Sandra Su�a, Executive Producer of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, welcomed the 43 delegation heads to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.
"It is a lot of hard work, but it is also a pleasure to be the host of the Eurovision Song Contest. We hope that everyone will have a pleasurable stay now, and in May," she started her speech. Suša gave an overview of events Serbia hosted over the past years.
The Executive Producer of the upcoming Contest gave an overview of Serbia's extraordinary high ratings for Beovizija and the Eurovision Song Contest itself, and explained more about the venue of the sow, the Belgrade Arena. She also outlined various security measurements taken to assure the safety of visitors to the Contest.
"The Serbian government understands the significance and importance of this event, and heavily backed us (RTS) in the organization of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. They have contributed some 10 million euros to cover a wide variety of costs," Suša said.
The press centre and EuroClub will be located at the Sava Centre. Various entertainment initiatives have been proposed to RTS by OGAE Serbia, the local Eurovision Song Contest fan club. Again, a Eurovision Village will be setup and will be located in front of the Belgrade Arena. The Village is open between the 11th and 25th of May. The Welcome Party takes place at the Kalemegdan Fortress on the 18th of May, starting at 20:00 CET.
Esctoday.com will be covering the draw live, come and watch with us!
In case we crash, due to high traffic, you can follow eurovision.tv'sLiveLog coverage here , and watch the draw for the running order at 16:15 CET live through Eurovision.tv's esctv.
See the head's of delegations meeting picture gallery here.
