The two-hour and fifteen minute European co-production is organised by the EBU, and will be hosted by the BBC, and produced by two UK production companies, Splash Media and Sunset+Vine, with assistance from the International Dance Sport Federation (IDSF). The show will be broadcast live on television across Europe at 21:00 CET, in the 5,000m² SECC Arena Hall, where up to 2,000 spectators will be able to witness this event live.
The Eurovision Dance Contest is the newest addition to the Eurovision Family of Events. Fifty three years after the launch of the Eurovision Song Contest and the creation of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, this new show brings together the best of both worlds: the glitz and glamour of ballroom dancing and the Song Contest's live and unpredictable drama, with a scoreboard, foreign hosts, and of course - the "douze points".
Couples represent the 15 countries, each dancing a freestyle choreography inspired by the country they represent. In addition to being judged by a panel of experts in the arena, the European audience at home will cast their vote by televoting and text voting to determine this year's winner of the Grand Prix Dancing title.
As was the case in 2007, the show will be hosted by one of the BBC's most popular talents, Graham Norton, and co-hosted by Claudia Winkleman.
Each participating broadcaster will present one qualified, mixed dancing couple (two dancers, one man and one woman) to represent its country in the EDC. According to the competition rules, one of the dancers must be a professional dancer, while the other, a non-professional dancer, known in a field other than dance. The couples were nominated by a selection process, in most cases a televised national selection, organised by the respective participating broadcaster.
Thursday and Friday, delegation leaders and organizers meet in Glasgow to officially present their contestants, and to inform each other on the progress of the preparations. The website of the 2008 Eurovision Dance Contest is expected to be launched in the next couple of weeks.
