Balkan Countries Take the Stage at Eurovision

Infrequent visitors to the Balkan region, particularly those from western Europe, may be unaware just how seriously the contest is taken in the area and, as a recent winner, Serbia has a reputation to keep up.

Flooded with billboards and posters announcing the Eurovision Song Contest, Norway’s capital Oslo has been transformed into the music city of Europe tonight.

Under the name Share the Moment, the 55th Eurovision Song Contest kicks off the first of two semi-finals tonight, with finals scheduled to be held on Saturday.

Serbia’s candidate this year is the eccentric young folk singer Milan Stankovic and his song ‘This is the Balkans’. Stankovic, with his bob haircut and strangely androgynous looks, was one of the most popular performers on Zvezde Granda, a hugely popular Pink TV show pitting singers and performers from around the country against each other. His first album, ‘Solo’ sold out its 50,000 copies in days.

The wider public may take a little more convincing of Milan’s potential. UK bookmakers have Serbia as a 99/1 outsider and given the lyrics, it’s not difficult to see why: ‘Hey... sweetie, sweetie / You make my mouth water / Hey... squeeze me, kiss me / Sweetie, squeeze me on the chest’, Milan sings.

Nevertheless if the contest was based on lyrics alone it is unlikely that Azerbaijan’s Safura would be the red hot 5/4 favourite: ‘I don’t know how to stop / How to stop / These tear drops / That drip drop, drip drop /Drip drop, drip drop’, sings Safura.

Most other countries in the region fare no better than Serbia with the bookmakers, with Slovenia rank outsiders at 550/1, Bosnia and Herzegovina at 400/1 and Albania joining Serbia at 124/1 while Romanian Xonia is a bit better - 119/1. Croatia’s Feminnem with ‘Lako je sve’ are rated as having a much better chance with today’s odds at 39/1.

Since Macedonia stands in last place with 600/1, the country's team has thrown a party in a bar close to eurovillage with its representative Gjoko Tanevski as main star, according to Eurovision.tv.

Miro, who has been selected to represent Bulgaria at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, shares the last place with Macedonia.

17 perfomers will compete tonight, and another 17 on Thursday, to get into top 10 finals. The final night will feature singers who qualify in the two semi-finals accompanied by France, Spain, Great Britain, Germany and Norway, whose places in the final are previously reserved.

Fifty per cent of votes come from a professional jury and the other half from text messages sent by televoters via mobile phones.

This year's contest is marked by the absence of Montenegro and Kosovo. Kosovo is not allowed to participate in the event as it is not a member of the European Broadcasting Union.