Poland waltzes away with Eurovision Dance Contest
LONDON (AFP) — Poland waltzed off with the Eurovision Dance Contest title on Saturday in a glitzy final watched by millions of viewers across the continent.
Actor Marcin Mroczek and professional dancer Edyta Herbus won the event at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow with a fusion of Rumba and Cha-Cha with Modern Jazz.
Voters from the 14 participating countries as well as a professional jury awarded the Polish pair 154 points in an event broadcast across Europe.
Russia came second with 121 points and Ukraine third with 119 points.
Each couple comprised a professional dancer and a national celebrity and had just two minutes to wow the judges.
Last year's inaugural contest in London was won by Finnish couple Jussi Vaananen and Katja Koukkula.
"It was an exciting evening full of great entertainment and very high quality performances, supported by an amazing audience of more than 2,000 people, who raised the roof with enthusiasm," said Tal Barnea, the contest's executive supervisor.
"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."
The Eurovision Song Contest annual extravaganza has been running since 1956.
Eurovision TV director Bjoern Erichsen added: "With this competition, we created a fantastic new Eurovision tradition, which we are confident will last for many years to come."
Final rankings (points):
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 United Kingdom 47
10 Finland 44
11 Ireland 40
12 Sweden 38
13 Austria 29
14 Netherlands 1
Edyta Herbuś, one of the winners
The Polish team of Edyta Herbuś and Marcin Mroczek have won the Eurovision Dance Contest 2008. The pair performed a version of the Rumba, Cha-Cha and Jazz Dance. 

The pair were given 20 points by the jury and 134 points from the voting public with a total of 154. They were given the maximum 12 points by Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Russia came second with 121 points and Ukraine with 119 points.

This years contest was held at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in 	Glasgow, Scotland. This is only the second Eurovision Dance Contest. The first contest was held at the BBC Television Centre, London. Three countries withdrew from the competition Germany, Spain and Switzerland. Azerbaijan debuted and came in 5th.