music.wikisort.org - Composition

The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Moscow, Russia, following the country's victory at the 2008 contest with the song "Believe" by Dima Bilan. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Channel One (C1R), the contest was held at the Olimpiysky Arena, and consisted of two semi-finals on 12 and 14 May, and a final on 16 May 2009. The semi-finals were presented by Russian model Natalia Vodianova and television presenter Andrey Malahov, while the final was presented by Russian television presenter Ivan Urgant and former Russian contestant Alsou Abramova, becoming the first and to date only time that two different sets of presenters had hosted the semi-finals and finals.

Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Dates
Semi-final 1	12 May 2009 (2009-05-12)
Semi-final 2	14 May 2009 (2009-05-14)
Final	16 May 2009 (2009-05-16)
Host
Venue	Olimpiysky Arena Moscow, Russia
Presenter(s)	Semi-finals: Natalia Vodianova Andrey Malakhov Final: Ivan Urgant Alsou Abramova[1]
Directed by	Andrei Boltenko
Executive supervisor	Svante Stockselius
Executive producer	Yury Aksyuta
Host broadcaster	Channel One (C1R)
Opening act	Semi-final 1: The Tolmachevy Twins Semi-final 2: "Eurovision Winners Songs Mix" by Terem Quartet, Russian national ballet "Kostroma", Ensemble of Russian Airforce, Show-ballet "Art Dogs" Final: Cirque du Soleil performance (Prodigal Son), Dima Bilan with "Believe"
Interval act	Semi-final 1: Alexandrov Ensemble feat. t.A.T.u. with "Not Gonna Get Us" Semi-final 2: Igor Moiseyev Ensemble – "Folk Dances from Different Countries" Final: Fuerza Bruta performance
Website	eurovision.tv/event/moscow-2009
Participants
Number of entries	42
Debuting countries	None
Returning countries	Slovakia
Non-returning countries	Georgia  San Marino
Participation map      Participating countries     Did not qualify from the semi final     Countries that participated in the past but not in 2009
Vote
Voting system	Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs.
Nul points in semi-finals	Czech Republic (SF1)
Winning song	Norway "Fairytale"
2008 ← Eurovision Song Contest → 2010

Forty-two countries participated in the contest - down one from the record forty-three the year before. Slovakia returned to the contest for the first time since 1998, while San Marino did not enter due to financial issues. Latvia and Georgia originally announced their intention not to participate, but it was later stated by the EBU that both countries would indeed participate.[2] However, Georgia later decided to withdraw after the EBU rejected its selected song as being a breach of the contest rules.

The winner was Norway with the song "Fairytale", performed and written by Alexander Rybak. The song received a record-breaking 387 points out of a possible 492, at the time the highest total score in the history of the contest. Iceland, Azerbaijan, Turkey and the United Kingdom rounded out the top five, with the latter achieving their best placing since 2002. Iceland's second-place finish was the country's best placing in a decade.

After criticism of the voting system in 2007, changes in the voting procedure were finally made prior to this contest, with the re-introduction of a national jury alongside televoting for the final, while the format of the semi-finals remained the same.

Location

The contest was held in Russia following its victory in the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia, with Dima Bilan's "Believe".[3] Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia, stated that the contest would be held in Moscow.[4]

It was proposed by Channel One that the contest be held in Moscow's Olimpiysky Arena, and this proposal was evaluated by the EBU and confirmed on 13 September 2008.[4][5] The Director-General of the venue, Vladimir Churilin, refuted rumours of emergency reconstruction of the building, saying: "It will not be required for the Eurovision Song Contest. We now can take up to 25 thousand spectators."^{[citation needed]}

Format

Thirty-seven countries participated in one of the two semi-finals of the contest, with the "Big Four" countries (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the host (Russia) pre-qualified for the final.[2] In addition to those pre-qualified, the final also included the ten selected countries from each semi-final, making a total of twenty-five participants.

A discussion on changes to the format of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest had taken place at an EBU meeting in Athens, Greece in June 2008 where a proposal was made that could have resulted in the "Big Four" losing their automatic place in the final of the contest.[6] However, it was confirmed that the "Big Four" countries would continue to automatically qualify for the final at the 2009 contest.[7]

Graphic design

Host broadcaster Channel One presented the sub-logo and theme for the 2009 contest on 30 January 2009.[8] The sub-logo is based upon a "Fantasy Bird", which can be used with many colours. As in previous years, the sub-logo was presented alongside the generic logo.[8] 2009 is the only year since 2002 without a slogan.

The stage was designed by New York-based set designer John Casey, and was based around the theme of contemporary Russian avant-garde. Casey, who had previously designed the stage for the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 in Dublin, was also involved in design teams for the 1994 and 1995 contests. He explained that "even before [he] worked with the Russians on the TEFI Awards in Moscow in 1998, [he] was inspired by and drawn to art from the Russian Avant Garde period, especially the constructivists... [He] tried to come up with a theatrical design for the contest that incorporates Russian avant-garde art into a contemporary setting, almost entirely made up of different types of LED screens."[9] Casey explained that together, the various LED shapes form the finished product. Furthermore, large sections of the stage can move, including the circular central portion of curved LED screens, which can be moved to effect and allow each song to have a different feel.

Postcards

The music accompanying the postcards used to introduce each participating country was written and produced by British electronic musician Matthew Herbert.[10]

The postcards opened with the words "Moskva 2009" (Москва 2009), the transliterated Russian way to say "Moscow 2009". It continued with the appearance of Miss World 2008, Ksenia Sukhinova of Russia, and then a group of famous landmarks from the participating country were shown in computer animation. The animation would simulate a pop-up book, with each "page turn" showing different landmarks. Then Sukhinova reappeared again, wearing a hat comprising all of the landmarks shown (as well as having different hairstyle & make-up each time) and a T-shirt with the colours of the respective country's flag. The Russian video had the exact appearance of Sukhinova shown in the first part of every video, and no different hairstyle was shown for the Russian entry.

