Rumours circulated recently in the Irish media suggested that the the popular character was to be dropped entirely by RTE bosses ahead of the autumn schedule. However, a RTE spokesman said: Dustin previously had a contract for young people’s programmes, but is now moving in a different direction. We’re trying out a format which is indicative of the new approach. The pilot is about to go into production and is designed to test out a particular format. RTE said that giving Dustin a development contract facilitates an exploration of formats.
A spokesman for Double Z, the production company behind Dustin, said it is happy with the nature of the contract RTE has given. Asked what the future holds for the turkey, he said: It depends on how the pilots go. But the intention is that he will go back on air. The puppet will now target a more mature audience, Double Z said, but the format will not be a chat show. The new Dustin the Turkey show will not be expected on RTE until next year.
Dustin has been a fixture on RTE since 1990 when he appeared with fellow puppets Zig and Zag
Televoters from the 14 participating countries, as well as a professional jury awarded the winning couple with 154 points. Actor Marcin Mroczek and professional dancer Edyta Herbus managed to charm the European audience with their fusion of Rumba and Cha-Cha with Modern Jazz Dance flavour.
“It was an exciting evening full of great entertainment and very high quality performances, supported by an amazing audience of over 2,000 people, who raised the roof with enthusiasm! We are very impressed with the way the event grew so much from year one to year two and with the high level of the production,” says Tal Barnea, Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Dance Contest on behalf of the European Broadcasting Union.
Graham Norton and Claudia Winkleman hosted the show, which featured 14 couples from the following countries: Austria, Azerbaijan, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Viewers in 10 additional countries around Europe were watching the show, as well as on the Internet via the official website.
“With this competition, we created a fantastic new Eurovision tradition, which we are confident will last for many years to come,” says Bjørn Erichsen, Director of Eurovision TV.
The final ranking
| Rank | Country | Total |
| 1 | Poland | 154 |
| 2 | Russia | 121 |
| 3 | Ukraine | 119 |
| 4 | Lithuania | 110 |
| 5 | Azerbaijan | 106 |
| 6 | Denmark | 102 |
| 7 | Greece | 72 |
| 8 | Portugal | 61 |
| 9 | UnitedKingdom | 47 |
| 10 | Finland | 44 |
| 11 | Ireland | 40 |
| 12 | Sweden | 38 |
| 13 | Austria | 29 |
| 14 | Netherlands | 1 |
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Posted on: September 7, 2008
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