At the 50th annual meeting of the EBU reference group in September 2007 , it was decided that , with still more nations entering , starting from the 2008 contest onwards '' two '' semi-finals would be held , from each of which one could qualify for the final . From 2008 onwards , the scoreboard position in previous years has not been relevant , and — save for the automatic qualifiers — all participating countries have had to participate in the semi-finals , regardless of their previous year 's scoreboard position . The only countries which automatically qualify for the grand final are the host country and the Big Five : France , Germany , Italy , Spain and the United Kingdom , who continue to enjoy their protected status
2008 contest
Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Eurovision Song Contest