Then, on the right, the 2009 contest logo appeared with the name and the flag of the country. Finally a phrase in transliterated Russian word and its English translation were shown. The words shown were as were as following, listed in alphabetical order:

Semi-final allocation draw

On Friday 30 January 2009, the draw to decide which countries would appear in either the first or second semi-final took place at the Marriott Royal Aurora Hotel. The participating countries excluding the automatic finalists (France, Germany, host country Russia, Spain and the United Kingdom) were split into six pots, based upon how those countries have been voting. From these pots, half (or as close to half as is possible) competed in the first semi-final on 10 May 2009. The other half in that particular pot will compete in the second semi-final on 12 May 2009.[11][12][13] The draw for the running order of the semi-finals, finals, and the order of voting, occurred on 16 March 2009 at Cosmos Hotel.[14][2]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4	Pot 5	Pot 6
Albania  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Croatia  Macedonia  Montenegro  Serbia  Slovenia	Denmark  Estonia  Finland  Iceland  Norway  Sweden	Armenia  Azerbaijan  Belarus  Georgia[lower-alpha 1]  Israel  Moldova  Ukraine	Belgium  Bulgaria  Cyprus  Greece  Netherlands  Turkey	Andorra  Ireland  Latvia  Lithuania  Portugal  Romania	Czech Republic  Hungary  Malta  Poland  Slovakia  Switzerland

Voting system

In response to some broadcasters' continued complaints about politically charged, neighbourly and diaspora voting, the EBU evaluated the voting procedure used in the contest, with the possibility of a change in the voting system for 2009. Contest organisers sent a questionnaire regarding the voting system to participating broadcasters, and a reference group incorporated the responses into their suggestions for next year's format.[15] Telewizja Polska (TVP), the Polish broadcaster, suggested that an international jury similar to the one used in the 2008 Eurovision Dance Contest be introduced in the Eurovision Song Contest to lessen the impact of neighbourly voting and place more emphasis on the artistic value of the song.[16] A jury would lead to less political and diaspora voting as the jury members, mandated to be music industry experts, would also have a say in addition to "random members of the public".[17]

It was decided that for the contest final, each country's votes would be decided by a combination of 50% televoting results and 50% national jury.[18] The method of selecting the semi-final qualifiers remained the same for the most part, with nine countries, instead of the ten as in years past, qualifying from each semi-final based on the televoting results.[19][20] For the tenth qualifier from each semi-final, the highest placed country on the back-up jury scoreboard that had not already qualified, was chosen for the final.[18] At the final, each country combined their 1–7, 8, 10,12 points from the televote with their 1–7,8,10,12 jury points to create their "national scorecard". The country with the most points received 12 points, the second placed country received 10 points, the third placed country received 8 points and so on to 1 points. If a tie arose, the song with the higher televote position was given the advantage and the higher point value.[18] National juries were originally phased out of the contest beginning in 1997, with televoting having become mandatory for nearly all participants since 2003.

Edgar Böhm, director of entertainment for Austria's public broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), has stated that the 2008 format with two semi-finals "still incorporates a mix of countries who will be politically favoured in the voting process," and "that, unless a clear guideline as to how the semifinals are organised is made by the EBU, Austria will not be taking part in Moscow 2009."[21][22] Despite the inclusion of jury voting in the final, Austria did not return to the contest in 2009.[23]

Juries

"In each of the 42 participating countries, a jury of five music industry professionals (including one jury chairperson) will judge the entries taking part in the Final. Their decision will be based on the second dress rehearsal. The names of the jury members must be revealed by the respective participating broadcasters before or during the Final.

• Each jury member of each national jury will make a ranking of his or her ten favourite songs and award points from 1 to 8, 10 and 12 points. The chairperson will allocate 12 points to the song having obtained the highest number of votes from all jury members, 10 points to the song having obtained the second highest number of votes, 8 points to the song having obtained the third highest number of votes, 7 points to the next, and so on down to 1 point for the song having obtained the tenth highest number of votes from all jury members. In the event of a tie for any of the above positions, the order of the tying songs shall be ascertained by a show of hands by the jury members (abstentions are not allowed).
• The jury should consist of a variety of members in terms of age, gender and background. All jury members must be citizens of the country they are representing.
• None of the jury members must be connected with any of the participating songs/artists in such a way that they cannot vote independently. The participating broadcasters must send a letter of compliance with the voting instructions together with signed declarations by each jury member stating that they will vote independently. The jury voting will be monitored by an independent notary and auditor in each country". – Quotes from Eurovision.tv[24]

Participating countries

Following the release of the final participants list by the EBU, 42 countries confirmed their participation in the 2009 contest, including Slovakia, which returned to the contest after 11 years.[2][25] Georgia originally announced that it was not to participate in the contest due to the Russo-Georgian War in protest of the foreign policies of Russia,[26][27] but later decided to return to the contest, inspired by its win at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008, as well as Russia's 12 points to it in the same contest.[28][29] The country eventually withdrew from the contest due to its entry being deemed to contain political references, including in the title a play on words of Russia's prime minister's surname.[30]

Rumours arose surrounding the participation and return of San Marino and Monaco. Télé Monte Carlo (TMC), the Monegasque broadcaster, confirmed that there were talks with the EBU over a Monegasque return to the 2009 contest.[31] At the same time, rumours spread that San Marino's broadcaster, Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV), would not participate in the contest due to poor placing at the 2008 contest.[32] In the end, after originally confirming their intent to participate in Moscow, SMRTV was forced to withdraw from the event due to financial difficulties that prevented a second entry.[33][34]

The Latvian broadcaster, Latvijas Televīzija (LTV), had reportedly withdrawn from the 2009 contest on 17 December 2008, three days after the final participation deadline. This came about due to budget cuts of over 2 million lati (2.8 million euros) from the LTV budget, hindering their ability to pay the participation fee.[35] LTV confirmed that they had informed the EBU of their intent to withdraw based solely on financial difficulties. LTV then went into discussions with the EBU in an attempt to find a solution that would keep the country in the contest.[36][37] On 20 December 2008, LTV announced that it would be withdrawing from the contest, and that both the EBU and Channel One had agreed not to force a financial penalty on the late withdrawal of the broadcaster from the 2009 contest. LTV also announced its intent to be at the 2010 contest.[38][39] However, on 12 January 2009, it was announced that Latvia would participate in the 2009 contest.[2] Each country chose its entry for the contest through its own selection process. Some countries selected their entry through an internal selection, where the representing network chose both the song and artist, while others held national finals where the public chose the song, the artist, or both.

