lady	28	1
17	Portugal	Portuguese, English, Spanish, French	Sabrina	"Dança comigo"	Come dance with me	11	88
18	Macedonia	Macedonian, English	Karolina	"Mojot svet" (Мојот свет)	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	"Love Power"	—	26	14
25	Slovenia	Slovene	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 finalists were:

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

The final was held on 12 May 2007 at 21:00 (CET) and was won by Serbia.

Draw	Country	Language	Artist	Song	English translation	Place	Points
01	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnian[7]	Marija	"Rijeka bez imena" (Ријека без имена)	River without a name	11	106
02	Spain	Spanish, English	D'NASH	"I Love You Mi Vida"	I love you my darling	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	Macedonia	Macedonian, English	Karolina	"Mojot svet" (Мојот свет)	My world	14	73
07	Slovenia	Slovene	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 ("Franglais")	Les Fatals Picards	"L'amour à la française"	Love - the French way	22[8]	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" (Молитва)	Prayer	1	268
18	Ukraine	Ukrainian, German, English	Verka Serduchka	"Dancing Lasha Tumbai" (Dancing Лаша Тумбай)	—	2	235
19	United Kingdom	English	Scooch	"Flying the Flag (for You)"	—	22[8]	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	"Water"	—	5	157
22	Turkey	English	Kenan Doğulu	"Shake It Up Şekerim"	Shake it up sweetheart	4	163
23	Armenia	English	Hayko	"Anytime You Need"	-	8	138
24	Moldova	English	Natalia Barbu	"Fight"	—	10	109

Voting during the final

Countries revealed their votes in the following order:^[9]

Montenegro  Belarus  Armenia  Andorra  Austria  France  Denmark  Greece  Spain  Serbia  Finland  Turkey  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Belgium

Portugal  Albania  Romania  Cyprus  Croatia  Slovenia  Israel  Germany  Lithuania  Norway  Switzerland  Czech Republic  Netherlands  Ireland

Malta  Estonia  Georgia  Bulgaria  Sweden  Ukraine  Russia  Latvia  Iceland  Poland  Moldova  United Kingdom  Macedonia  Hungary

International broadcasting

Other involved countries

Australia 

Although Australia is not itself eligible to enter, the semi-final and final were broadcast the event on SBS.^[10] As is the case each year, they were not broadcast live due to the difference in Australian time zones. Australia aired the United Kingdom's broadcast, including commentary from Paddy O'Connell, Sarah Cawood and Terry Wogan. Before the broadcasts, viewers were told by an SBS host that the Eurovision Song Contest was one of their most popular programmes. The final rated an estimated 436,000 viewers, and was ranked number 20 on the broadcasters top rating programs of the 2006/2007 financial year. [1]

Azerbaijan 

Azerbaijan were willing to enter the contest, but since AzTV applied for active EBU membership but was denied on 18 June 2007, they missed the contest and had to wait until they were accepted. Another Azerbaijani broadcaster, İctimai Televiziya və Radio Yayımları Şirkəti, broadcast the contest. It was a passive EBU member at the time, and had broadcast it for the previous two years. It was the only non-participating broadcaster this year to send its own commentators to the contest.^[11]

Italy

Italian television has not entered since 1997. National broadcaster RAI is in strong competition with commercial TV stations and believes that Eurovision would not be a popular show in Italy, although the 1991 edition (held in Rome) was followed by 6 million people. They have not broadcast the contest in recent years, although an independent Italian channel for the gay community has shown the show.

Monaco

Monaco broadcast the final on TMC after having withdrawn from this competition in December 2006, opening the possibility of returning for the 2008 contest. However TMC did not return in 2008.

Worldwide 

A live broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast worldwide by satellite through Eurovision streams such as Channel One Russia, ERT World, TVE Internacional, TVP Polonia, RTP Internacional and TVR i. The official Eurovision Song Contest website also provided a live stream without commentary using the peer to peer transport Octoshape.

