Turkey was represented at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2008 The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcasting Unio ...

with the song "", written by Kerem Özyeğen,

Burak Güven Burak Güven (born October 19, 1975) is a Turkish musician, bass player, and one of the backing singers in the rock band Mor Early life Güven was born in Istanbul, Turkey. From 1993 to 2000, he studied singing at the State Conservatory of ...

Kerem Kabadayı Kerem Kabadayı (born 20 December 1977) is a Turkish writer and musician (drummer). He is a founding member of the Turkish rock band Mor ve Ötesi. Biography He was born on 20 December 1977 in Ankara, Turkey, to Ülkü (Yulku) Kabadayı and ...

, and

Harun Tekin Sami Harun Tekin (born 28 June 1977) is a Turkish singer, musician, and poet. He is one of the founding members and the vocalist of the Turkish rock band Mor ve Ötesi. Biography In 1988, while being a student at German High School in Istan ...

, and performed by Mor ve Ötesi. The Turkish participating broadcaster, (TRT), internally selected its entry for the contest.

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

On 17 December 2007, TRT announced during a press conference that it had internally selected the band Mor ve Ötesi to represent Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. The selection was decided from five shortlisted artists, among them being singer

Tarkan Tarkan may refer to: People * Tarkan (name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Tarkan (singer) (born 1972), Turkish pop singer Other uses

* Tarkhan, an ancient Turkic and Mongol nobility title * Tarkan (comics), a fic ...

. Three songs were submitted by the band to the broadcaster in January 2008 and a nine-member selection committee consisting of Muhsin Mete (TRT deputy general manager), Deniz Çakmakoğlu (TRT deputy head of music), Kürşat Özkök (Ankara Television manager), Ümran Sönmezer (TRT polyphonic music director), Neşet Ruacan (conductor at the TRT Istanbul Light Music and Jazz Orchestra), Kamil Özler (member of the TRT Istanbul Light Music and Jazz Orchestra), Can Sertoğlu (manager of Mor ve Ötesi), and two members of the band

and Kerem Özyeğen selected "" as the song they would perform at the contest. On 15 February 2008, "" was presented to the public during the

TRT 1 TRT 1 (''TRT One'') is the first Turkish national television channel, owned by state broadcaster TRT. It was officially launched on 31 January 1968 as a test broadcast, becoming regular by the early 1970s. It was the only channel Turkey until 15 ...

evening news bulletin. A press conference later took place at the TRT Tepebaşı Studios in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, broadcast on TRT 1 as well as online via the broadcaster's official website ''trt.net.tr''. Mor ve Ötesi performed the song both playback and live as well as performing a mini concert during the press conference. The song was written by members of the band Kerem Özyeğen,

, and

At Eurovision

Although Turkey had been granted a spot in the 2008 final because of its fourth-place finish at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2007 The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Helsinki, Finland, following the country's victory at the with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" by Lordi. Organised by the European Broadcasti ...

, it had to compete in a semi-final because of new rules put into effect by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). In previous years, countries that received a top 10 placing were automatically granted a spot in the next year's final without having to compete in a semi-final, but for 2008, the EBU changed the automatic qualification regulations so that all countries except the "Big 4" (France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom) and host country, would have to pass through one of two semi-finals. The EBU split up countries with a friendly voting history into separate semi-finals, to give a better chance for other countries to win. On 28 January 2008, the EBU held a special draw which determined that Turkey would be in the second semi-final, held on 22 May 2008. performed 3rd, following and preceding . Turkey qualified to the final, placing 7th in the semi-final and scoring 85 points. In the final they performed 12th following and preceding . They finished 7th with 138 points (including a maximum 12 from ). Commentary on TRT was provided by

Bülend Özveren Bülend Özveren (19 August 1941 – 18 October 2022) was a Turkish television presenter and sports commentator. Özveren completed his secondary education at (Istanbul) and higher education at Galatasaray High School. He graduated from Istanb ...

and their spokesperson was Meltem Ersan Yazgan.

Voting

Points awarded to Turkey

Points awarded by Turkey

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2008

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an origina ...