Thirty-seven countries participated in one of the two semi-finals of the contest.[2] The semi-final allocation draw took place on 30 January 2009,[12][13] while the draw for the running order was held on 16 March 2009.[40][41]

Returning artists

Artist	Country	Previous year(s)
Chiara	Malta	1998 and 2005
Petr Elfimov	Belarus	2004 (as backing singer for Aleksandra and Konstantin)
Sakis Rouvas	Greece	2004
Alexandros Panayi (backing singer for Rouvas)		For  Cyprus: 1989 (as backing singer for Fani Polymeri and Yiannis Savvidakis), 1991 (as backing singer for Elena Patroklou), 1995, 2000 (as member of Voice) For Greece: 2005 (as backing singer for Helena Paparizou)
Martina	Slovenia	2003 (for  Croatia, as backing singer for Claudia Beni), 2007 (as backing singer for Alenka Gotar), 2008 (for  Montenegro, as backing singer for Stefan Filipović)
Friðrik Ómar (backing singer for Yohanna)	Iceland	2008 (as member of Euroband)

Semi-final 1

The first semi final took place in Moscow on 12 May 2009. The United Kingdom and Germany voted in this semi-final.[42] Before its withdrawal, Georgia was originally drawn to perform in this semi-final.

R/O	Country	Artist	Song	Language[43]	Points	Place[44]
1	Montenegro	Andrea Demirović	"Just Get Out of My Life"	English	44	11
2	Czech Republic	Gipsy.cz	"Aven Romale"	English, Romani	0	18
3	Belgium	Copycat	"Copycat"	English	1	17
4	Belarus	Petr Elfimov	"Eyes That Never Lie"	English	25	13
5	Sweden	Malena Ernman	"La voix"	French, English	105	4
6	Armenia	Inga and Anush	"Jan Jan" (Ջան Ջան)	English, Armenian	99	5
7	Andorra	Susanne Georgi	"La teva decisió (Get a Life)"	Catalan, English	8	15
8	Switzerland	Lovebugs	"The Highest Heights"	English	15	14
9	Turkey	Hadise	"Düm Tek Tek"	English[lower-alpha 2]	172	2
10	Israel	Noa and Mira Awad	"There Must Be Another Way"	English, Hebrew, Arabic	75	7
11	Bulgaria	Krassimir Avramov	"Illusion"	English	7	16
12	Iceland	Yohanna	"Is It True?"	English	174	1
13	Macedonia	Next Time	"Nešto što kje ostane" (Нешто што ќе остане)	Macedonian	45	10
14	Romania	Elena	"The Balkan Girls"	English	67	9
15	Finland	Waldo's People	"Lose Control"	English	42	12 ‡
16	Portugal	Flor-de-Lis	"Todas as ruas do amor"	Portuguese	70	8
17	Malta	Chiara	"What If We"	English	86	6
18	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Regina	"Bistra voda"	Bosnian	125	3

Semi-final 2

The second semi final took place in Moscow on 14 May 2009. France and Russia voted in this semi-final.[42] Spain was also scheduled to televote in this semi-final, but due to scheduling errors at TVE, the semi-final was aired late and Spanish viewers were not able to vote, so the Spanish jury's vote was used instead.[45]

R/O	Country	Artist	Song	Language[43]	Points	Place[46]
1	Croatia	Igor Cukrov feat. Andrea	"Lijepa Tena"	Croatian	33	13 ‡
2	Ireland	Sinéad Mulvey and Black Daisy	"Et Cetera"	English	52	11
3	Latvia	Intars Busulis	"Probka" (Пробка)	Russian	7	19
4	Serbia	Marko Kon and Milaan	"Cipela" (Ципела)	Serbian	60	10
5	Poland	Lidia Kopania	"I Don't Wanna Leave"	English	43	12
6	Norway	Alexander Rybak	"Fairytale"	English	201	1
7	Cyprus	Christina Metaxa	"Firefly"	English	32	14
8	Slovakia	Kamil Mikulčík and Nela Pocisková	"Leť tmou"	Slovak	8	18
9	Denmark	Brinck	"Believe Again"	English	69	8
10	Slovenia	Quartissimo feat. Martina	"Love Symphony"	English, Slovene	14	16
11	Hungary	Zoli Ádok	"Dance with Me"	English	16	15
12	Azerbaijan	AySel and Arash	"Always"	English	180	2
13	Greece	Sakis Rouvas	"This Is Our Night"	English	110	4
14	Lithuania	Sasha Son	"Love"	English, Russian	66	9
15	Moldova	Nelly Ciobanu	"Hora din Moldova"	Romanian, English	106	5
16	Albania	Kejsi Tola	"Carry Me in Your Dreams"	English	73	7
17	Ukraine	Svetlana Loboda	"Be My Valentine! (Anti-Crisis Girl)"	English	80	6
18	Estonia	Urban Symphony	"Rändajad"	Estonian	115	3
19	Netherlands	The Toppers	"Shine"	English	11	17

Final

The finalists were:

• the four automatic qualifiers France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom;
• the host country Russia;
• the top nine countries from the first semi-final plus one wildcard from the juries;
• the top nine countries from the second semi-final plus one wildcard from the juries.

