WEBCAST

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Live coverage:

Tonight, Greece, one of the most successful Eurovision countries in recent years, will decide upon it's 2008 entry. The show is about to start and the eurovision.tv stream is working well from the hall. Greek dancers prepare for the show to go live across Greece. A pair of Greek steamstresses begin with opening chatter, before we go to the Athinon Arena for the first time tonight.

After the opening by the two hosts, Betty and Mathilde Maggira, who performed Greek Eurovision versions of Big spender and Copacabana and a triple costume change, they welcome the audience to the 2008 Greek national final. They describe the procedure: there are two ways of voting, SMS voting and televoting. Up to 20 votes can be submitted by every phone number and the voting will last 20 minutes.

Tonight's jury: Dimitris Gontigas, producer Giorgos Kivelos, presenter Rena Tsitsibikou, composer (head) Mimis plessas, head ofPR ofERT Evaggelia Piskera, composer Christos Dantis, Andrikakis radio producer.

After the first commercial break of the evening, Bets and Matty (as we're calling them tonight) explain to the Greek viewers about the changes to the Eurovision Song Contest with two semi finals this year.

Sarbel is the first performance of the night. Last year's winner and the man that took Greece to seventh place in Helsinki performs his new song, Eho Trelathi (I go crazy). After some chitter chatter, we're treated to the 2007 winning song, Yassou Maria!

After his performance, the stage is transformed into a museum of clothes and a brief word with Roberto Cavalli is shown on screen. Bets and Matty pretend to be on the phone to him, whilst having a little argument. They chat with Michalis Aslanis and claim to have been hired to find the feathers for Dana International's dress in 1998.Jean Paul Gautier is then shown on screen.For fans watching, we should point out that the three competing songs are due to begin after 1.5 hours of the show, at around 22:30 CET.

After the second commercial break of the evening, we have a flashback of recent Greek Eurovision entries, Helena Paparizou(2005), Sarbel (2007), Anna Vissi (2006), Sakis Rouvas (2004), Antique (2001), and Mathima Solfegebefore cabaret 'Chicago' style of the songs in reverse order. We then return to 2006 for a tribute to the Athens Eurovision. We remind readers that the competing songs are expected to begin around 22:30 CET.

FINALLY, the first sign of 2008. The Cypriot Eurovision Song Contest representative, Evokia Kadi performs her entry, Femme fatale. For those looking for something to do in the interval acts. You can see our esctoday.com interview with her filmed during yesterday's rehearsals by clicking here.

Theremay be a prize to the reader that correctly predicts the number of costume changes that Bets and Matty get through by the end of the night!

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SONGS

After the latest advert break, our girls appear in… new outfits! The songs are announced with voting numbers. Calls cost 1 euro 18 cents per vote by phone or 1.19 by sms.

Song 1: Chrispa – A chance to love

A good performance from Chrispa who wears a white mini dress surrounded by 5 topless male dancers. The song is performed in Greek for the verses and English for the chorus. The vocal performance is strong and Chrispa hits the right notes with some power, although the presentation is not weak, the dance routine is a little confused.

Song 2: Kostas Martakis – Always and forever

Kostas delivers Greek schlager-pop with a traditional Eurovision vibe. He is dressed in a white shirt and white trouser combination flannked by four backing singer/dancers also in white. The visual effects is very strong but vocally, the performance is a little weak as he struggles to hit the higher notes. Towards the end of the song, he nails them and and it's a strong finish.

Song 3: Calimoira – Secret combination

The most modern song of the night in terms of commercial music internationally, there is a definite element of Robyn in this song, one of the most revered song writers of the last year. The sound is young vibrantwith an urban edge whilst maintaining a traditional greek element. Vocally, the song is not tough to sing, but Kalomoira has power in the voice. It's an alround strong performance. She performs in a pink and black outfit with four backing dancers who are keen to show off their bodies. The shirts come off in the end.

BACK TO THE ENTERTAINMENT OF THE EVENING

In the first big shock of the night, we return from the commercial break to Bets and Matty who remain in the clothes we last saw them in. We have a review of the songs in reverse order with voting information on screen.

After the review, it's time for Elnur and Samir, Azerbaijan's most in demand duo, as they perform Day after day, the song that will represent the country for their Eurovision debut in Belgrade. The song won many plaudits during rehearsals and it's star seems to be rising. A big hit in the hall too, they talk after the performance, translating between Greek, English and Azeri.

From an operatic entry, to a country that sent opera to Eurovision last year. Slovenia's RebekaDremelj speaks in English. She says she's looking forward to promoting her country. She also says Eurovision is important to the singers and the public, but not so much to the people that organise it before complementing Greece on organising the show. Rebeka debuts the song in English!

Still in the same clothes, our hosts head for the jury where the members are introduced.

To one of the Super Saturday entries next, as Nico & Vlad Miriţă perform Pe-o margine de lume. The Romanian representatives have ridden through a storm of controversy all the way to Athens but they have proved the doubters wrong and that their victory was legitimate. It's a sweet performance in Italian and Romanian. Asked what they hope to get from participation, Nico sings "Eurovision is a good contest, uh-oh, yassou Maggira"!

THE RESULTS

After some more entertainment, a costume change for the results, and they are:

KALIMOIRA IS THE WINNER WITH SECRET COMBINATION

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L30uAyXXCUk