3 months ago

Date: Saturday, 29 May 2010 - 55th edition - Final - Venue: Telenor Arena, Oslo, Norway - Presentation: Haddy N'jie, Erik Solbakken & Nadia Hasnaoui
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: 39)
Qualification: Host + big 4 + 10 best of each semi-final

The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway, following the country's victory at the 2009 contest with the song "Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. It was the third time Norway had hosted the contest, having previously done so in 1986 and 1996. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting
(NRK), the contest was held at the Telenor Arena, and consisted of two semi-finals on 25 and 27 May, and the final on 29 May 2010. The three live shows were presented by Erik Solbakken, Haddy N'jie and Nadia Hasnaoui.

Thirty-nine countries took part in the contest, with Georgia returning after its one-year absence. Meanwhile, Andorra, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Montenegro all decided against participation, mainly for financial reasons related to the global financial crisis. Lithuania originally announced its non-participation, but was later among the participants confirmed by the EBU.

The winner was Germany with the song "Satellite", performed by Lena and written by Julie Frost and John Gordon. This was Germany's second victory in the contest, following their win in 1982, and their first win as a unified country. It was also the first win for one of the "Big Four" countries, since the rule's introduction in 2000. Turkey, Romania, Denmark and Azerbaijan rounded out the top five. Romania, finishing third, equalled their best result from 2005, while Georgia achieved their best result to date, finishing ninth. It was also the first and to date only time since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004 that Sweden failed to qualify for the final. The last time Sweden was absent from the Eurovision final was in 1976.

The global financial crisis at the time, affected how the event was run; the host broadcaster NRK was forced to sell its broadcast rights for the 2010 FIFA World Cup to TV 2 and Viasat in order to finance the event.

The EBU announced prior to the contest, that the voting system used in the semi-finals would change from previous years to balance jury voting with televoting. A return of accompaniment by orchestra was also proposed, but did not happen.

The final took place on 29 May 2010 at 21:00 CEST in Telenor Arena, Bærum, Akershus, Greater Oslo, Norway. The "Big Four" and the host country, Norway, qualified directly for the final. From the two semi-finals on 25 and 27 May 2010, twenty countries qualified for the final. A total of twenty-five countries competed in the final. The voting system used was similar to that used in the 2009 contest (with a
combination of televotes and jury votes), but viewers were able to vote during the performances; the voting window ended 15 minutes after the conclusion of the songs.

Draw Country Artist Song Language Place Points

01 Azerbaijan Safura "Drip Drop" English 5 145
02 Spain Daniel Diges "Algo pequeñito" Spanish 15 68
03 Norway Didrik Solli-Tangen "My Heart Is Yours" English 20 35
04 Moldova SunStroke Project and Olia Tira "Run Away" English 22 27
05 Cyprus Jon Lilygreen and The Islanders "Life Looks Better in Spring"
English 21 27
06 Bosnia and Herzegovina Vukašin Brajić "Thunder and Lightning"
English 17 51
07 Belgium Tom Dice "Me and My Guitar" English 6 143
08 Serbia Milan Stanković "Ovo je Balkan" (Oво je Балкан) Serbian 13 72
09 Belarus 3+2 feat Robert Wells "Butterflies" English 24 18
10 Ireland Niamh Kavanagh "It's for You" English 23 25
11 Greece Giorgos Alkaios and Friends "OPA!" (ΩΠΑ) Greek[a] 8 140
12 United Kingdom Josh Dubovie "That Sounds Good to Me" English 25 10
13 Georgia Sofia Nizharadze "Shine" English 9 136
14 Turkey maNga "We Could Be the Same" English 2 170
15 Albania Juliana Pasha "It's All About You" English 16 62
16 Iceland Hera Björk "Je ne sais quoi" English 19 41
17 Ukraine Alyosha "Sweet People" English 10 108
18 France Jessy Matador "Allez Ola Olé" French 12 82
19 Romania Paula Seling and Ovi "Playing with Fire" English 3 162
20 Russia Peter Nalitch and Friends "Lost and Forgotten" English 11 90
21 Armenia Eva Rivas "Apricot Stone" English 7 141
22 Germany Lena "Satellite" English 1 246
23 Portugal Filipa Azevedo "Há dias assim" Portuguese 18 43
24 Israel Harel Skaat "Milim" (מילים) Hebrew 14 71
25 Denmark Chanée and N'evergreen "In a Moment Like This" English 4 149