The final took place in Moscow on 16 May 2009 at 23:00 MST (19:00 UTC) and was won by Norway.

R/O	Country	Artist	Song	Language[43]	Points	Place[47]
1	Lithuania	Sasha Son	"Love"	English, Russian	23	23
2	Israel	Noa and Mira Awad	"There Must Be Another Way"	English, Hebrew, Arabic	53	16
3	France	Patricia Kaas	"Et s'il fallait le faire"	French	107	8
4	Sweden	Malena Ernman	"La voix"	English, French	33	21
5	Croatia	Igor Cukrov feat. Andrea	"Lijepa Tena"	Croatian	45	18
6	Portugal	Flor-de-Lis	"Todas as ruas do amor"	Portuguese	57	15
7	Iceland	Yohanna	"Is It True?"	English	218	2
8	Greece	Sakis Rouvas	"This Is Our Night"	English	120	7
9	Armenia	Inga and Anush	"Jan Jan" (Ջան Ջան)	English, Armenian	92	10
10	Russia	Anastasia Prikhodko	"Mamo" (Мамо)	Russian, Ukrainian	91	11
11	Azerbaijan	AySel and Arash	"Always"	English	207	3
12	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Regina	"Bistra voda"	Bosnian	106	9
13	Moldova	Nelly Ciobanu	"Hora din Moldova"	Romanian, English	69	14
14	Malta	Chiara	"What If We"	English	31	22
15	Estonia	Urban Symphony	"Rändajad"	Estonian	129	6
16	Denmark	Brinck	"Believe Again"	English	74	13
17	Germany	Alex Swings Oscar Sings!	"Miss Kiss Kiss Bang"	English	35	20
18	Turkey	Hadise	"Düm Tek Tek"	English[lower-alpha 2]	177	4
19	Albania	Kejsi Tola	"Carry Me in Your Dreams"	English	48	17
20	Norway	Alexander Rybak	"Fairytale"	English	387	1
21	Ukraine	Svetlana Loboda	"Be My Valentine! (Anti-Crisis Girl)"	English	76	12
22	Romania	Elena	"The Balkan Girls"	English	40	19
23	United Kingdom	Jade Ewen	"It's My Time"	English	173	5
24	Finland	Waldo's People	"Lose Control"	English	22	25
25	Spain	Soraya Arnelas	"La noche es para mí"	Spanish, English	23	24

Detailed voting results

There were a few glitches out of the 84 total televote counts from the two semi-finals and grand final.[48] In the second semi final, Spain's and Albania's delays in broadcasting the show meant that their results were provided by the back-up juries. In the final, SMS voting was the only method used to provide the Hungarian public voting scores as the televotes could not be counted due to a technical problem, and Norway's jury vote was used because a technical mistake by the local telephone operator rendered the televotes and SMS texts unusable. The full split jury/televoting results of the final were announced by the EBU in July 2009.[49]

Semi-final 1

Detailed voting results of semi-final 1[50][51]

Voting procedure used:   100% televoting		Total score	Montenegro	Czech Republic	Belgium	Belarus	Sweden	Armenia	Andorra	Switzerland	Turkey	Israel	Bulgaria	Iceland	Macedonia	Romania	Finland	Portugal	Malta	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Germany	United Kingdom
Contestants	Montenegro	44				3		5	1	2	5	1			8			1	6	10	2
	Czech Republic	0
	Belgium	1						1
	Belarus	25	2	1			1	4				4	1	1	6		4		1
	Sweden	105		6	4	7		8	7	4	4	7		10	3	4	10	8	8	4	4	7
	Armenia	99	4	12	10	10	5			1	10	10	8	2	2	8	1			1	10	5
	Andorra	8									1							4	3
	Switzerland	15				2	2		2								5	2		2
	Turkey	172	8	5	12	6	7	10	5	12		6	12	7	12	12	7	5	10	12	12	12
	Israel	75	5	4	3	4	6	7	8	5	3		4	6	1	3	6		4		5	1
	Bulgaria	7									2				5
	Iceland	174	7	10	7	12	12	12	10	7	8	12	6		4	10	12	12	12	7	6	8
	Macedonia	45	10	3						6	6		10			2				8
	Romania	67	6		2	1		2	4		7	8	5	4	7			10	2	6	1	2
	Finland ‡	42	3		1		10		3					12		1		3	5			4
	Portugal	70		2	6		3		12	10		2	2	8		7	2			3	7	6
	Malta	86	1	7	8	8	4	3	6	3		5	3	5		6	3	6		5	3	10
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	125	12	8	5	5	8	6		8	12	3	7	3	10	5	8	7	7		8	3

12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded to another in the 1st semi-final:

N.	Contestant	Nation(s) giving 12 points
8	Turkey	Belgium,  Bosnia and Herzegovina,  Bulgaria,  Germany,  Macedonia,  Romania,  Switzerland,  United Kingdom
7	Iceland	Armenia,  Belarus,  Finland,  Israel,  Malta,  Portugal,  Sweden
2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Montenegro,  Turkey
1	Armenia	Czech Republic
	Finland	Iceland
	Portugal	Andorra

Semi-final 2

Detailed voting results of semi-final 2[52][53]