High-definition broadcast

YLE produced the event in 1080i HD and 5.1 Surround Sound.^[12] This was the first year that the event was broadcast live in HD. The BBC in the United Kingdom broadcast the final in high definition on BBC HD.^[13] Swedish broadcaster SVT broadcast both the semi-final and the final on their HD-channel SVT HD.^[14] However the event is only available to buy on standard-definition DVD, with no HD DVD or Blu-ray version available in high definition.

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. Albania and Andorra were the only countries that used juries. A draw was held in Helsinki to establish the order in which the countries presented their votes during the final.

Semi-final

		Televoting Results
	Bulgaria	146		6	12			3	5		5		1		6			10	5	7		3		8		2	3	12	6		1	8	10	10	2	3	1	4				2		6
	Israel	17					1											2							3							6							4				1
	Cyprus	65	7	4									8													5					4	5	12				7	3						10
	Belarus	176	6	4	10		4	4	4		12		4	1		4	4	5	1	4	3	7		2	7			5		10	12		7			2	3		10	6	3	12	12
	Iceland	77				3		1						10							12			10	6					6					12				5		12
	Georgia	123	3	8	7	8					8	5				3									10	1		10		7	8				4				8			10	10
	Montenegro	33											7		5		8			3							5									5
	Switzerland	40			2									3	1							10	6		2		2			4			2					8
	Moldova	91	1	3	6	12		7											12			2						8			7		3	6			12			2		6	6
	Netherlands	38		1						1				4					3		1	8	5	5		10
	Albania	49	2						6	7					3					10								4	3				8			4		1						1
	Denmark	45		5			8					1					3				4	6	2																	5	4			7
	Croatia	54							7	5			3				6			6							8		7							10		2
	Poland	75			3	5	2	6	1					2			2			2			10	3					4	1	5	3						5	3	10		5		3
	Serbia	298	8	7	8	10	10	8	12	12	6	10	2	6	12	5		12	4	12	8	1		12		4	12		12	2	10	7	5	5	8	12	6	10	1	8	10	8	8	5
	Czech Republic	1																							1
	Portugal	88			1	7				8	7	4				10	1						12			3	1			3	6	10		8				7
	Macedonia	97	12						10	6			10		8		10	6									10	6	5							7	2				5
	Norway	48					7		2		1	3		7		2			2			2	3	1	4						3			4	1						6
	Malta	15											6															7																2
	Andorra	80		2		4	6								2	6		7		1	2				5		4	2					4	12	5				2	4	2		4
	Hungary	224	4		4	1	12	10		4		8	5	12	7	8	12	8	10		10	4	4		8	7	6	1	8	8		2		1	10	1	10	6	7	7	8	4	3	4
	Estonia	33						2			4																			12					6				6	3
	Belgium	14						12				2
	Slovenia	140	5			6			8		3	6			10	7	7	4	7	5	5	5	8	7		6		3	2	5		1		7		6	4			1		7	5
	Turkey	197	10				3		8	10	10	12	12	8		1		1		8	6		7	6					10		2	12		2	7	8	8	12			7	1	7	12
	Austria	4								3													1
	Latvia	168		10	5	2	5	5		2	2	7		5	4	12		3	8		7	12		4	12	8	7		1				1		3		5		12	12	1	3	2	8
The table is ordered by appearance in the semi-final, then by pre-determined voting order.

