Evovision Song Contest 08

The Evovision Song Contest 08 is the upcoming 8th edition of the Evovision Song Contest. It will take place in Bologna, Italy following the country's victory at the 7th Edition with the song "Jackie" by Yves Tumor. The contest is organised by the Evovision Broadcasting Union (EVOBU) and host broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) and will consist of two semi-finals and a final in November 2022.

Location
After Italy won the seventh edition, multiple Italian cities announced their bids to host the contest, including the country's capital and biggest city of Rome and the country's second biggest city, Milan. On 29 September 2022, it was announced that Bologna would host the contest.

Italy


Italy, officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy is a country that consists of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and several islands surrounding it; its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical region. Italy is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, in Southern Europe; it is also considered part of Western Europe. A unitary parliamentary republic with Rome as its capital and largest city, the country covers a total area of 301,230 km2 (116,310 sq mi) and shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino. Italy has a territorial exclave in Switzerland, Campione. With over 60 million inhabitants, Italy is the third-most populous member state of the European Union.

Bologna


Bologna is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its metropolitan area is home to more than 1,000,000 people. It is known as the Fat, Red, and the Learn City due to its rich cuisine, red Spanish tiled rooftops and left-wing politics, and being home to the oldest university in the world.

Unipol Arena


Unipol Arena (previously known as Futurshow Station, PalaMalaguti and originally Palasport Casalecchio) is an indoor sporting arena located in Casalecchio di Reno, Province of Bologna, Italy. The seating capacity of the arena for basketball games is 11,000 people, and the seating capacity for concerts is 20,000 people. It was opened in December 1993. It was home to the Virtus Bologna basketball team from 1996 to 2017.

Visual design
The theme art and slogan for the contest is set to be designed by oxyo_rbx, in coordination with RAI.

Presenters
The presetners are yet to be announced.

Stage design
The stage design for the contest is set to be designed by oxyo_rbx, in coordination with RAI.

Opening and interval acts
The Grand Final will be opened with a flag parade to introduce the 26 finalists. Yves Tumor, the winner of the previous edition, is also expected to perform as an interval act.

Entries
The 8th Edition will see a larger format than previous editions. There will be a record amount of 42 participating countries, 26 of which, will participate in the Final. There will be two Semi-Finals, both with 18 countries and 10 qualifying countries each. The 20 Semi-Final qualifiers will then join the six automatically qualified countries, the "Bix Six", in the Grand Final.

Semi-final allocation draw
The draw to determine the participating countries' semi-finals took place on 28 October 2022 at 20:00 CET, at a studio in Bolgona. The thirty-six semi-finalists were divided over six pots, based on historical voting patterns and geographicaly locations. The purpose of drawing from different pots was to reduce the chance of "bloc voting" and to increase suspense in the semi-finals. The ceremony was hosted by Myss Keta and Veronica Lucchesi. The six pots were the following:

Grand Final
Twenty-six countries participated in the final, composed of the previous edition's winner and host country Italy, the "Big Five" (Japan, North Korea, Slovenia, South Korea and United States), and the ten best-ranked entries of each of the two semi-finals. All participating countries vote in the final.

Other Countries

 * - Belarussian broadcaster BTRC initally confirmed participation although would later announce their withdrawal with no reason given.
 * - Despite hosting the previous edition, Honduran broadcaster TNH announced they would not be participating in the 8th Edition due to financial difficulties generated from hosting the contest.
 * - On 6 September 2022, Irish broadcaster RTÉ announced that they would not be participating in the 8th Edition of EVOSC due to low viewer figures in previous editions.