Voting procedure used:   100% televoting   100% jury vote		Total score	Croatia	Ireland	Latvia	Serbia	Poland	Norway	Cyprus	Slovakia	Denmark	Slovenia	Hungary	Azerbaijan	Greece	Lithuania	Moldova	Albania	Ukraine	Estonia	Netherlands	France	Russia	Spain
Contestants	Croatia ‡	33				12			2			10	1				3	1	1				3
	Ireland	52	1		5	3	3	4			10	2				7	2	7		4	3	1
	Latvia	7														6				1
	Serbia	60	12					2	4			12	2		5						6	12		5
	Poland	43		10				3		3	3			1	1	3	1	6	6		2	4
	Norway	201	8	8	10	8	10		8	10	12	8	10	12	8	12	10	8	10	12	12	3	10	12
	Cyprus	32		2	1	2				1	7				12	1				6
	Slovakia	8		1														4	2				1
	Denmark	69	2	7	3		1	12	3			5	3	2	2	5		5		8	7			4
	Slovenia	14	7			5												2
	Hungary	16								2				8				3						3
	Azerbaijan	180	6	6	8	6	12	6	10	12	8	6	12		7	10	12		12	10	8	10	12	7
	Greece	110	3		4	10	2	1	12	5	2	4	6	4		4	6	12	4	5	10	6	4	6
	Lithuania	66		12	7		4	7	1		5			6			4		5	7		2	5	1
	Moldova	106	5	5	2	7	5	10	7	7		3	5	7	6				8	2	4	7	8	8
	Albania	73	10				6	5		4	6	7	4	5	10		5		3		1	5	2
	Ukraine	80		3	6	1	7		6	6			8	10	3	2	8			3			7	10
	Estonia	115	4	4	12	4	8	8	5	8	4	1	7	3	4	8	7		7		5	8	6	2
	Netherlands	11									1							10

12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded to another in the 2nd semi-final:

N.	Contestant	Nation(s) giving 12 points
6	Norway	Azerbaijan,  Denmark,  Estonia,  Lithuania,  Netherlands,  Spain
	Azerbaijan	Hungary,  Moldova,  Poland,  Russia,  Slovakia,  Ukraine
3	Serbia	Croatia,  France,  Slovenia
2	Greece	Albania,  Cyprus
1	Cyprus	Greece
	Denmark	Norway
	Croatia	Serbia
	Lithuania	Ireland
	Estonia	Latvia

Final

Split results of the final[49]

Place	Combined		Jury		Televoting
	Country	Points	Country	Points	Country	Points
1	Norway	387	Norway	312	Norway	378
2	Iceland	218	Iceland	260	Azerbaijan	253
3	Azerbaijan	207	United Kingdom	223	Turkey	203
4	Turkey	177	France	164	Iceland	173
5	United Kingdom	173	Estonia	124	Greece	151
6	Estonia	129	Denmark	120	Estonia	129
7	Greece	120	Turkey	114	Bosnia and Herzegovina	124
8	France	107	Azerbaijan	112	Russia	118
9	Bosnia and Herzegovina	106	Israel	107	Armenia	111
10	Armenia	92	Moldova	93	United Kingdom	105
11	Russia	91	Greece	93	Albania	81
12	Ukraine	76	Bosnia and Herzegovina	90	Ukraine	70
13	Denmark	74	Malta	87	Moldova	66
14	Moldova	69	Germany	73	Romania	64
15	Portugal	57	Armenia	71	Sweden	59
16	Israel	53	Ukraine	68	Croatia	55
17	Albania	48	Russia	67	France	54
18	Croatia	45	Portugal	64	Portugal	45
19	Romania	40	Croatia	58	Denmark	40
20	Germany	35	Lithuania	31	Lithuania	38
21	Sweden	33	Romania	31	Spain	38
22	Malta	31	Sweden	27	Finland	30
23	Lithuania	23[lower-alpha 3]	Albania	26	Germany	18
24	Spain	23[lower-alpha 3]	Finland	12	Malta	18
25	Finland	22	Spain	9	Israel	15

Detailed voting results of the final[54][55]

Voting procedure used:   50% jury and televote   100% jury vote		Total score	Spain	Belgium	Belarus	Malta	Germany	Czech Republic	Sweden	Iceland	France	Israel	Russia	Latvia	Montenegro	Andorra	Finland	Switzerland	Bulgaria	Lithuania	United Kingdom	Macedonia	Slovakia	Greece	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Ukraine	Turkey	Albania	Serbia	Cyprus	Poland	Netherlands	Estonia	Croatia	Portugal	Romania	Ireland	Denmark	Moldova	Slovenia	Armenia	Hungary	Azerbaijan	Norway
Contestants	Lithuania	23												7					1		4												2				7	1					1
	Israel	53		8				4			10				4	7		1					5		8	1							5
	France	107	3	1	7		3			6		5	10	5	1	3	4	7		6	1			6	6	3		2	3			6					3	2		7	6			1
	Sweden	33				4				3	2					2	7											1					6					4						4
	Croatia	45								1					8							4		2	12				5										2	6			5
	Portugal	57	8	6				7		7	7					6		10					2		1								3
	Iceland	218			2	12	7	2	10			10	3	8	5	8	10	5	5	8	8	2	6	4			2	6		5	1	7	8	2	8	10	12	10	3	5	5	7		12
	Greece	120	1	5	5	7	6		2				4		2			2	12		5				5			12	6	12		1		7		8				4	10	4
	Armenia	92	4	7	1			12	3	5	6	8	5				1		6			1	3			2	6			4	2	5			4	7
	Russia	91			8		5	8				7		6						7						8	4			1	3		10						6		12		6
	Azerbaijan	207		3	10	1		10	8		1	6	7	4	6		2		8	5	3	3	4	8	3	10	12	4	4	8	6	10	7	10		4		8	10	1	1	10		10
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	106					2		5	2					12		6	4	4			10	8				8	5	12			4		12						10			2
	Moldova	69	5	4								1	1													7	7				5			3	12	12					2		7	3
	Malta	31					4							1		1	3			1	6								7							3	5
	Estonia	129			4		1		7	10			8	10			12			10			12	5		4				3	8			6		1	6	5	7			6	4
	Denmark	74				6				4	5			3		5				2						5			1	6	7					2	4		5	8		3		8
	Germany	35		2							3										7				2		1	3				2			1		1	7						6
	Turkey	177	2	12		5	10	1	6		12	3			3		5	12	10		12	12		3	7			10				8		1	3	6		6			4	5	12	7
	Albania	48							1						7			6				7		7			10						1	5						2		2
	Norway	387	12	10	12	8	12	3	12	12	8	12	12	12	10	10	8	8	2	12	10	8	10	10	10	12	3	7	10	10	12	12	12	8	5	5	8	12	8	12	8	12	8
	Ukraine	76	6		6	2		5				2	2							4	2		1								10				6				4		3	8	10	5
	Romania	40	7																			5					5		2	2					2		2		12				3
	United Kingdom	173	10		3	10	8	6			4	4	6	2		4			7	3		6	7	12	4	6		8	8	7	4	3		4	10		10	3	1	3	7	1		2
	Finland	22				3			4	8									3														4
	Spain	23														12		3						1											7

