World Song Contest

The 37th edition of the World Song Contest, and the first one of the 4th year, started in March 2008 with a total of 64 participants. Only 35 songs could take part in the final, and so 30 of them had to qualify. For the time the previous winner was disqualified as its votes for the semi finals were not received. This allowed some lucky losers to go to the final. Spain was one of them. You can expect lucky losers won't achieved a great result in the final but Spain reached the top 10. On the other hand, some songs that did great just crashed in the final, like Israel or Canada, which respectively finished 2nd and 1st in their heat of the semi finals, didn't manage to be in the top 20 of the final. Some countries did better than usual when they qualified for the final, Peru, for instance never qualified for a WSC final before.

The entries for the Eurovision Song Contest being chosen, several countries sent their representatives in WSC too, but with another song. It didn't proove to be a good idea for Bosnia & Herzegovina and Liechtenstein which didn't qualify for the final, and for Norway which only reached the 23rd position in the final. Russia, Cyprus, Armenia and Lithuania also tried with former eurovision participants. Other countries tried their luck with a previous winner of WSC, like Belgium or South Africa. It didn't work for South Africa, while Belgium reached the 11th position. Among the other artists of this edition, Eros Ramazzotti, Ricky Martin, Shaggy and Santana. For the most famous ones. Only Santana found a way to the final.

For the first time, a nation from South America won. Argentina took an early lead, with 12 points from Serbia, only to stay among the leader till the end, and eventually win. Argentina only received votes from 16 participants, while San Marino was in the top 10 of 21 of them but Argentina received 7 top marks, so a total of 84, more than half of the its final score (141 points). The last minute votes from Greece didn't change a thing for Argentina but give the second position to the United Kingdom, which confirmed its previous good results, over France, which finished for the second time in a row in the top 3.

>> Your Comments

THE WINNER

Country: Argentina
Artist(s): Lisandro Aristimuño
Song: La Última Prosa

Lisandro Aristimuño was born in 1978 in a small argentinian town named Viedma, located in the patagonian province of Río Negro. In 2002 he moved to Buenos Aires. This young songwriter shows us through his work the sounds of the southern winds, the colorful humid extensions and the smoky landscapes, making an exquisite fussion between folk, electronic effects and his particular instinct of pop. In 2004 he released his debut album, Azules turquesas (edited by the independent label Los Años Luz Discos, 2004), and it was put on the top 50 best albums of the year and Lisandro was selected as Best New Artist by the Rolling Stone and Les Inrockuptibles. He was also a finalist at the Carlos Gardel award in the New forms of folk music category. He presented Azules turquesas in several places, such as San Martin Theatre along with Kevin Johansen, Código País, Theatre of the Globe, Chacarerean Theatre, Notorious Gandhi, among others. In the year 2005 he realesed his second album, Ese asunto de la ventana, and it was immediately lauded by the critics as mesmerising, deeply emotional, and inspired. It has received excellent reviews from all the major magazines of the country, and was once again put among the top 50 of the year by the Rolling Stone magazine. Ese asunto de la ventana was presented on a sold out concert at La Trastienda Club, in Buenos Aires. During February and March, 2006, he went on a tour through Spain, playing songs from his two albums in an acoustic format. There, he gave 15 concerts in several cities, such as Barcelona, Madrid, Granada, Salamanca, Alicante, Vigo, and Sevilla. 39º, his third album, was released on May 2007. It was also received with excellent reviews and a great public response. In 2009, he released his fourth album, Las Crónicas del Viento.