Eurovision Dance Contest 2007

The Eurovision Dance Contest 2007 was the inaugural edition of the Eurovision Dance Contest, a dance competition co-production between the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster BBC. The first ever pan-European dance competition was held on 1 September 2007 in London, United Kingdom with the participation of 16 countries.

Eurovision Dance Contest 2007
Dates
Grand final	1 September 2007
Host
Venue	BBC Television Centre,[1] London, United Kingdom
Presenter(s)	Graham Norton Claudia Winkleman[1]
Directed by	Nikki Parsons
Executive supervisor	Tal Barnea
Executive producer	Jane Lush Fenia Vardanis
Host broadcaster	British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Interval act	Enrique Iglesias performing a medley of "Tired of Being Sorry" and "Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)"
Participants
Number of entries	16
Debuting countries	Austria  Denmark  Finland  Germany  Greece  Ireland  Lithuania  Netherlands  Poland  Portugal  Russia  Spain  Sweden   Switzerland  Ukraine  United Kingdom
Participation map      Participating countries
Vote
Voting system	Each country awards 1–8, 10, and 12 points to their 10 favourite acts.
Nul points	Switzerland
Winning dancers	Finland Katja Koukkula and Jussi Väänänen

Viewers cast their votes by telephone and SMS text message voting on each couple's two dances – the first being ballroom or Latin with the second being freestyle, with a "national" flavour. Professional dance couples were allowed to enter the competition. Comedian Graham Norton and Claudia Winkleman presented the 2007 contest from the BBC Television Centre in London.

The first ever winners of the contest were Katja Koukkula and Jussi Väänänen of Finland who received a total of 132 points. 2nd place went to Ukraine, 3rd to Ireland, 4th to Poland and 5th place to Austria following a tie with Portugal, who also received 74 points.

Location

BBC Television Centre, London - host venue of the 2007 contest.

The host venue was the BBC Television Centre, White City, London, which opened in 1960. It is one of the most readily recognisable facilities of its type having appeared as the backdrop for many BBC programmes. It remained to be one of the largest such facilities in the world until it closed in March 2013.[2]

Format

Running order

The running order for the 16 participants was announced on 6 August 2007 and had been determined in two steps. In the first round, the participating countries were drawn into groups, under supervision of an auditor. In the second round, the producers of the contest determined the final running order within the drawn groups to assure variety in the live show.[3]

Visual design

The logo of 2007 Contest features the word Eurovision written in the same way as it is on the Eurovision Song Contest logos without the heart and the silhouette of a dancing couple in front of a star that contains the flag of the host country, the United Kingdom.

Host broadcaster

The contest was hosted by the BBC, and was a co-production by Splash Media – run by the developers of its successful Strictly Come Dancing format – and sports production house Sunset + Vine – with help from the International DanceSport Federation and in association with the European Broadcasting Union.[4]

The contest was broadcast in English and French languages, although France did not take part.[5] Each broadcaster also had the option of providing its own commentators at the event. UK commentators were Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli.

Participants

The Croatian broadcaster HRT had expressed an interest in taking part,[6] but pulled out due to costs and scheduling problems.

Due to the forest fires in Greece, the Greek national broadcaster ERT did not air the show live and therefore used a back-up jury instead of televoting.[7]

Austria and Portugal both finished with the same number of points, however, Austria received points from every other participating nation thus receiving points from more countries than Portugal, hence Austria took 5th place.

Draw	Country	Dancers	Dance Styles	Place	Points
01	Switzerland	Denise Biellmann and Sven Ninnemann	Paso Doble and Swing	16	0
02	Russia	Mariya Sittel and Vladislav Borodinov	Rumba and Paso Doble	7	72
03	Netherlands	Alexandra Matteman and Redmond Valk	Cha-Cha-Cha and Rumba	12	34
04	United Kingdom	Camilla Dallerup and Brendan Cole	Rumba and Freestyle	15	18
05	Austria	Kelly and Andy Kainz	Jive and Paso Doble	5	74
06	Germany	Wolke Hegenbarth and Oliver Seefeldt	Samba dance and Freestyle	8	59
07	Greece	Ourania Kolliou and Spiros Pavlidis	Jive and Sirtaki	13	31
08	Lithuania	Gabrielė Valiukaitė and Gintaras Svistunavičius	Paso Doble and Traditional Lithuanian Folk Dance	11	35
09	Spain	Amagoya Benlloch and Abraham Martinez	Cha-Cha-Cha and Paso Doble	10	38
10	Ireland	Nicola Byrne and Mick Donegan	Jive and Fandango	3	95
11	Poland	Katarzyna Cichopek and Marcin Hakiel	Cha-Cha-Cha and Showdance	4	84
12	Denmark	Mette Skou Elkjær and David Jørgensen	Rumba and Showdance	9	38
13	Portugal	Sónia Araújo and Ricardo Silva	Jive and Tango	6	74
14	Ukraine	Yulia Okropiridze and Illya Sydorenko	Quickstep and Showdance	2	121
15	Sweden	Cecilia Ehrling and Martin Lidberg	Paso Doble and Disco Fusion	14	23
16	Finland	Katja Koukkula and Jussi Väänänen	Rumba and Paso Doble	1	132