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:

N.	Contestant	Nation(s) giving 12 points
16	Norway	Belarus,  Denmark,  Estonia,  Germany,  Hungary,  Iceland,  Israel,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Netherlands,  Poland,  Russia,  Slovenia,  Spain,  Sweden,  Ukraine
6	Turkey	Azerbaijan,  Belgium,  France,  Macedonia,  Switzerland,  United Kingdom
3	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Croatia,  Montenegro,  Serbia
	Greece	Albania,  Bulgaria,  Cyprus
	Iceland	Ireland,  Malta,  Norway
2	Estonia	Finland,  Slovakia
	Moldova	Portugal,  Romania
1	Armenia	Czech Republic
	Azerbaijan	Turkey
	Croatia	Bosnia and Herzegovina
	Romania	Moldova
	Russia	Armenia
	Spain	Andorra
	United Kingdom	Greece

Spokespersons

This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2021)

The voting order and spokespersons during the final were as follows:[56]

Broadcasts

This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2021)

Most countries sent commentators to Moscow or commentated from their own country, in order to add insight to the participants and, if necessary, provide voting information.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries

Country	Show(s)	Broadcaster(s)	Commentator(s)	Ref(s)
Albania	All shows	TVSH	Leon Menkshi
Andorra	All shows	ATV	Meri Picart [ca]
Armenia	All shows	Armenia 1	Khoren Levonyan
Azerbaijan	All shows	İTV	Leyla Aliyeva	[58]
	SF1		Aysel Teymurzadeh (guest)
	Final		Isa Melikov
Belarus	All shows	Belarus-1	Denis Kurian and Alexander Tikhanovich
Belgium	All shows	La Une	French: Jean-Pierre Hautier and Jean-Louis Lahaye [fr]
		één	Dutch: Anja Daems and André Vermeulen
		La Première	French: Patrick Duhamel [fr] and Corinne Boulangier [fr]
		Radio 2	Dutch: Michel Follet and André Vermeulen
Bosnia and Herzegovina	All shows	BHT 1	Dejan Kukrić
Bulgaria	–	BNT	Elena Rosberg and Georgi Kushvaliev
Croatia	All shows	HRT	Duško Ćurlić
Cyprus	All shows	RIK 1	Melina Karageorgiou	[59]
		CyBC Radio 2	Nathan Morley
Czech Republic	SF1 and final	ČT1	Jan Rejžek [cs]
Denmark	All shows	DR1	Nikolaj Molbech	[60]
Estonia	All shows	ETV	Marko Reikop
	Final		Olav Osolin
Finland	All shows	YLE TV2	Finnish: Jaana Pelkonen, Mikko Peltola [fi] and Asko Murtomäki [fi]	[61]
			Swedish: Thomas Larsson
		YLE Radio Suomi	Finnish: Sanna Kojo and Jorma Hietamäki
France	SF2	France 4	Peggy Olmi [fr] and Yann Renoard	[62]
	Final	France 3	Julien Courbet and Cyril Hanouna
		France Bleu	François Kevorkian
Germany	All shows	Das Erste	Tim Frühling	[63]
	Final	NDR 2	Ina Müller and Thomas Mohr
Greece	All shows	NET	Betty and Mathildi Maggira	[64]
		Deftero Programma	Maria Kozakou	[65]
Hungary	All shows	m1	Gábor Gundel Takács [hu]
Iceland	All shows	Sjónvarpið	Sigmar Guðmundsson	[66]
Ireland	Semi-finals	RTÉ Two	Marty Whelan	[67][68]
	Final	RTÉ One
	SF2/Final	RTÉ Radio 1	Maxi	[69][70]
Israel	–	IBA	No commentary
Latvia	All shows	LTV	Kārlis Streips [lv]
Lithuania	All shows	LRT	Darius Užkuraitis
Macedonia	–	MRT	Karolina Petkovska and Aleksandra Jovanovska
Malta	All shows	TVM	Valerie Vella	[71]
Moldova	–	TVM	Rosalina Rusu and Andrei Sava
Montenegro	–	TVCG2	Dražen Bauković and Tamara Ivanković
Netherlands	All shows	Nederland 1	Cornald Maas	[72]
Norway	All shows	NRK1	Synnøve Svabø	[73]
Poland	SF2/Final	TVP1	Artur Orzech	[74]
Portugal	All shows	RTP1	Hélder Reis [pt]	[75]
Romania	All shows	TVR1	Ioana Isopescu and Alexandru Nagy
Russia	All shows	Channel One	Yana Churikova
	Semi-finals		Alexey Manuylov
	Final		Philipp Kirkorov
Serbia	SF1	RTS1	Dragan Ilić
	SF2/Final		Duška Vučinić-Lučić
Slovakia	All shows	Dvojka	Roman Bomboš	[76]
Slovenia	All shows	RTVSLO	Andrej Hofer [sl]
Spain	All shows	La 1, La 2	Joaquín Guzmán [es]	[77]
Sweden	All shows	SVT1	Shirley Clamp and Edward af Sillén	[58][78]
	SF1		Arash (guest)
	All shows	SR P3	Carolina Norén and Björn Kjellman
Switzerland	All shows	SF zwei	German: Sven Epiney
		TSR 2	French: Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner
		RSI La 2	Italian: Sandy Altermatt [it]
Turkey	All shows	TRT 1, TRT Türk, TRT Avaz	Bülend Özveren
Ukraine	All shows	First National	Timur Miroshnychenko
United Kingdom	Semi-finals	BBC Three	Paddy O'Connell and Sarah Cawood	[79][80]
	Final	BBC One	Graham Norton
		BBC Radio 2	Ken Bruce

Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries

Country	Show(s)	Broadcaster(s)	Commentator(s)	Ref(s)
Australia	All shows	SBS	Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang	[81]
Austria	All shows	ORF 2	Benny Hörtnagl [de]
New Zealand	Final	Triangle Stratos	Unknown	[81]

International broadcasts

•  Australia – Although Australia was not eligible to enter, the contest was broadcast on Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) as in previous years.[82] The first semi-final was broadcast on Friday 15 May 2009, the second semi-final on Saturday 16 May 2009, and the final on Sunday 17 May 2009, with all shows broadcast at 19:30 local time (09:30 UTC). This year, instead of airing the United Kingdom's commentary, the broadcaster sent its own commentators, Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang. They also anchored a number of behind the scenes and interview pieces, which were inserted during assigned the various broadcasts.[83] In recent years the contest has been one of SBS's highest-rating programmes in terms of viewer numbers. The contest rated well for SBS with 482,000 viewers tuning in for the final,[84] with 414,000 for the second semi-final and 276,000 for the first semi-final.[85]

SBS also broadcast the Junior Eurovision and Eurovision Dance Contests for 2008 in the lead-up to the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. The Eurovision Dance Contest 2008 was broadcast on SBS on Wednesday 6 May 2009 at 13:00 local time (03:00 UTC), while the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was broadcast on Wednesday 13 May at 13:00 local time (03:00 UTC). SBS also broadcast the EBU produced Eurovision Countdown shows on 13, 14 and 15 May 2009 at 17:30 local time (07:30 UTC) before the semi-finals and final.[86]

•  Austria – Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) confirmed that, despite having no Austrian entry in the competition, they would broadcast the contest on television. Both semi-finals were broadcast on ORF on a time delay, beginning past midnight CET. A song presentation show was broadcast on the night of the final, before broadcasting live the voting in the final. The entire Eurovision final was broadcast later that night. In all three shows the commentator was Hitradio Ö3 radio presenter Benny Hörtnagl.[87][88]
•  New Zealand – Although New Zealand was not eligible to enter, the final of the contest was broadcast on Triangle TV's satellite channel STRATOS on 17 May 2009. They also did a compilation of the two 2008 semi-finals on 3 May 2009 and the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 final on 10 May 2009. This was the first time in 30 years that the contest has been broadcast in New Zealand. The 2009 final was broadcast in local prime time, about 10 hours after the show has finished in Moscow.[89]

A commentated live broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest was available worldwide via satellite by broadcaster streams such as:

Additionally, the official Eurovision Song Contest website also provided a live stream without commentary via the peer-to-peer medium Octoshape.[94]

Incidents

The 2009 contest experienced several controversies and incidents during its lead-up, including the interpretation of over Georgia's entry as an attack against the Russian prime minister,[95] conflicts between Armenia and Azerbaijan stemming from the inclusion of a monument in a disputed region to represent Armenia in a video introduction,[96] Spain's broadcaster showing a semi-final on tape delay after a scheduling conflict,[97] and protests over Russia's treatment of LGBT people to coincide with the contest.[98]

Armenia and Azerbaijan

Armenia and Azerbaijan experienced several conflicts during the 2009 contest.

After the first semi-final, representatives for Azerbaijan complained to the EBU over the introductory "postcard" preceding the Armenian entry, since the video clip had included a depiction of We Are Our Mountains, a monumental statue located in the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic, which is considered to be a de jure part of Azerbaijan.[96] As a result of the complaint, the statue was edited out during the finals.[99] However, Armenia retaliated during the results presentations by having the monument displayed on a video screen in the background, and having presenter Sirusho read the results from a clipboard decorated with a photo of the monument.[99]

There were also allegations that no number had been shown for the public to call and vote for Armenia's entry during the telecast in Azerbaijan. Representatives denied these allegations by showing a video that showed an untampered signal during the Armenian performance.[100] However, a subsequent EBU investigation found that the Azerbaijani broadcaster, Ictimai TV, had blurred out the number for Armenia's entry and distorted the TV signal when the Armenian contestants were performing on stage. The EBU fined Ictimai TV an undisclosed sum and is said to have threatened to exclude the broadcaster from the competition for up to three years if further infractions of the Eurovision Song Contest rules are made.[101]

In August 2009, a number of Azerbaijanis who had voted for Armenia's entry during the 2009 contest were summoned for questioning at the Ministry of National Security in Baku, during which they were accused of being "unpatriotic" and "a potential security threat". This incident initiated an EBU investigation that resulted in a change to the Eurovision rules to allow a country's participating broadcaster to be liable "for any disclosure of information which could be used to identify voters".[102] Despite the conflict, Armenia gave Azerbaijan 1 point in the final, the only time the two countries have exchanged points in a final as of 2022.^[update]

Broadcast delays in Spain

Due to its commitments to broadcast the Madrid Open tennis tournament, Spanish broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE) broadcast the second semifinal on a tape delay on its channel La 2, approximately 66 minutes after the show began in Moscow.[103] As a result of the tape delay, the broadcaster also utilized a backup jury rather than televoting to decide its votes.[97][104] TVE had already switched to voting in the second semi-final due to another scheduling conflict, which had already sparked criticism from the neighboring Andorran and Portuguese delegations, who stated that a Spanish vote would have positively influenced their performance in the first semifinal.[104]

