esctoday.com awards: the nominations!

For the third time already, the 2008 esctoday.com awards are being held. Over the last few weeks, we asked you, the readers, to take part in the nominations process and more than 8,000 votes were cast. Now, we reveal the final nominations in the 20 categories and announce that the polls are now open! You can vote until 23rd December, and on Christmas Eve, 24th December the results will be revealed.

As always,Song of the year can probably be called the top category. The top five songs in the contest, which came from Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Armenia and Norway, are joint by the Portuguese entry Senhora do mar, a fan favourite that finished 2nd in the semi final but dropped to 13th place in the final, the Icelandic entry This is my life that had to qualify for the Eurovision Song Contest through one of the most complicated national selections ever and Swedish entry Hero that was saved by a jury both in the national final and in the Eurovision Song Contest semi final.

Ukraine will again be in the running for Performanceof the year after winning it on the first two occasions. The other performers in this category come from Greece, Norway, Portugal and Iceland. A new award can be found in the vocals section: Best duo/group vocal performance of the year, which is an answer to the unexpected popularity of the vocal abilities of group members and is not only supposed to rate the performances of the individual group members but also the harmony between them. In the national finals section, the "classic" countries wereexpectedlydoing well in the nominations process but the high popularity of national selections all over (and outside) Europe was clearly shown.

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Without further ado, here are the nominations for the 2008 esctoday.com awards:

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2008

Song of the year

This category is for the overall best song in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, including its composition, lyrics and arrangement.

1. Believe by Dima Bilan of Russia
2. Shady lady by Ani Lorak of Ukraine
3. Secret combination by Kalomira of Greece
4. Qele qele by Sirusho of Armenia
5. Hold on be strong by Maria Haukaas Storeng of Norway
6. Senhora do mar by Vânia Fernandes of Portugal
7. This is my life by Euroband of Iceland
8. Hero by Charlotte Perrelli of Sweden

Click here to watch the videos of the nominees!

Performance of the year

This award will be given out for the best overall performance in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest.

1. Ani Lorak of Ukraine for Shady lady
2. Kalomira or Greece for Secret combination
3. Maria Haukaas Storeng of Norway for Hold on be strong
4. Vânia Fernandes of Portugal for Senhora do mar
5. Euroband of Iceland for This is my life

Click here to watch the videos of the nominees!

Best act not to qualify from the semi finals

1. Hind of the Netherlands with Your heart belongs to me
2. Tamara, Vrčak & Adrijanof F.Y.R. Macedonia for Let me love you
3. Deep Zone & Balthazar of Bulgaria for DJ, take me away
4. Paolo Meneguzzi of Switzerland for Era stupendo
5. Morena of Malta for Vodka

Click here to watch the videos of the nominees!

Most traditional Europop song of the year

1. Shady lady by Ani Lorak of Ukraine
2. This is my life by Euroband of Iceland
3. Hero by Charlotte Perrelli of Sweden
4. Vrag naj vzame by Rebeka Dremelj of Slovenia
5. Casanova by Gisela of Andorra

Click here to watch the videos of the nominees!

Composer of the year

1. Philip Kirkorovfor the Ukrainian entryShady lady
2. Mira Craigfor the Norwegian entryHold on be strong
3. Dana International for the Israeli entry The fire in your eyes
4. Andrej Babićfor the Portuguese entrySenhora do mar
5. Sébastien Tellier for the French entry Divine

Click here to watch the videos of the nominees!

Lyricist(s) of the year

1. Mira Craig for the Norwegian entry Hold on be strong
2. Dejan Ivanović for the Serbian entry Oro
3. Kerem Kabadayı, Harun Tekin, Burak Güven &Kerem Özyeğen for the Turkish entry Deli
4. Dana International & Shay Kerem for the Israeli entry The fire in your eyes
5. Andreea Andrei & Adina Şuteu for the Romanian entry Pe-o margine de lume

Follow the links above to read the lyrics (along with their translations) on diggiloo.net.

Best female performance

1. Ani Lorak of Ukraine for Shady lady
2. Kalomira or Greece for Secret combination
3. Sirusho of Armenia for Qele qele
4. Maria Haukaas Storeng of Norway for Hold on be strong
5. Vânia Fernandes of Portugal for Senhora do mar

Click here to watch the videos of the nominees!

