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<p>BELGRADE, Serbia: Revelers and politicians were preparing a hero's welcome Sunday for singer Marija Serifovic, who won the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest in Finland.</p> <p>"Thank you, Marija! Thank you!" read some of the headlines in the country, which has been craving recognition after years of pariah status brought about by Serbia's role in the 1990s Balkan wars.</p>

HELSINKI, Finland - Serbia's Marija Serifovic sang a heart-wrenching power ballad to win the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest early Sunday — an annual extravaganza of pop, rock and circus acts featuring bare flesh and fiery pyrotechnics. Serifovic's ballad "Molitva," or "A Prayer," beat a glitzy drag show act from Ukraine and a Russian girl band to win the annual event. Voters from an estimated television viewing audience of 100 million across the continent picked their favorite performance by phone and text message. "All my life I have been singing and tonight this (victory) makes me very proud," said Serifovic, 22,...

Teapacks have been together for nearly 20 years Israel's controversial entry for this year's Eurovision has been approved by organisers despite apparent references to Iran's nuclear programme.Push The Button by the group Teapacks was deemed "generally appropriate", said Eurovision spokesman Kjell Ekholm. Two weeks ago, Mr Ekholm said the song, which refers to "demonic" rulers and "he's gonna blow us up to... kingdom come" could be banned. Teapacks deny the song is about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Contest supervisor Svante Stockselius said they do not comment on individual cases, "but a couple of songs caused some discussions". Public vote...

Finnish Eurovision winners Lordi have been defended against claims of Satanism by their country's ambassador to the UK. "This is entertainment," Jaakko Laajava told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "Let's not take this too seriously." "They have produced an album called The Devil Is A Loser and maybe that tells a little bit about this," he continued. The mask-wearing hard rock band have been accused of promoting Satanism by some conservative Greek organisations. We are all very thrilled and encouraged by this Jaakko Laajava, Finnish ambassador Their win "shows that people are seeking something to prop themselves on and fill...

Finns 'Turn the Amps Up,' Win Eurovision By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer Sat May 20, 11:01 PM ET ATHENS, Greece - There's a giant stadium, highly toned participants, intense rivalry and flag-waving fans from many nations. It's not the Olympics: It's the Eurovision Song Contest, the annual kitsch extravaganza, known for its bland dance music and bubble-gum pop, that sees acts from 24 countries face off before tens of millions of television viewers. But in a stunning upset for the contest that launched the Swedish group ABBA, a Finnish metal band with monster masks and apocalyptic lyrics won the...

Eurovision in Athens on Saturday night The 51st Eurovision song contest will be held at OAKA's Olympic indoor hall in Athens on Saturday night and will be broadcast live at 10 p.m. by state-run NET television station. Thousands of specators saw the rehearsals at the indoor hall and applauded all the participants, especially Greece's Anna Vissi who will sing "Everything". The ten countries which qualified in Thursday night's semi-final were Bosnia-Herzegovina, Russia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Lithuania, Finland, Ukraine, Ireland, Sweden, Turkey and Armenia. Cyprus and Belgium, among others, were knocked out of the competition. The ten best...

Greece wins 2005 eurovision contest.

Fifty years of bizarre names and tactical voting, and all along the song contest has been an ironic metaphorTONIGHT IS the 50th Eurovision Song Contest, the moment when Europe, for a few precious hours, will speak the same language. And what a strange language it is. Who can forget Diggi-loo, Diggi-ley, the Swedish song that won in 1984, or Ringe-Dinge-Ding, the Dutch entry in 1967, that was followed in 1975 by the even more powerfully evocative Ding A Dong? Lulu made the greatest British contribution to the Eurovision lexicon with Boom Bang-a-Bang in 1969, but every country has contributed something:...

Israeli singer Shiri Maimon on Thursday evening got through to the finals of the 50th Eurovision Song Contest after an exhilarating performance with her song 'Hasheket Shenishar', at the semi-final stage. Maimon was one of 10 artists who were distilled among 25 contestants at the semi-final in a packed Sports Palace in Ukrainian capital of Kiev. The final will be held in Kiev on Saturday night. Maimon will appear eleventh in the running order of 24 countries. Advertisement Maimon grew up in Kiryat Haim and entered the entertainment business as a young child. After completing her military service in the...

Ukraine celebrates Eurovision win Ruslana's high tempo song impressed Europe Ukraine has won the 2004 Eurovision song contest in Istanbul, Turkey - only the second time the country has taken part in the competition. Ruslana, a successful singer, producer, dancer and composer in her home country, won for her song Wild Dance. Debutants Serbia and Montenegro came second, with Greece third. The UK's James Fox took 16th spot. More than 100 million viewers were expected to watch the TV coverage of the event, now in its 49th year.

MOSCOW - Russia's state-controlled Channel One television has launched an official protest against the results of this year's Eurovision Song Contest, claiming that the Russian entry, saucy teenage pop duo Tatu, may have been robbed of victory, the TV channel said Thursday. Channel One, a member of the European Broadcasting Union which runs the contest, and broadcaster of the competition in Russia, said in a statement that it "officially declares that it discredits the voting results of the Eurovision song contest 2003" and that it would send a formal declaration to the EBU. The channel claims that Tatu's performance at...

Speaking of Tatu's performance [at the European Music Festival]-they gave a horrible performance. However their song souded very modern on the recently released compact disc of the festival.Eurovision songs are not primitive , they are competently done, but always sterotypically the same- typical melodies, typical tunes, a bit of Latino style throw in to make them a little bit livelier. Tatu's performance was not mischevious: the two girls did not kiss each other, they didn't take their clothes off, they did not wear tops with obscene writing on them.The voting was totally unbalanced though. Great Britain did not vote for...

Turkey first time winner of Eurovision song contest Sat May 24, 9:37 PM ET - AFP RIGA (AFP) - Turkey narrowly won the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time, as star Sertab Erener gave a boost to its European integration ambitions with her mix of rhythm and belly dance. Erener, 39, took the top prize in the 48th version of the pop-song fest with her song "Every way that I can," after competing among 26 contestants in the Latvian capital watched by an estimated 100 million worldwide. Her victory came only after a neck and neck race with Belgium's...

With a rhythmic mix of belly dancing and Middle Eastern flair, Turkey won the 48th Eurovision song contest on Saturday its first victory in the annual pop extravaganza. Sertab Erener, a classically trained soprano who has recorded songs with the likes of Ricky Martin and Jose Carreras, sang the spirited "Every Way That I Can." The Istanbul native edged out a Celtic-flavored tune from Belgium's Urban Trad, who sang in a made-up language they call "Sanomi." The three-hour contest was close, coming down to the last vote from telephone callers from 26 countries. Tatu, the provocative chart-topping Russian teen duo...

The Belgian and Swedish Jewish communities were left fuming Saturday night after their local TV presenters advised viewers not to vote for Israel's entry in the Eurovision song contest, held in the Estonian capital of Tallinn. Israel's entry, "Light a Candle," was sung by Sarit Hadad. Swedes watching the national TV1 station said that the presenters announced before Hadad appeared that Israel was not even meant to take part in the contest "because of what it is doing to the Palestinians." The Swedish jury did not award any points to Israel. Belgian viewers were also advised not to vote for...