On the day following the semi-final, local newspaper El Mundo speculated that RTVE may have administered the delay on purpose in order to prevent Spain from winning the contest, claiming that the broadcaster would not be ready to host the contest if Spain were to win.[105] A statement in ABC had cited technical difficulties for the delay.[103]

After the semi-finals, the EBU announced that Spain would face sanctions for their actions in the contest, but also stated that their participation in the 2009 contest in Moscow would not be affected.[97] The Spanish entry, "La noche es para mí", did not fare well in the contest itself, placing 24th during the finals.[106]

Georgian entry disqualification and withdrawal

After being placed to compete in the first semi-final on 12 May, a national final was held in Georgia to select its entry. The selected entry, Stephane & 3G with "We Don't Wanna Put In", gained coverage and controversy due to perceived political connotations within its lyrics relating to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.[107] The EBU rejected the song due to these political connotations, calling it a clear breach of the contest's rules. The EBU then asked the Georgian broadcaster Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) on 10 March to change either the lyrics of the song, or to select a new song to compete for the country.[108][109] GPB refused to change the lyrics or the song, claiming that the song contained no political references, and that the rejection by the EBU was due to political pressure from Russia. As such, GPB withdrew Georgia from the contest on 11 March.[30][110] The band admitted the political content of the song and their intention was just to embarrass Putin in Moscow.[95]

LGBT protests

Russian gay rights activist Nikolai Alekseev used the contest's presence in Russia as a platform for promoting the country's position on the rights of LGBT people, countering Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov's view that homosexuality is satanic.[111] Alekseev announced that the 2009 edition of Moscow Pride, the city's annual gay pride parade, would coincide with the finals on 16 May, the day before the International Day Against Homophobia. The parade was also renamed "Slavic Pride", to promote gay rights and culture across the entire Slavic region of Europe.[112] The parade was denied authorisation by Moscow officials on the basis that it would "destroy morals in society"[98] and statements were issued stating that protesters would be treated "toughly",[113] and that "tough measures" would be faced by anyone joining the march.[114]

The rally was broken up by Moscow police, and 20 protesters were arrested including Nikolai Alekseev[98] and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who exclaimed that "this shows the Russian people are not free" as he was taken away by police.[115] Sweden's representative Malena Ernman supported the cause saying that she is not homosexual herself but would be proud to call herself gay to support her fans, stating that she was sad that the Moscow government would not allow a "tribute to love" to occur.[116] The winner of the contest, Norway's Alexander Rybak, also referred to the controversy in an interview when he called the Eurovision Song Contest itself the "biggest gay parade".[117]

The Dutch group De Toppers made news by member Gordon threatening to boycott the final if the gay parade was violently beaten down. However, the group's failure to qualify for the final left this threat redundant.

Other awards

In addition to the main winner's trophy, the Marcel Bezençon Awards and the Barbara Dex Award were contested during the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. The OGAE, "General Organisation of Eurovision Fans" voting poll also took place before the contest.

Marcel Bezençon Awards

The Marcel Bezençon Awards, organised since 2002 by Sweden's then-Head of Delegation and 1992 representative Christer Björkman, and 1984 winner Richard Herrey, honours songs in the contest's final.[118] The awards are divided into three categories: the Artistic Award, the Composers Award, and the Press Award.[119]

Category	Country	Song	Performer(s)	Songwriter(s)
Artistic Award	France	"Et s'il fallait le faire"	Patricia Kaas	Anse Lazio Fred Blondin
Composers Award	Bosnia and Herzegovina	"Bistra voda"	Regina	Aleksandar Čović
Press Award	Norway	"Fairytale"	Alexander Rybak	Alexander Rybak

OGAE

OGAE, an organisation of over forty Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs across Europe and beyond, conducts an annual voting poll first held in 2002 as the Marcel Bezençon Fan Award. After all votes were cast, the top-ranked entry in the 2009 poll was also the winner of the contest, Norway's "Fairytale" performed by Alexander Rybak; the top five results are shown below.[120][121][122]

Country	Song	Performer(s)	OGAE result
Norway	"Fairytale"	Alexander Rybak	323
France	"Et s'il fallait le faire"	Patricia Kaas	184
Sweden	"La voix"	Malena Ernman	172
Bosnia and Herzegovina	"Bistra voda"	Regina	152
Spain	"La noche es para mí"	Soraya Arnelas	132

Barbara Dex Award

The Barbara Dex Award is a humorous fan award given to the worst dressed artist each year. Named after Belgium's representative who came last in the 1993 contest, wearing her self-designed dress, the award was handed by the fansite House of Eurovision from 1997 to 2016 and is being carried out by the fansite songfestival.be since 2017.

Country	Performer(s)
Hungary	Zoli Ádok

Official album

Eurovision Song Contest: Moscow 2009 was the official compilation album of the 2009 contest, put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by EMI Records and CMC International on 11 May 2009. The album featured all 42 songs that entered in the 2009 contest, including the semi-finalists that failed to qualify into the grand final.[123]

Charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
German Compilation Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[124]	3

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

Media related to Eurovision Song Contest 2009 at Wikimedia Commons

• Eurovision Song Contest official site
• Lyrics from Diggiloo Thrush

На других языках

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- [en] Eurovision Song Contest 2009

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[ru] Евровидение-2009

Конкурс песни «Евровидение 2009» (англ. Eurovision Song Contest 2009; фр. Concours Eurovision de la chanson 2009) — 54-й конкурс Евровидения, прошедший впервые в истории в России. Он проводился с 12 по 16 мая 2009 года в СК «Олимпийский» в Москве. В конкурсе приняли участие 42 страны: после 11-летнего перерыва вернулась Словакия, тогда как Сан-Марино отказалось от участия из-за финансовых проблем, а Грузия отказалась от участия в конкурсе из-за скандального текста песни. Латвия подтвердила своё участие в самый последний момент, несмотря на финансовые сложности.

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