Apparently always in turmoil and bombed by
NATO just eight years ago, this time Belgrade made global headlines for its
hospitality and impeccable organization of the Eurovision Song Contest, Serbian
newspapers said Sunday.
Dima Bilan triumphed and took Eurovision 2009 to Russia for the first time in
its 53-year history.
Serbian Jelena Tomasevic came in sixth, but the competition was slipping into
history as other impressions were being assessed.
"Musical centre of Europe," "Serbia's European glow,"
"Belgrade used the chance" and "Majestic" are some of the
headlines local newspapers put over reports of how Belgrade hosted the mammoth
show, which brought together 43 nations over the past two weeks.
"Belgrade showed its new, winning spirit," the mass-circulation
Vecernje Novosti said.
"We waited many years to top the news, but not because of an ugly
political situation," the austere Politika said.
The Serbian capital overcame shortcomings such as scarce hotel accommodation
and greedy cabbies, to secure a positive impression among the thousands of
visitors who arrived for Eurovision, reports said.
"Eurovision fans enchanted with Belgrade" and "Positive
impressions for lasting memory," newspapers said after interviewing
visitors on the streets.
A crowd of nearly 10,000 people, mostly Serbs but also many foreigners,
gathered downtown to watch the show on a huge video screen and cheered all
participants, all without incident.
Just three months before, the same area was occupied by an angry mob which
torched foreign embassies and pillaged amid a protest at the secession of the province of Kosovo, while advisories against travel to Serbia were issued in the West.
After two weeks of debating the sexiest performer, the most outrageous act or
betting odds, the city of 2 million people returns to its own normalcy and the
ongoing political wrangling whether it belongs to the West or East.
The winner of the tug-of-war, either the pro-Europeans or ultra- nationalists,
is expected to set up the new government sometime next month.
The new government will also determine Serbia's course, either taking it closer
to European Union membership, or leaving it standing at the doorstep of the
West for a while longer, dpa reported.
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