The Sound Of Europe 8

## Editions

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The **Sound Of Europe 8**was the 8th edition of the Sound Of Europe. It took place in **Pala Alpitour, Turin, Italy**, following **Italy's victory** in the 7th edition with **Annalisa** and her song **"Senza Riserva"**. This was the first time that Italy hosted the contest. The 8th edition consisted of **two semi-finals**, which took place on 8 April 2016, and **a final**, held on 17 April 2016. The shows were presented by **Alessio Bernabei** and **Virginia Raffaele** while **Annalisa** was hosting the green room. Forty-five countries participated in the 8th edition.

Once all the votes had been announced, based on 50% jury and 50% televoting, **Czech Republic** won the contest, with **Gabriela Gunčíková's** song **"Černý Anděl"**.

## Location

**Turin** is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region and was the first capital city of Italy. The city is located mainly on the western bank of the Po River, in front of Susa Valley and surrounded by the western Alpine arch and by the Superga Hill. The population of the city proper is 892,649 (August 2015) while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population of 2.2 million.

In 1997 a part of the historical center of Torino was inscribed in the World Heritage List under the name Residences of the Royal House of Savoy. The city has a rich culture and history, and is known for its numerous art galleries, restaurants, churches, palaces, opera houses, piazzas, parks, gardens, theatres, libraries, museums and other venues. Turin is well known for its renaissance, baroque, rococo, neo-classical, and art nouveau architecture.

Much of the city's public squares, castles, gardens and elegant *palazzi* such as Palazzo Madama, were built in the 16th to 18th century, after the capital of the Duchy of Savoy (later Kingdom of Sardinia) was moved to Turin from Chambery (now in France) as part of the urban expansion.

The city used to be a major European political centre, being Italy's first capital city in 1861 and being home to the House of Savoy, Italy's royal family. It was the capital of the Duchy of Savoy from 1563, then of the Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the Royal House of Savoy and finally the first capital of the unified Italy. Turin is sometimes called *the cradle of Italian liberty*, for having been the birthplace and home of notable politicians and people who contributed to the *Risorgimento*, such as Cavour.

The city currently hosts some of Italy's best universities, colleges, academies, lycea and gymnasia, such as the six-century-old University of Turin and the Turin Polytechnic. Prestigious and important museums, such as the Museo Egizio and the Mole Antonelliana are also found in the city. Turin's several monuments and sights make it one of the world's top 250 tourist destinations, and the tenth most visited city in Italy in 2008.

Even though much of its political significance and importance had been lost by World War II, it became a major European crossroad for industry, commerce and trade, and currently is one of Italy's main industrial centres, being part of the famous "*industrial triangle*", along with Milan and Genoa. Turin is ranked third in Italy, after Milan and Rome, for economic strength. With a GDP of $58 billion, Turin is the world's 78th richest city by purchasing power, and as of 2010 has been ranked by GaWC as a Gamma- world city. Turin is also home to much of the Italian automotive industry.

Turin is well known as the home of the Shroud of Turin, the football teams Juventus F.C. and Torino F.C., the headquarters of automobile manufacturers FIAT, Lancia and Alfa Romeo, and as host of the 2006 Winter Olympics.

### **Venue**

The contest took place in Pala Alpitour in Turin, following Italy's victory at the 7th edition of the contest in Tel Aviv with the song "Penza Riserva", performed by Annalisa. Pala Alpitour has a capacity of approximately 16,600 attendees. It is the largest venue in Italy and was built for the 2006 Winter Olympics.

## Format

The edition consisted of two semi-finals and a final. The ten countries with the highest scores in both semi-finals qualified to the final.

Each participating country had their own national jury, which consisted of five professional members of the music industry. Each member of a respective nation's jury was required to rank every song, except that of their own country. The voting results from each member of a particular nation's jury were combined to produce an overall ranking from first to last place. Likewise, the televoting results were also interpreted as a full ranking, taking into account the full televoting result rather than just the top ten. The combination of the jury's full ranking and the televote's full ranking produced an overall ranking of all competing entries. The song which scored the highest overall rank received 12 points, while the tenth-best ranked song received 1 point.

### **Running order**

The final running order of the competing performances at the semi-finals and the final were decided by the producer of the show and approved by the Executive Producer, the Executive Supervisor, the CBU and the Reference Group.

### **Presenters**

On 20 March 2016, RAI announced that **Alessio Bernabei**and **Virginia Raffaele**were the hosts of the 8th edition. **Annalisa**, last edition's winner, was also chosen as host of the green room.

### **National host broadcaster**

During an initial meeting between the host broadcaster RAI and CBU (Contest Broadcasting Union), the representatives of the core organising team were selected. **Merfi Amadeus** was announced as the executive producer and **Kostas Bouris** as the executive supervisor.

## Participants

45 countries will participate in the edition. The edition consisted of two semi-finals with 20 countries, from which the 10 with the highest scores qualified, and a final. None country returned to the contest. However, FYR Macedonia announced their withdrawal from the contest.

### **Big 5**

  United Kingdom | Gary Go
  Sweden | Sabina Ddumba
  Belgium | Unicq
  Ukraine | Elen Levon

## Results

### **Semi-final 1**

20 countries took part in the first semi-final. The ten songs in places 1 to 10 qualified for the final and are marked in orange. Italy, United Kingdom and Ukraine voted from the Big 5.

## Other countries

* Andorra - Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra (RTVA) announced that the country would not return in the 8th edition of the Sound Of Europe.

* FYR Macedonia - MRT announced the country's withdrawal, citing financial difficulties and the disappointed results. The broadcaster also stated that a future return is definitely not ruled out.

* Australia - The Australian broadcaster, Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), became an active CBU member. Also, the country's debut in the 9th edition is very possible.