Third Eurovision Dance Contest
| Eurovision Dance Contest 2009 | |
|---|---|
| Dates | |
| Final | Postponed indefinitely[1][2] |
| Host | |
| Venue | Heydar Aliyev Sports and Exhibition Complex, Baku, Azerbaijan[3] |
| Executive supervisor | Tal Barnea |
| Host broadcaster | İctimai Television (İTV)[3] |
| Participants | |
| Debuting countries |  Belarus |
| Non-returning countries |  Austria Finland Lithuania Netherlands Sweden |
The third Eurovision Dance Contest was originally planned to be organised in Baku, Azerbaijan at the Heydar Aliyev Sports and Exhibition Complex on 26 September 2009.[4] Only five countries had confirmed their participation at the time of cancellation.
Host broadcaster İctimai Television was planning to increase the number of participating countries as well as inviting a world-famous star to host the contest, listing Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Minogue and Shakira as candidates.[5] An additional extravaganza open-air concert was planned to be held, bringing together ex-participants of the Eurovision, Junior Eurovision and Eurovision Dance Contests on one stage.[4][6]
Location
On 2 February 2009, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that Azerbaijan would host the third Eurovision Dance Contest in September at the Heydar Aliyev Sports and Exhibition Complex.[3]
Participants
On the date of cancellation, two countries had finished selection of the participating couples for the contest:
Azerbaijan – host country
Belarus – winners of 3-month long preselection show Star Dances were Yulia Raskina and Denis Moryasin. Producer of the show confirmed that they would take part in Eurovision Dance Contest 2010 if it is organised.[4]
Poland – Natasza Urbańska and Jan Kliment[citation needed].
Portugal – internal selection was expected to take place with the couple being selected from the RTP series Dança Comigo.[7]
Russia – was set to be represented by professional couple Sergey Konovaltsev and Olga Konovaltseva, named as participants of the show as early as in May 2008 and confirmed in 2009 edition of Russian version of Dancing with the Stars.[4]
Other countries
The following countries participated in 2008, but had not made any official announcements regarding their participation by the date of cancellation.
Cancellation
On 28 May 2009, the EBU announced that the contest was postponed at least until Autumn 2010 as "the number of broadcasters that signed up for participation had not reach the desired level". According to a preliminary calculations, at least five countries that were taking part in Eurovision Dance Contest 2008, namely Austria, Finland, Lithuania, Netherlands and Sweden had announced withdrawal from the contest, with only Belarus confirming its participation as a début country.[4]
According to contest coordinator on behalf of EBU Tal Barnea "concrete plans for a 2010 autumn event were being developed, with considerable changes to introduce a new programme proposal". These plans were expected to be unveiled in the autumn of 2009. EBU also praised "the commendable work on the next Eurovision Dance Contest already completed by our partners Ictimai Television and the Azerbaijani officials" stating that 2010 edition of the contest was planned to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan as well.
In January 2010, EBU Eurovision coordinator, Svante Stockselius, announced that contest has been postponed again, and is now unlikely to happen at all, at least within the next couple of years. He explained this decision was the fact that the popularity of televised dance shows had calmed down recently.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Eurovision Dance Contest has been put on hold". ESCKaz. 2010-01-19. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
- ^ "3rd Eurovision Dance Contest postponed to 2010". EBU. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
- ^ a b c "Dance Contest 2009 to Baku, Azerbaijan". Archived from the original on 2009-03-02.
- ^ a b c d e "European Broadcasting Union has finally officially confirmed the date of EDC 2009". ESCKaz. 2009-04-02. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
- ^ "We are negotiating with Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Minogue and Shakira to host the Eurovision Dance 2009 in Azerbaijan".
- ^ "Baku: More details announced at press conference".
- ^ "News Splitter (208)".
External links
- Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 16 December 2008)