Belgrade called
Monday, may 26th
After a hectic period of bringing you the news from Belgrade, it's over now. It is Hilversum calling
again, everybody returned to their homes. That means we close the 'Belgrade Calling' page now. We look back at a wonderful
contest. See you next year in Moscow or Saint Petersburg!

Leaving Belgrade
Monday, may 26th
When leaving Belgrade, we were absolutely not alone yesterday. It felt like a complete exodus of
Eurovision fans and participants.
When we arrived at the airport, we saw the Estonian delegation. Later they were accompanied by the
friendly Boaz Ma'uda from Israel and Armenian Sirusho. Also Dima Bilan and skater Evgeni Plushenko were there. Bilan was unreachable.
surrounded by bodyguards. Plushenko appeared to be a rude man, passing waiting people in the row for checking in. Plushenko
found himself a VIP and wanted to be treated like that.

Victory for Russia
Sunday, may 25th
For the first time in Eurovision history, Russia won the Eurovision Song Contest. Dima Bilan is the
brand new winner with his song "Believing".
The first half of the voting was very exciting, as Russia and Greece stayed very close to eachother.
Dima Bilan already tried to win Eurovision before in 2006. He became 2nd behind Lordi.

Fans of the Russian entry
Sweden saved by backup juries
Sunday, may 25th
Friday, we of Hilversum Calling told you that one country entered the final because of the backup
juries. That country was Sweden.
If the backup juries wouldn't count, FYROMacedonia would have gone through.
In the first semifinal, it was Poland that was 10th, but also selected by the backup juries. Hind
became 13nd, Ishtar from Belgium 17th.
Last update before the final
Saturday, may 24th
Within 3 hours, the final of the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest will be there. We of Hilversum Calling
saw the 3rd dress rehearsal. After that, we are pretty much convinced that Russia will win the show tonight. However, we won't
exclude Ukraine, Norway and Portugal. The performances of France and Germany are very weak, they will fight for the last place.
Furthermore, we want to wish all the visitors of Hilversum Calling a wonderful contest.

Sébastien Tellier: not a star on camera
Saturday, 24th of may
The French entrant, Sébastien Tellier, is definitely no good friends with the camera. That's what
we learnt from the dress rehearsals.
We saw Sébastien half, we saw his feet only, we saw his chest, we saw him walking away, we saw him
looking in the wrong camera.
We of Hilversum Calling are a little bit worried that, with this appearance, he will not get many
votes.

Germany wins dummy voting
Saturday, may 24th
To rehearse the voting procedure, every year there is a so-called 'dummy voting'. This year, it was
won by German group No Angels.
The group presented the song "Disappear". Germany is not a favourite at all, people even wondered
why the girls didn't disappear. In fact, this is no good omen for Germany: the dummy winner is never the winner of the real
contest.....
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