Final

		Televoting Results
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	106						4	8					6	1			3	8					10	1					7	8	7	8	7	10		4		6					12
	Spain	43										1			6												2			4	5		12					8		2			3
	Belarus	145	4					7		4	7	5	8			8	12		2	12		1	1		10	10	12	6	4	3			2			7	2	1		10		7
	Ireland	5																															5
	Finland	53			1						5			12				1											12		1			4					4		7	6
	Macedonia	73	8						10				1						10				10	1						10	6		3		8		5							1
	Slovenia	66	7	3	4			6			1					4	3		5	4										8					7	4		3		5			2
	Hungary	128				5	10		5		4		5	8		5		7	12		2	8							8		3	4		8	4	2		2	8	1	6	4	5	2
	Lithuania	28			2	12										10					3																				1
	Greece	139	3	2	3			3		7			4	4	3			10	4		10	10	12	4	8	6	1	12	5		4	5	7	1			3						8
	Georgia	97	1		6	1	7		2	2	12	3				6	7			8				5	5	4	6	1				2			2	5	1					5	6
	Sweden	51					8														7								10					12					12		2
	France	19									3														2								4								8	2
	Latvia	54				10			6		10										4	2										3			1	1			3	4		10
	Russia	207	2	4	12	6	3	5	3	6	6	8	7	5	2	7		6	7	10	6	3	5	8	12	8	8	7	1	6				2	3	3	6	4	5	6	3	12
	Germany	49		5			1							1							1								2		7	6	6	5							5	3		7
	Serbia	268	12	1	7	4	12	12	12	12		4	6	10	8	3	5	8		6		6	6		7	5	3	3	7	12	12	8	1	6	12	8	8	5	10	8			7	12
	Ukraine	235	5	7	10	8	6	2	4	3	8	7	10	3	4	12	8	5	3		8	4	3	3	6	7	10	4	6	2	2	1		3	5	12	12	12	2	3	12	8	1	4
	United Kingdom	19				7																																		12
	Romania	84		12		3				8		2			7	1	1			2			2	2		12	7	5										7			10			3
	Bulgaria	157	6	10			5	8	7	10		12			5	2	4	4	6	3	5	5		6	4	3		10		5					6		7	6		7		1	4	6
	Turkey	163	10				4	10		1			2	7	12		2	12		1	12	7	7			1			3	1	10	12	10	10					7				12	10
	Armenia	138		8	5							6	12		10		10	2		5			8	12		2	5	8				10				10	10						10	5
	Moldova	109		6	8	2	2	1	1	5	2	10	3	2			6		1	7		12	4	7	3		4	2								6		10	1		4
The table is ordered by appearance in the final, then by appearance in the semi-final.

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:

N.	Recipient nation	Voting nation
9	Serbia	Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Finland, Macedonia, Hungary, Montenegro, Slovenia, Switzerland
5	Ukraine	Andorra, Czech Republic, Latvia, Poland, Portugal
	Turkey	Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom
3	Russia	Armenia, Belarus, Estonia
	Belarus	Israel, Russia, Ukraine
2	Armenia	Georgia, Turkey
	Finland	Iceland, Sweden
	Greece	Cyprus, Bulgaria
	Sweden	Denmark, Norway
	Romania	Moldova, Spain
1	Bulgaria	Greece
	Georgia	Lithuania
	Hungary	Serbia
	Lithuania	Ireland
	Moldova	Romania
	Spain	Albania
	United Kingdom	Malta

Commentators

Commentators for participating countries

The commentators of the 42 participating countries are as follows:

Country	SF / Final	Commentator(s)
Albania	-	-
	-	-
Andorra	All	Meri Picart
		Josep Lluís Trabal
Armenia	-	Gohar Gasparian
Austria	-	Andi Knoll
Belarus	All	Denis Kurian
		Alexander Tikhanovich
Belgium	All	Anja Daems
		André Vermeulen (VRT)
		Jean-Louis Lahaye
		Jean-Pierre Hautier (RTBF)
Bosnia and Herzegovina	All	Dejan Kukrić
Bulgaria	All	Georgi Kushvaliev
		Elena Rosberg
Croatia	All	Duško Čurlić
Cyprus	All	Vasso Komninou
Czech Republic	All	Kateřina Kristelová
Denmark[15]	All	Søren Nystrøm Rasted
		Adam Duvå Hall
Estonia	-	Marko Reikop
Finland[16]	All	Heikki Paasonen
		Ellen Jokikunnas
		Asko Murtomäki (fi)
		Thomas Lundin (sv)
France	SF	Peggy Olmi & Yann Lenoar
	F	Julien Lepers & Tex
Georgia	-	Sandro Gabisonia
	-	Sopho Altunashvili
Germany	All	Peter Urban
Greece	-	Fotis Sergoulopoulos
	-	Maria Bakodimou
Hungary	-	Gábor Gundel Takács
Iceland	-	Sigmar Guðmundsson
Ireland	All	Marty Whelan[17]
Israel	-	-
Latvia	-	Kārlis Streips
Lithuania	-	Darius Užkuraitis
Macedonia	-	Milanka Rašić
Malta	-	Antonia Micallef
Moldova	-	-
	-	-
Montenegro	-	Dražen Bauković
	-	Tamara Ivanković
Netherlands	All	Cornald Maas
	Final	Paul de Leeuw
Norway	All	Per Sundnes
Poland	All	Artur Orzech
Portugal	-	Isabel Angelino
	-	Jorge Gabriel
Romania	-	Andreea Demirgian
Russia	-	Yuri Aksyuta
	-	Yelena Batinova
San Marino	-	-
	-	-
Serbia	All	Duška Vučinić-Lučić
Slovenia	-	Mojca Mavec
Spain	All	Beatriz Pécker
Sweden	All	Kristian Luuk
		Josef Sterzenbach
Switzerland	All	Bernhard Thurnheer (SF)
		Jean-Marc Richard (TSR)
		Claudio Lazzarino
		Sandy Altermatt (RTSI)
Turkey	All	Hakan Urganci
Ukraine	All	Tymur Miroshnychenko
United Kingdom	SF	Paddy O'Connell
		Sarah Cawood
	Final	Terry Wogan (BBC One)
		Ken Bruce (BBC Radio 2)

Commentators for non-participating countries

The commentators of the non-participating countries are:

Country	SF / Final	Commentator(s)
Australia	All	As per United Kingdom (BBC) Commentary
Azerbaijan	-	-
	-	-

Spokespersons

Announcing the votes.

•  Albania - Leon Menkshi
•  Andorra - Marian van de Wal (singer for Andorra in 2005)
•  Armenia - Sirusho (singer for Armenia in 2008)
•  Austria - Eva Pölzl
•  Belarus - Juliana
•  Belgium - Maureen Louys (host of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005)
•  Bosnia and Herzegovina - Vesna Andree Zaimović
•  Bulgaria - Mira Dobreva
•  Croatia - Barbara Kolar
•  Cyprus - Giannis Charalampous
•  Czech Republic - Andrea Savane
•  Denmark - Susanne Georgi (singer for Andorra in 2009)
•  Estonia - Laura Põldvere (singer for Estonia in 2005 as part of the group, Suntribe)
•  Finland - Laura Voutilainen (singer for Finland in 2002)
•  France - Vanessa Dolmen
•  Georgia - Neli Agirba
•  Germany - Thomas Hermanns
•  Greece - Alexis Kostalas
•  Hungary - Éva Novodomszky
•  Iceland - Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir
•  Ireland - Linda Martin (singer for Ireland in 1984 and winner in 1992)
•  Israel - Jason Danino-Holt
•  Latvia - Janis Šipkevics
•  Lithuania - Lavija Šurnaitė
•  Macedonia - Elena Risteska (singer for Macedonia in 2006)
•  Malta - Mireille Bonello
•  Moldova - Andrei Porubin
•  Montenegro - Vidak Latković
•  Netherlands - Paul de Leeuw and Edsilia Rombley
•  Norway - Synnøve Svabø
•  Poland - Maciej Orłoś
•  Portugal - Francisco Mendes
•  Romania - Andreea Marin Bănică
•  Russia - Yana Churikova
•  Serbia - Maja Nikolić
•  Slovenia - Peter Poles
•  Spain - Ainhoa Arbizu
•  Sweden - André Pops
•  Switzerland - Sven Epiney
•  Turkey - Meltem Ersan Yazgan
•  Ukraine - Katya Osadchaya
•  United Kingdom - Fearne Cotton