Scoreboard

The following 16 countries took part,[5][8] and received the scores shown below.

Voting procedure used:   100% Televote   100% Jury vote		Results
		Total score	Switzerland	Russia	Netherlands	United Kingdom	Austria	Germany	Greece	Lithuania	Spain	Ireland	Poland	Denmark	Portugal	Ukraine	Sweden	Finland
Contestants	Switzerland	0
	Russia	72			3	10	3	7		6	4	5	4		8	12		10
	Netherlands	34	5				7	2	12									3
	United Kingdom	18							3	5		7		3
	Austria	74	7	3	5	2		10	2	3	3	4	6	8	5	5	4	7
	Germany	59	10	5	6		10				7		5	7	6	1	2
	Greece	31	2	4	1	5	4	5		4			2	1	2		1
	Lithuania	35		1		6			4			12	1		1	6	3	1
	Spain	38	6	2	2				7						12	4		5
	Ireland	95	1	10	7	8	6	3	1	8	5		10	12	3	8	7	6
	Poland	84	4	8	4	7	8	12		1	6	10		4		10	10
	Denmark	38					1	1	6	7	2	3			4	2	8	4
	Portugal	74	12	6	8	3	2	8	8	2	12			2		3	6	2
	Ukraine	121	3	12	10	12	5	6	5	12	8	6	12	6	7		5	12
	Sweden	23									1	1	7	5				8
	Finland	132	8	7	12	4	12	4	10	10	10	8	8	10	10	7	12
THE TABLE IS ORDERED BY APPEARANCE

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the contest:

N.	Contestant	Nation(s) giving 12 points
5	Ukraine	Finland
		Lithuania
		Poland
		Russia
		United Kingdom
3	Finland	Austria
		Netherlands
		Sweden
2	Portugal	Spain
		Switzerland
1	Ireland	Denmark
	Lithuania	Ireland
	Netherlands	Greece
	Poland	Germany
	Russia	Ukraine
	Spain	Portugal

International broadcasts and voting

Voting and spokespersons

The order in which each country announced their votes was done in order of performance. The spokespersons are shown alongside each country.[7]

1.   Switzerland – Cécile Bähler
2.  Russia – Like Kremer
3.  Netherlands – Marcus van Teijlingen
4.  United Kingdom – Kirsty Gallagher
5.  Austria – Peter L. Eppinger
6.  Germany – Alice Kessler and Ellen Kessler (German representatives at the Eurovision Song Contest 1959)
7.  Greece – George Amyras
8.  Lithuania – Lavija Šurnaitė-Kairienė
9.  Spain – Jesús Álvarez
10.  Ireland – Pamela Flood
11.  Poland – Ewelina Kopic
12.  Denmark – Louise Wolff
13.  Portugal – Marta Leite de Castro
14.  Ukraine – Svetoslav Vlokh
15.  Sweden – Ulrica Bengtsson
16.  Finland – Johanna Pirttilahti

Commentators

Most countries sent commentators to London or commentated from their own country, in order to add insight to the participants and, if necessary, provide voting information.[9]

