2008 New Cambria National Song Contest Semi-Finals

The Semi-Finals for the 2008 New Cambria National Song Contest began on 1 November 2008. Of the 24 songs chosen to compete in the four Semi-Finals, a total of ten will qualify for the Grand Final on 6 December. This is the second year in which the contest is a six-week event.

Semi-Final One
The first Semi-Final round was held on 1 November, from the John Cabot Concert Hall in The Settlement, Cavit Island. Rehearsals for the Semi-Final were held between 29-31 October. A fire in the backstage area of the concert hall caused a brief evacuation of the venue on 30 October. A stagehand sprained a wrist trying to extinguish the fire, but no one suffered any serious injuries, and the rehearsals resumed two hours later.

The Semi-Final's co-presenters were Christopher Bear and Claire McLean, and popular Canadian rock band Faber Drive performed as the interval act between the voting period and the announcement of the results. One of the qualifiers, Douar Nevez, is unique among Song Contest entries in that its lyrics are in Breton, a Celtic language spoken in the Brittany region of France. It was the first time a Song Contest entry was not performed in English, French or Keva. Le Temps Perdu received the highest score from the jurors, but only the third-highest score from the viewing audience, relegating the song to the Wild Card Semi-Final.

The jury for the first Semi-Final was confirmed on 28 October 2008. The eight-member panel consisted of:
 * Juror 1: Michael Dugan, Assistant Director of Entertainment Programming for NCT;
 * Juror 2: Alicia Toussaint, former record producer and editor of SoundOut, an Arvant-based music magazine;
 * Juror 3: Derek Howard, professional pop singer originally from Vianney, now based in Los Angeles;
 * Juror 4: Jon Clark, amateur folk/acoustic musician from Arvant;
 * Juror 5: Maria Westerly, Canadian country-western songwriter, now retired and living in New Cambria;
 * Juror 6: Amanda Young, Averytown-based singer-songwriter;
 * Juror 7: Marcus Reeves, accountant from Arvant and winner of NCT's Fan Juror Lottery; and
 * Juror 8: Carolyn Phillips, primary schoolteacher from Milindour and winner of NCT's Fan Juror Lottery.