Controversy

The 2007 contest saw the loudest protests yet heard at the event against perceived unfairness in the voting system. Criticism was particularly directed at how certain countries, all in the Eastern half of the continent, were seen to benefit from support in the televoting from their diaspora communities across Europe. Another contentious aspect was how Eastern European countries were seen as being more likley to vote for other neighbouring Eastern nations at the expense of countries in Western Europe who were more likely to distribute their own votes more evenly between East and West. Any such advantages in the voting would make it easier for particular countries to qualify for the final from the semi final, achieve a higher position on the final scoreboard and be more likely to win the contest. Most conspicuously, with the exception of Lithuania, all eastern European countries scored more points than any western European or Scandinavian country. One result of this was that no "western" country other than the Big Four would automatically qualify for the final in the following year.

Robert Abela, head of Malta's delegation, suggested many results were "not based solely on the public vote", while also confirming he believed the 12 points Malta gave United Kingdom were a protest against bloc-voting allegedly depriving Malta of a place in the final.^[18] The United Kingdom even threatened to withdraw from all future Eurovision song contests if the rules were not changed.

German newspaper Bild commented on the irony that Western European countries pay the largest amount for a competition where they apparently have no chance of winning. Germany's sole winner, Nicole, was also quoted as saying "It is obvious that Eastern European countries engage in dirty trade with points every year. Germany should withdraw from the competition".^[18] The voting was also brought up in the Parliament of the United Kingdom by Liberal Democrat MP Richard Younger-Ross who suggested the current voting system is "harmful to the relationship between the peoples of Europe".^[19]

In contrast, the EBU and some commentators in West European countries refused to accept the criticism, insisting the voting reflected the strength of the songs and performances. Some even claimed the criticism was rooted in resentment over Eastern European countries' recent successes in the contest rather than in concerns about fair voting.^[20] The EBU claimed that the results of the Helsinki contest would have remained largely the same (and with the same winner), even if only West European votes had been counted, although this argument fails to take into account the impact of diaspora voting on Western televote results. In Finland, the organising country, the bad reactions in some countries even became the topic of the leader page in papers, Hufvudstadsbladet accusing those who still divide Europe into a Western and an Eastern part for being stuck in history, and encouraging all Europeans not to let "envious bad losers destroy a nice and all-European spectacle".^[21] The Swedish paper Expressen wrote about feeling "shame" over the reactions in many west European nations and claimed that the Eurovision Song Contest had never been better. Calling the Serbian winner a "worthy, historic winner", it went on to call the proposals for a separate contest "incredibly pathetic".^[22]

The voting controversies that came to a head at the 2007 contest refused to abate, and in response by 2009 the EBU had overhauled the entire voting system at Eurovision.

Returning artists

Artist	Country	Previous Year(s)
Evridiki	Cyprus	1992, 1994
Eiríkur Hauksson	Iceland	1986 (part of ICY) 1991 (for Norway, part of Just 4 Fun)
Edsilia Rombley	Netherlands	1998
Karolina Gočeva	Macedonia	2002

