4 months ago

Dates: Semi-final 1 10 May 2011 - Semi-final 2 12 May 2011 - Final 14 May 2011
Host Venue: Esprit Arena, Düsseldorf, Germany
Presenters: Anke Engelke, Judith Rakers, Stefan Raab
Directed by Ladislaus Kiraly - Executive supervisor: Jon Ola Sand
Executive producer : Ralf Quibeldey, Thomas Schreiber
Host broadcaster: Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ARD), Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR)
Opening act: Grand final: Stefan Raab performing "Satellite" with Lena Meyer-Landrut
Interval acts:
Semi-final 1: Cold Steel Drummers
Semi-final 2: Flying Steps performing "Flying Bach"
Grand final: Jan Delay performing "Oh Jonny" and "Klar"

The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the 2010 contest with the song "Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcasters Arbeitsgemeinschaft Rundfunkanstalten Deutschland (ARD) and Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), the contest was held at the Düsseldorf Arena and consisted of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May, and a final on 14 May 2011. The three live shows were presented by German comedian Anke Engelke, television presenter Judith Rakers as well as former German contestant and songwriter Stefan Raab.

During the first semi-final, many broadcasters lost contact with their commentators due to a technical glitch. Dropouts in the multi-channel sound connections were the cause of this fault, which was corrected, with a second backup system put into place, and tested extensively before the second semi-final. That's the reason why you get to hear Steven and Peter, the German commentators in the first semifinal, partly via smartphone only. Malta (no. 11) has no commentary at all, no. 12 (San Marino) to no. 17 (Lithuania) are commented via smartphone, and from no. 18 on (Azerbaijan) everything sounds fine again. The songs themselves were not affected by the sound glitch.

Forty-three countries participated in the contest, equalling the record of the 2008 edition. Four countries returned to the contest this year; Austria returned after their last participation in 2007, Hungary returned after their last participation in 2009, San Marino returned after their very first participation in 2008. Italy also returned to the contest after their last participation fourteen years earlier, in 1997.

The winner was Azerbaijan with the song "Running Scared", performed by Ell and Nikki and written by Stefan Örn, Sandra Bjurman and Iain James Farquharson. This was Azerbaijan's first victory in the contest, after only 4 years of participation.

The first semi-final took place in Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf on 10 May 2011. The ten countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to a combination of televotes and jury votes from each voting country, qualified for the grand final. Spain and the United Kingdom voted in this semi-final.

R/O Country Artist Song Language Points Place
1 Poland Magdalena Tul "Jestem" Polish 18 19
2 Norway Stella Mwangi "Haba Haba" English, Swahili 30 17
3 Albania Aurela Gaçe "Feel the Passion" English[a] 47 14
4 Armenia Emmy "Boom Boom" English 54 12
5 Turkey Yüksek Sadakat "Live It Up" English 47 13
6 Serbia Nina "Čaroban" (Чаробан) Serbian 67 8
7 Russia Alexey Vorobyov "Get You" English, Russian 64 9
8 Switzerland Anna Rossinelli "In Love for a While" English 55 10
9 Georgia Eldrine "One More Day" English 74 6
10 Finland Paradise Oskar "Da Da Dam" English 103 3
11 Malta Glen Vella "One Life" English 54 11
12 San Marino Senit "Stand By" English 34 16
13 Croatia Daria "Celebrate" English 41 15
14 Iceland Sjonni's Friends "Coming Home" English 100 4
15 Hungary Kati Wolf "What About My Dreams?" English, Hungarian 72 7
16 Portugal Homens da Luta "A luta é alegria" Portuguese 22 18
17 Lithuania Evelina Sašenko "C'est ma vie" English 81 5
18 Azerbaijan Ell and Nikki "Running Scared" English 122 2
19 Greece Loukas Yorkas feat. Stereo Mike "Watch My Dance" English, Greek 133 1