FYR Macedonia: Tamara, Vrcak & Adrian win

FYR Macedonia was one of the many countries to pick their entry for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest on Super Saturday. The selection was carried out in the Skopje Festival, which has been a national institution for 40 years already. This year, the show began with a retrospective of several songs that took part in the national finals of Yugoslavia for the Eurovision Song Contest from the 60s till the 80s, performed by Silvi Band. After the performances of the competing songs to represent FYR Macedonia in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, the public was treated with an interval act which was full of amazing performances, most notably of Hari Mata Hari, who had represented Bosnia & Herzegovina in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest and who is still one of the most famous singers in South-Eastern Europe. It even included a fashion show! Of course, the show also featured a tribute to Toše Proeski, the national pop hero who had died tragically in a car crash last year. He had represented FYR Macedonia in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest with his song Life, reaching the 14th place. 

The results

The winner was decided by a combination of televoting and the votes of an expert jury. Here are the full results: 

1. Tamara, Vrčak & Adrian - Vo Ime Na Ljubovta - 24 points
2. Lambe Alabakovski - Zemjo Moja - 18 points
3. Risto Samardžiev - Dojdi Do Mene - 17 points
4. Sašo Gigov-Giš - Docna E - 12 points
5. Sonja Tarčulovska - Balada - 9 points
6. Parketi - Strawberry - 8 points
7. Tuna - Prašuvam Bez Glas - 6 points
8. Elvir Mekić - Armija - 6 points
9. None - Vrati Se - 5 points
10. Jova Radevska - Jas Sum Ovde - 4 points
11. Nokaut - Samovila - 4 points
12. Aneta Kačurkova - Poraka - 2 points 
13. Vlatko Ilievski - So Drugi Zborovi - 1 point
14. Goran Naumovski - Se Što Znam - 0 points
15. Igor Mitrović - Se Sakame - 0 points
    

About the winners

The winning trio is not new to the subject of the Eurovision Song Contest: Tamara Todevska already came second in the 2007 national final. This time, se teams up with two other national stars, Vrčak and Adrian Gaxha. Adrian Gaxha came second in the national final in 2006, when he had been supported by Esma Redžepova. Their song Vo Ime Na Ljubovta is an uptempo R'n'B song. 

FYR Macedonia will compete in the Second Semi-Final of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest on the 22nd of May.