Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Dates
Semi-final 112 May 2009 (2009-05-12)
Semi-final 214 May 2009 (2009-05-14)
Final16 May 2009 (2009-05-16)
Host
VenueOlimpiysky Arena
Moscow, Russia
Presenter(s)
Directed byAndrei Boltenko
Executive supervisorSvante Stockselius
Executive producerYury Aksyuta
Host broadcasterChannel One (C1R)
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/moscow-2009 Edit this at Wikidata
Participants
Number of entries42
Number of finalists25
Debuting countriesNone
Returning countries Slovakia
Non-returning countries
  • A coloured map of the countries of EuropeBelgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Italy in the Eurovision Song ContestNetherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Monaco in the Eurovision Song ContestLuxembourg in the Eurovision Song ContestSpain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Austria in the Eurovision Song ContestFrance in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Morocco in the Eurovision Song ContestCyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Slovakia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Andorra in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Czech Republic in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest
         Finalist countries     Countries eliminated in the semi-finals     Countries that participated in the past but not in 2009
Vote
Voting systemEach country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs.
Winning song
2008 ← Eurovision Song Contest → 2010

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.

  1. ^ "Exclusive: The hosts of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest!". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  2. ^ Murray, Gavin (12 January 2009). "Eurovision 2009: 43 countries for Moscow". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 20 January 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2009.