| Eurovision Song Contest 2009 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dates | |
| Semi-final 1 | 12 May 2009 |
| Semi-final 2 | 14 May 2009 |
| Final | 16 May 2009 |
| Host | |
| Venue | Olimpiysky Arena Moscow, Russia |
| Presenter(s) |
|
| Directed by | Andrei Boltenko |
| Executive supervisor | Svante Stockselius |
| Executive producer | Yury Aksyuta |
| Host broadcaster | Channel One (C1R) |
| Website | eurovision |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 42 |
| Number of finalists | 25 |
| Debuting countries | None |
| Returning countries |  Slovakia |
| Non-returning countries | |
| |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs. |
| Winning song | |
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 Malakhov, 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.
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 participate.[2] However, Georgia later decided to withdraw anyway after the EBU rejected its selected song as being a breach of the contest's rules. For the first time since 2003, there were no debuting countries.
The winner was Norway with the song "Fairytale", performed and written by Alexander Rybak. The song won both the jury vote and televote and received 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 its 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.
- ^ "Exclusive: The hosts of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest!". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
- ^ Murray, Gavin (12 January 2009). "Eurovision 2009: 43 countries for Moscow". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 20 January 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2009.