🔵 2009 Eurovision Song Contest Full Show 1. SEMIFINAL in Moscow (German Commentary by Tim Frühling)

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 1
The first semi final took place in Moscow on 12 May 2009. The United Kingdom and Germany voted in this semi-final. Before its withdrawal, Georgia was originally drawn to perform in this semi-final.

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