Eurovision Young Musicians 2008


The Eurovision Young Musicians 2008 was the fourteenth edition of the Eurovision Young Musicians, held at the Rathausplatz in Vienna, Austria on 9 May 2008. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union and host broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk, musicians from seven countries participated in the televised final. This was the second time that the competition was held on an open air stage and was the beginning of the annual Vienna Festival. Austria and broadcaster ORF previously hosted the contest in, and 2006.
A total of sixteen countries took part in the competition therefore a semi-final was held at the Theater an der Wien on 4 and 5 May 2008. All participants performed a classical piece of their choice accompanied by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Aleksandar Markovic. and made their début while returned. Five countries decided to withdraw from the contest, they were,,, and.
Dionysios Grammenos of Greece won the contest, with Finland and Norway placing second and third respectively. Grammenos is the first woodwind player to win the competition. A new feature in 2008 was the audience prize, voted for by television viewers in the host country via SMS. The third prize winning Norwegian violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing was the winner of this public vote.

Location

Rathausplatz, a square outside the Wiener Rathaus city hall of Vienna, was the host location for the 2008 edition of the Eurovision Young Musicians final. The Theater an der Wien, a theatre in Vienna, Austria, hosted the semi-final round.

Format

and Christoph Wagner-Trenkwitz were the hosts of the 2008 contest.

Results

Semi-final

A total of sixteen countries took part in the semi-final round of the 2008 contest, of which seven qualified to the televised grand final.

Part 1 (4 May)

Part 2 (5 May)

Final

Awards were given to the top three countries. The table below highlights these using gold, silver, and bronze. The placing results of the remaining participants is unknown and never made public by the European Broadcasting Union.
DrawCountryPerformerInstrumentPieceResult
01Jan CricarSaxophonePequeña Czarda by Pedro Iturralde-
02Anastasia KobekinaCelloConcerto for Cello and Orchestra in C Major, 1st movement by Joesph Haydn-
03Philip AchilleHarmonicaConcerto for Chromatic Harmonica and Orchestra, 1st movement by Jascha Spivakovsky-
04Roope GröndahlPianoConcerto for Piano and Orchestra in B-flat Minor, 3rd movement by Peter Tchaikovsky2
05Dionysios GrammenosClarinetConcerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, 4th movement by Jean Francaix1
06Steven BourneCelloElegie by Gabriel Fauré-
07Eldbjørg HemsingViolinCarmen Fantasie by Franz Waxman3

Jury members

The jury members consisted of the following:

Semi-final

The competition was transmitted live over the Eurovision Network by 18 broadcasters.