Gallery

Frederik Ndoci performing "Hear My Plea" for Albania	Anonymous performing "Salvem el món" for Andorra	Hayko performing "Anytime You Need" for Armenia	Eric Papilaya performing "Get A Life - Get Alive" for Austria	Koldun performing "Work Your Magic" for Belarus
The KMG's performing "Love Power" for Belgium	Marija Šestić performing "Rijeka bez imena" for Bosnia & Herzegovina	Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankulov performing "Water" for Bulgaria	Dragonfly and Dado Topić performing "Vjerujem u ljubav" for Croatia	Evridiki performing "Comme ci, comme ça" for Cyprus
Kabat performing "Malá dáma" for Czech Republic	DQ performing "Drama Queen" for Denmark	Gerli Padar performing "Partners in Crime" for Estonia	Hanna Pakarinen performing "Leave Me Alone" for Finland	Les Fatals Picards performing "L'amour à la française" for France
Sopho Khalvashi performing "Visionary Dream" for Georgia	Roger Cicero performing "Frauen regier'n die Welt" for Germany	Sarbel performing "Yassou Maria" for Greece	Magdi Rúzsa performing "Unsubstantial Blues" for Hungary	Eiríkur Hauksson performing "Valentine Lost" for Iceland
Dervish performing "They Can't Stop The Spring" for Ireland	Teapacks performing "Push the Button" for Israel	Bonaparti.lv performing "Questa notte" for Latvia	4Fun performing "Love or Leave" for Lithuania	Karolina Gočeva performing "Mojot svet" for Macedonia
Olivia Lewis performing "Vertigo" for Malta	Natalia Barbu performing "Fight" for Moldova	Stevan Faddy performing "'Ajde, kroči" for Montenegro	Edsilia Rombley performing "On Top of the World" for Netherlands	Guri Schanke performing "Ven a bailar conmigo" for Norway
The Jet Set performing "Time To Party" for Poland'	Sabrina performing "Dança comigo" for Portugal'	Todomondo performing "Liubi, Liubi, I Love You" for Romania	Serebro performing "Song #1" for Russia	Marija Šerifović performing "Molitva" for Serbia
Alenka Gotar performing "Cvet z juga" for Slovenia	D'NASH performing "I Love You Mi Vida" for Spain	The Ark performing "The Worrying Kind" for Sweden	DJ Bobo performing "Vampires Are Alive" for Switzerland	Kenan Doğulu performing "Shake It Up Şekerim" for Turkey
Verka Serduchka performing "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" for Ukraine	Scooch performing "Flying the Flag (for You)" for the United Kingdom

References

External links

• Official Eurovision Site
• Semi-final scoreboard

Eurovision Song Contest History · Rules · Host cities · Winners · Presenters · Voting · Participation · Language · Top ranking countries · OGAE · Marcel Bezençon Awards  · Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest 1956 · 1957 · 1958 · 1959 · 1960 · 1961 · 1962 · 1963 · 1964 · 1965 · 1966 · 1967 · 1968 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 · 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011 Portal

Songs of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 Final (by final results) 1. "Molitva" · 2. "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" · 3. "Song #1" · 4. "Shake It Up Şekerim" · 5. "Water" · 6. "Work Your Magic" · 7. "Yassou Maria" · 8. "Anytime You Need" · 9. "Unsubstantial Blues" · 10. "Fight" · 11. "Rijeka bez imena" · 12. "Visionary Dream" · 13. "Liubi, Liubi, I Love You" · 14. "Mojot svet" · 15. "Cvet z juga" · 16. "Questa notte" · 17. "Leave Me Alone" · 18. "The Worrying Kind" · 19. "Frauen regier'n die Welt" · 20. "I Love You Mi Vida" · 21. "Love or Leave" · 22. "L'amour à la française" · 22. "Flying the Flag (for You)" · 24. "They Can't Stop the Spring" Semi-final only (did not qualify for the final) "'Ajde, kroči" · "Comme ci, comme ça" · "Dança comigo" · "Drama Queen" · "Get a Life - Get Alive" · "Hear My Plea" · "Love Power" · "Malá dáma" · "On Top of the World" · "Partners in Crime" · "Push the Button" · "Salvem el món" · "Time To Party" · "Valentine Lost" · "Vampires Are Alive" · "Ven a bailar conmigo" · "Vertigo" · "Vjerujem u ljubav"