The final organization details…

As the winner from Eurovision in Helsinki became Serbia, planning is already underway to satisfy the European Broadcasting Union that RTS can host the 2008 contest. In the next two weeks a committee will be formed.Already one venue is being tipped as a likely choice for the show.

The Belgrade Arena opened in 2004 and is currently the largest undercover hall in Europe. It can hold up to 23,000 people, though the configuration for Eurovision is likely to mean slightly fewer tickets than that will be on sale. Already the director of the arena has said he would welcome the event if chosen as the host venue.

RTS director Alexandar Tijanic voiced concerns however about the needs for financial help from both the Serbian government and the city of Belgrade. The TV signal produced by RTS is not yet High Definition (HD) and so investment must be made into the Tv infrastructure to ensure this is upgraded before the contest takes place next year.The main issue is the lack of high quality hotel rooms. Belgrade needs to invest heavily to improve its hotel capacity to be able to play host to the participants and journalists.

The EBU specifies that a certain number of four and five star hotel rooms have to be available within easy reach of the venue. The Holiday Inn group is already committed to Belgrade and will open a new five-star hotel near the Belgrade Arena in September.