Best male performance

1. Dima Bilan of Russia for Belive
2. Boaz Mauda of Israel for The fire in your eyes
3. Laka of Bosnia & Herzegovina for Pokušaj
4. Simon Mathew of Denmark for All night long
5. Sébastien Tellier of France for Divine

Click here to watch the videos of the nominees!

Best duo/group performance

1. Elnur & Samir of Azerbaijan for Dayafter day
2. Mor ve Ötesi of Turkey for Deli
3. Euroband of Iceland for This is my life
4. Nico & Vlad of Romania for Pe-o margine de lume
5. Teräsbetoni of Finland for Missä miehet ratsasta

Click here to watch the videos of the nominees!

Best female vocal performance

1. Ani Lorak of Ukraine for Shady lady
2. Maria Haukaas Storeng of Norway for Hold on be strong
3. Vânia Fernandes of Portugal for Senhora do mar
4. Isis Gee of Poland for For life
5. Csézy of Hungary for Candlelight

Click here to watch the videos of the nominees!

Best male vocal performance

1. Boaz Mauda of Israel for The fire in your eyes
2. Simon Mathew of Denmark for All night long
3. Andy Abraham of the United Kingdom for Even if
4. Jeronimas Milius of Lithuania for Nomads in the night
5. Ruslan Alahno of Belarus for Hasta la vista

Click here to watch the videos of the nominees!

Best duo/group vocal performance

1. Elnur & Samir of Azerbaijan for Dayafter day
2. Mor ve Ötesi of Turkey for Deli
3. Euroband of Iceland for This is my life
4. Nico & Vlad of Romania for Pe-o margine de lume
5. Teräsbetoni of Finland for Missä miehet ratsasta

Click here to watch the videos of the nominees!

Best preview video

1. Russia for Believe
2. Ukraine for Shady lady
3. Iceland for This is my life
4. France for Divine
5. Malta for Vodka

Click here to watch the videos of the nominees!

Best dressed performer(s)

1. Ani Lorak of Ukraine
2. Kalomira of Greece
3. Maria Haukaas Storeng of Norway
4. Euroband of Iceland
5. Isis Gee of Poland

Click here to watch videos of the nominees!

Worst dressed performer(s)

1. Rodolfo Chikilicuatre of Spain
2. Dustin the Turkey of Ireland
3. Gisela of Andorra
4. Ishtar of Belgium
5. Kreisiraadio of Estonia

Click here to watch the videos of the nominees!

NATIONAL FINALS 2008

Best national final

1. Land of fire (Azerbaijan)
2. Eurosong (Cyprus)
3. MGP (Norway)
4. Festival da Canção (Portugal)
5. Melodifestivalen (Sweden)

Best national final performance not to qualify for Eurovision

1. Carolin Fortenbacher of Germany for Hinterm Ozean
2. Veronica Akselsen of Norway for Am I supposed to love again?
3. Biondo of Romania for Shine
4. La Casa Azúl of Spain for La revolución sexual
5. Sanna Nielsen of Sweden for Empty room

Click here to watch the videos of the nominees!

Best female national final performance not to qualify for Eurovision

1. Caroline Fortenbacher of Germany for Hinterm Ozean
2. Leona Daly of Ireland for Not crazy after all
3. Veronica Akselsen of Norway for Am I supposed to love again?
4. Coral of Spain for Todo está en tu mente
5. Sanna Nielsen of Sweden for Empty room

Click here to watch the videos of the nominees!

Best male national final performance not to qualify for Eurovision

1. Nicolas Metaxas of Cyprus for Butterfly
2. Mikael Konttinen of Finland for Milloin
3. Kostas Martakis of Greece for Always and forever
4. Torstein Sødal of Norway for Eastern wind
5. Sergey Lazarev of Russia for Flyer

Click here to watch the videos of the nominees!

Best duo/group national final performance not to qualify for Eurovision

1. Biondo of Romania for Shine
2. Beauty Queens of Serbia for Zavet
3. La Casa Azúl of Spain for La revolución sexual
4. BWO of Sweden for Lay your love on me
5. Nordman of Sweden for I lågornas sken

Click here to watch the videos of the nominees!