Participating countries

•   Switzerland – German: Sascha Ruefer and Daniela Berger (SF 1), Italian: Sandy Altermatt and Ruggero Sindico (TSI 1)
•  Russia – Anastasia Zavorotnyuk and Stanislav Popov (Russia-1, RTR Planeta)
•  Netherlands – Lucille Werner and Cor van de Stroet (Nederland 1)[10]
•  United Kingdom – Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli (BBC One)[11]
•  Austria – Andi Knoll and Nicole Burns-Hansen (ORF1)[12]
•  Germany – Peter Urban and Markus Sonyi (Das Erste)[13]
•  Greece – Maria Kozakou and Iordanis Pavlidis (NET and ERT World, delayed)
•  Lithuania – Beata Nicholson and Virginijus Visockas (LRT1)[14]
•  Spain – Beatriz Pécker and Joana Subirana (TVE1, TVE International)[15]
•  Ireland – Marty Whelan and Michelle Alonzi (RTÉ One)[16]
•  Poland – Artur Orzech and Zbigniew St. Zasada (TVP2)[13]
•  Denmark – Sisse Fisker and Claus Larsen (DR1)[17]
•  Portugal – Isabel Angelino, Alberto Rodrigues and Marco de Camillis (RTP1, RTP Internacional, RTP Africa)[18]
•  Ukraine – Timur Miroshnychenko and Oleksandra Myshko (Pershyi Natsionalnyi)[19]
•  Sweden – David Hellenius and Tony Irving (TV4)[20]
•  Finland – Sirpa Suutari-Jääskö and Jaana Pelkonen (YLE TV2)[21]

Non-participating countries

As well as those countries that took part, Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Iceland, Israel and Macedonia also broadcast the contest without sending representatives,[22] with possibility to join it in 2008.[23]

•  Albania – Leon Menkshi (RTSH)
•  Armenia – Felix Khacatryan and Hrachuhi Utmazyan (ARMTV)
•  Belarus – Dmitry Karas and Vladimir Parakhnevich (BTRC)[13]
•  Bosnia and Herzegovina – Dejan Kukrić (BHRT)[13]
•  Cyprus – Melina Karageorgiou (CyBC 1)
•  Iceland – Eva Maria Jonsdottir (RÚV, 40 minutes delay)[13]
•  Israel – No commentator (Channel 1)
•  Macedonia – Milanka Rašić (MKRTV)

See also

• Eurovision Song Contest 2007
• Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007

References

1. "BBC - Press Office - Taking the floor: Eurovision Dance Contest". www.bbc.co.uk. 13 April 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
2. "Dyke accused of conflict of interest over £6m holding in rival TV firm". The Independent. London. 17 January 2000.
3. "Eurovision Dance Contest". 12 November 2007. Archived from the original on 12 November 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
4. "BBC - Press Office - The last dance for Camilla and Brendan". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
5. "EBU.CH :: Eurovision Dance Contest". Archived from the original on January 12, 2007.
6. "Eurovision Song Contest". 16 February 2007. Archived from the original on 16 February 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
7. Viniker, Barry (30 August 2007). "EDC voting spokespersons announced". ESCToday.com. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
8. "Eurovision Dance Contest unveiled". BBC News. 13 April 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
9. "Eurovision Dance Contest". web.archive.org. November 12, 2007.
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2011-10-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
11. "Eurovision Dance Contest: Opens Tuesday". ESCToday.com. August 24, 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
12. ""Dancing Stars" tanzten sich auf Platz fünf". oesterreich.ORF.at. 2 September 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
13. Mikheev, Andy (1 September 2007). "Eurovision Dance Contest 2007". News Archives (in English and Russian). ESCKaz.com. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
14. "Eurovizijos šokių konkursas, Londonas (Jungtinė karalystė) , I dalis". lrt.lt. September 1, 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
15. Baragaño, Techu (August 31, 2007). "Londres es hoy la sede del I Festival de Eurovisión del baile". Retrieved 26 December 2020 – via elpais.com.
16. "EUROVISION DANCE CONTEST 2007 ***New*** | RTÉ Presspack". presspack.rte.ie. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
17. "Melodi Grand Prix har fået en dansepartner". DR. August 9, 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
18. Portugal, Rádio e Televisão de. "1.º FESTIVAL EUROVISÃO DA DANÇA 2007 - Entretenimento - RTP". www.rtp.pt. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
19. "Юлія Окропірідзе та Ілля Сидоренко стали другими у Європі!". NTU. Archived from the original on October 30, 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
20. "Den sista dansen". Aftonbladet. 1 September 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
21. "Suomen edustajat Eurovision tanssikilpailuun valittu". Yle Uutiset. 25 August 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
22. "Tonight: Eurovision Dance Contest 2007!". ESCToday.com. September 1, 2007. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
23. "Eurovision Dance Contest 2008 Glasgow Танцевальное Евровидение 2008 Глазго". esckaz.com. Retrieved 8 May 2019.

External links

• Official Eurovision Dance Contest website
• EBU Press Release
• ESCKaz pages on Dance Contest (English/Russian)