Tonight F.Y.R. Macedonia will decide who is going to represent the country in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest during the national final. 15 acts will compete for the ticket to Belgrade and the winner will become the country's eight representative in the competition.

The show

The show has just started and is held at the Metropolis Arena in Skopje. The winner will be chosen by televoting and a jury. In case of tie, the jury votes will have prevalence.

Webcast

Unfortunately, no webcast will be made available.

Live coverage

The hosts greet us in many European languages, English, French, Spanish anad Italian and the show starts with a rather long opening act. The stage is simple and finally the show has started.

1.Sašo Gigov Giš – Docna e

Sasho is dressed in a long gray monk-like garment and starts his show twirling like a Turkish Dervish. He is accompanied by long haired musicians that look very much like him playing traditional percussion instruments . The song is purely ethnic and his vocal performance is excellent.

2.Aneta Kacurkova – Poraka

Aneta has a clean shaven head painted silver. She is wearing a simple black top and white trousers and is accompanied by 4 backing singers in long, black evening gowns. The song is a rockish ballad, rather demanding vocally towards the end but at first there seem to be some problems with the quality of the sound and then she fails to rise to the occasion singing often off key.

3.Parketi – Strawberry

A very strange entry comes next. Rock n' roll by a a three member band. The singer is dressed in various tones of red and a green tie and is in need of a hair stylist. The song is uptempo and cheereful but old-fashioned. The crowd seems to like it though as he receives a big round of applause.

4.Risto Samard�iev & Flash- Dojdi do mene

More Balkan sound now in this happy, up-tempo song by Risto and Flash. The song is a mixture of typical Balkan sounds you can hear everywhere in the area together with a Grease flavour. Some interesting styling choices tonight, the band is dressed in white with hot pink ties at various lengths.

5.Tuna- Prašuvam bez glas

Tuna starts with technical problems as there seeems to be something wrong with the microphone. The stage goes dark and the music starts but there is noone there. She is wearing a short baloon dress, wears an afro hairstyle and is accompanied by three female dancers in black mini dresses doing a very bizzare routine jumping around and waving their arms. She is off key much of the time.

6.Lambe Alabakovski – Zemjo moja

A very sweet, uptempo ballad by Lambe who placed third in both 2006 and 2007. The song is nothing original but pleasant to the ear and the chorus is catchy and easy to remember.

7.Elvir Mekic – Armija

Sounds of helicopters (much like the intro of Another brick in the wall) and sirens welcome Elvir on stage. A fun entry, rhytmic, Balkan sound. Elvir and his dancers (2 male, 2 female) are all in black and white. All five participate in the dance routine, which is rather elementary. The song is catchy and the audience loves it.

9.Tamara feat. Vrcak & Adrian Gaxha – Vo ime na ljubovta

Balkan pop with rap parts in this dance song by Tamara. She is dressed in a black top, white trousers and a pink long overcoat. Her male dancers are all in black and white.

10.Vlatko Ilievski – So drugi zborovi

Some nice vocals now from Vlatko who reminds us of Eros Ramazzoti. Simply dressed in a black suit and short tie, Vlatko stands forefront stage alone, accompanied by two lady back vocalists in the far back. The song has a distinct Italian feeling about it and Vlatko does a pretty good job with the vocals. The main "gimmick" of the show is his interaction with the microphone stand.

11.None Nedelkovska – Vrati se

A change in tempo now. At least at the beginning of Vrati se. Then the song builds up into a pop tune. But the petite singer has major problems maintaining the tune throughout the song. She is dressed in a short shiny dress and there are 3 dancers in the back, dressed in black. The choreography is ballet-like and does not suit the song.

12.Jova Radevska – Jas sum ovde

Long, dark hair adorned by a simple diamond-studded hairpin and a simple white dress for Jova. She stands alone on stage and performs her slow, emotional, rock ballad which the crowd loves. She looks attractively shy and timid and although the song is not very demanding vocally, she does a prety good job.

13.Igor Mitrovic – Jas i ti

Pop rock on the menu for next. Two lady guitar players accompany Igor and the prevailing colour combination of the night is definitely black and white. 80's sound and weak vocals do not help the song stand out and the audience reacts lukewarmly.

14.Sonja Tarzulovska – Sever i jug

A typical ballad now by Sonja who is dressed in a black, satin dress with touches of burgundy. The ballad is flat with no outstanding chorus and the vocal performance is weak.

15.Nokaut – Samovila

Change in tempo now as Nokaut perform their rock uptempo song. Samovila means fairy and there she is dressed in a white wedding gown, magic wand in hand and all joining the band.

And that concludes the selection for tonight.

Ruslan Alehno, the 2008 Belorussian representative, makes a special appearance in Skopjefest performing three songs, one of them being Hasta la vista. What follows is quite original, it is a fashion show where we are shown a collection of evening dresses.

That is followed by a large group of dancers who dance to favourite past Eurovision tunes and now it is time for the special part of the show dedicated to the late Tose Proeski. A series of video clips from the artist’s short but very successful career is shown.

The second special guest of the evening is Hari Mata Hari, the Bosnian representative in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. He sings a selection of his latest hits and of course Leila from 2006.

The votes are counted and the winner is Tamara feat. Vrcak & Adrian Gaxha – Vo ime na ljubovta