4 months ago

Date: Saturday, 16 May 2009 - Venue: Olympic Indoor Arena, Moscow, Russia
Presentation: Natalia Vodianova & Andrey Malakhov
Voting: Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 points to its top 10 (combining top 10 of televote and jury). Number of countries: 25 (total: 42)
Qualification: Host + big 4 + 9 best of each semi-final + jury wildcard from each semi-final.

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. It was the first time Russia had hosted the contest - 14 years after the country made its debut. 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 the final on 16 May 2009. The semi-finals were presented by Natalia Vodianova and Andrey Malahov, while the final was presented by Ivan Urgant and Alsou Abramova.

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. 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. This was Norway's third victory in the contest, following their wins in 1985 and 1995. The song received a record-breaking 387 points out of 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 while the format of the semi-finals remained the same.

Semi-final 2
The second semi final took place in Moscow on 14 May 2009. France and Russia voted in this semi-final. 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.

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