| Dates | |
| Final | Thursday 19 May 2005 |
| Host | |
| Venue |  Palace of Sports, Kiev, Ukraine |
| Presenter(s) | Maria Efrosinina & Pavlo Shylko |
| Directed by | Sven Stojanovic |
| Executive supervisor | Svante Stockselius |
| Executive producer | Pavlo Grytsak |
| Host broadcaster | National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU) |
| Opening Act | The Song and Dance Company of Ukraine Military Forces, A-6 Ballet and Diezel DJ Power (Freak show) |
| Interval act | Irina Mazur’s Ballet „Life“ |
| Qualifiers | Moldova Latvia Israel Norway Romania Hungary F.Y.R. Macedonia Switzerland Croatia Denmark |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 24 in Final , 39 in Total |
| Debuting countries |  Bulgaria Moldova |
| Returning countries |  Hungary |
| Non-returning countries | None |
The 2005 Eurovision Song Conest Semi-Final took part in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv. It was the first big event after the country’s so-called Orange Revolution, which took place only months before the Eurovision Song Contest circus turned the capital city into the most cheerful place in Europe.
Heading for Kyiv
After the success of the 2004 Semi-Final and Final in Istanbul, with over seven millions telephone and SMS votes cast, it was decided that this new system for the Eurovision Song Contest would stay the same. The so called ‚Big Four‘ (Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Spain) would compete automatically in the Final just as the ten best placed countries from the 2004 contest. Kyiv would see the arrival of two new countries: Bulgaria and Moldova. Another old friend – Hungary – would return to the contest for the first time since 1998. Lebanon was on the initial list of interested countries, but pulled out when it appeared they could not meet the requirements neccessary to take part.
The 2005 Semi-Final featured 25 songs altogether, of which only ten would proceed to the Final. Press and the fans were divided about who would qualify, and lots of people were surprised about the outcome as favorites like the Dutch entry My Impossible Dream by Glennis Grace and runner-up of the 1999 Song Contest Selma from Iceland didn’t make it to the Final.
The singer for Belarus, Angelica Agurbash, embarked on a huge promotion campaign in Kyiv throwing a glamorous party for all the delegations, media and fans, but she also failed to qualify for the Final. The Swiss entry Cool Vibes by popular Estonian girlgroup Vanilla Ninja did make it to the Final though. Composer David Brandes thus had two songs in the Final, as he was also responsible for the German entry Run And Hide, performed by Gracia.
The Participants
| # | Representing country | Performer(s) | Song title, writer(s) and composer(s) | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Austria ORF | Global.Kryner participant profile | Y Así | 030 | 21 |
| 02 | Lithuania LRT | Laura and the Lovers participant profile | Little By Little | 017 | 25 |
| 03 | Portugal RTP | 2B participant profile | Amar | 051 | 17 |
| 04 | Moldova TRM | Zdob si Zdub participant profile | Boonika Bate Toba | 207 | 02 |
| 05 | Latvia LTV | Walter & Kazha participant profile | The War Is Not Over | 085 | 10 |
| 06 | Monaco TMC | Lise Darly participant profile | Tout De Moi | 022 | 24 |
| 07 | Israel IBA | Shiri Maymon participant profile | Hasheket Shenish’ar | 158 | 07 |
| 08 | Belarus BTRC | Angelica Agurbash participant profile | Love Me Tonight | 067 | 13 |
| 09 | The Netherlands NOS | Glennis Grace participant profile | My Impossible Dream | 053 | 14 |
| 10 | Iceland RÚV | Selma participant profile | If I Had Your Love | 052 | 16 |
| 11 | Belgium RTBF | Nuno Resende participant profile | Le Grand Soir | 029 | 22 |
| 12 | Estonia ERR | Suntribe participant profile | Let’s Get Loud | 031 | 20 |
| 13 | Norway NRK | Wig Wam participant profile | In My Dreams | 164 | 06 |
| 14 | Romania TVR | Luminita Anghel & Sistem participant profile | Let Me Try | 235 | 01 |
| 15 | Hungary MTV | NOX participant profile | Forogj Világ | 167 | 05 |
| 16 | Finland YLE | Geir Rönning | Why | 050 | 18 |
| 17 | F.Y.R. Macedonia MKRTV | Martin Vucic participant profile | Make My Day | 097 | 09 |
| 18 | Andorra RTVA | Marian van de Wal participant profile | La Mirada Interior | 027 | 23 |
| 19 | Switzerland SSR SRG | Vanilla Ninja participant profile | Cool Vibes | 114 | 08 |
| 20 | Croatia HRT | Boris Novkovic feat. Lado members participant profile | Vukovi Umiru Sami | 169 | 04 |
| 21 | Bulgaria BNT | Kaffe participant profile | Lorraine | 049 | 19 |
| 22 | Ireland RTÉ | Donna and Joseph McCaul participant profile | Love? | 053 | 14 |
| 23 | Slovenia RTVSLO | Omar Naber participant profile | Stop | 069 | 12 |
| 24 | Denmark DR | Jakob Sveistrup participant profile | Talking To You | 185 | 03 |
| 25 | Poland TVP | Ivan & Delfin participant profile | Czarna Dziewczyna | 081 | 11 |
Scoreboard
| Participant |  | | | | |  | | |  | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | |  | | | | | | |  |  | |  |  | | |  |  |  | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 5 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 30 | 21 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lithuania | 5 | 8 | 4 | 17 | 25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portugal | 10 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 12 | 51 | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Moldova | 3 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 207 | 2 | |||||||||
| Latvia | 7 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 85 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monaco | 10 | 10 | 2 | 22 | 24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Israel | 7 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 158 | 7 | |||||||||||
| Belarus | 12 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 67 | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Netherlands | 5 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 53 | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iceland | 6 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 52 | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Belgium | 1 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 6 | 29 | 22 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Estonia | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 31 | 20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norway | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 164 | 6 | |||||||||
| Romania | 4 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 235 | 1 | ||||
| Hungary | 1 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 167 | 5 | ||||||||
| Finland | 3 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 50 | 18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| F.Y.R. Macedonia | 12 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 97 | 9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Andorra | 6 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 27 | 23 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Switzerland | 1 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 114 | 8 | |||||||||||
| Croatia | 10 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 169 | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Bulgaria | 4 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 49 | 19 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ireland | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 53 | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Slovenia | 8 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 69 | 12 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Denmark | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 12 | 10 | 185 | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Poland | 5 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 81 | 11 |