The draw of the running order of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Belgrade took place today: It was decided, which country will perform in which spot in the shows. As always, a close look at the running order reveals some interesting details.

PLEASE NOTE: All information in this article is based on statistics. The draw analysis is not supposed to be taken too seriously- of course it is always impossible to predict the outcome of the competition.

Making their minds up – the self-chosen positions

The first three countries drawn in the two semi finals and the first country drawn in the final were allowed to choose their positions themselves and we can only see few surprises: Greece decided to perform last in the first semi final and Russia to perform second last as well as F.Y.R. Macedonia and Portugal chose totake the last two positions, too. Azerbaijan was the biggest surprise going for a spot early in the running order – number seven – while Denmark will benumber 13. In the final, host country Serbia was drawn first anddecided to go for spot number 23 (thirdfrom last).

Openers

The first semi final will be opened by Montenegro, which takes part for the second time. Last year, they were early in the running order too and did not make it to the final. The second semi final will be opened by Iceland – the country has to perform at number one for the third time already after 1988 and 2003. On second position, Sweden will follow, which is an interesting draw as these two entries are early fan favourites and both are in the same genre and style. The final will be opened by one of the qualifiers from the semi final.

Closing entries

Greece will close the first semi final and it is the third time overall that the country performs last (previously they closed the contest in 1985 and 1995). It has to be said that no up-tempo song has qualified from the last spot in a semi final so far but regarding Greece's success in recent years, they nevertheless have no reason to worry. The second semi final will be closed by Portugal; they previously performed the final entries in 1984 and 1986. Both ballads that were performed last in a semi final so far made it easily to the final, which should give the country hope, but those two entries have also fallen dramatically in the final. Nevertheless, Portugal must have the best chances to do well for many years. The final will be closed by a semi final qualifier.

The curse of #2

The songs performed second in the Eurovision Song Contest traditionally don't do very well. In fact, no song performed second in a semi final has ever made it to the final. Israel has the unlucky spot in the first round – for the second year in a row already! In the second semi final, Sweden will perform at number two for the third timeafter 1960 and 1988 (when they also followed Iceland). As this entry follows the Icelandic entry, which is in a similar style, the voting in the second heat will be especially exciting. Even more interesting is spot number two in the final: it went to the United Kingdom for the seventh time overall and the third time in seven years. However, the United Kingdom is the country that is generally the most succesful at this position achieving the highest position from this spot at all (2nd place in 1965) and the highest top ten placing since the serious introduction of the televoting (3rd/4th place in 2002). It is also the second year in a row and the third time in four years that a big four country will perform at number two.

The (less obvious) curse of #3

Entries performed at number three have even done as worse as songs at number two and no song has qualified from a semi final from this position. Estonia, which has never qualified from the semi final so far will be number three in the first semi final while Turkey got that spot in the second heat. Obviously, Turkey has not to worry that much as the country was very succesful and recent years and the only Turkish winning song was very early in the draw, too: it was number four in 2003.

Other remarkable facts

• Like on every other occasion before, Belarus will perform in the first half
• Finland was drawn to number 16 again, its winning position in the 2006 semi final. However, as only 19 countries take part, they are later in the running order this year.
• For the first time Bulgaria is drawn in the middle. Previously, the country was always either very early or very late in the running order.
• With number 18, Russia got its fourth latest position ever but counting backwards, it is even the latest draw ever. However, two of the three entries that were similarly lately were among Russia's least succesful ones.