 | Facts & Figures |
|---|---|
| Date | Saturday 16 May 2009 |
| Location | Olimpiysky Arena Moscow, Russia |
| Broadcaster | Channel One (C1R) |
| Hosts | Ivan Urgant & Alsou Abramova |
| Executive Producer | Yury Aksyuta |
| EBU Scrutineer | Svante Stockselius |
| Director | Andrei Boltenko |
| Opening act | Cirque du Soleil performance (Prodigal Son), Dima Bilan with „Believe“ |
| Interval act | Fuerza Bruta performance |
| Winner | Alexander Rybak from Norway |
For the second time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, two Semi-Finals were held to decide which 25 countries will be represented in the Final. The Final of the contest took place on the 16th of May in the Russian capital of Moscow.
While it had been the Russian broadcaster RTR who had won the contest the year before, it was decided that Channel One Russia would host the competition instead. They organised one of the biggest contests in the history of the event. The stage consisted of 1/3 of the world’s available LED screens at that time. Vladimir Putin, who was Prime Minister of Russia at the time, visited the Olympic Indoor Arena to see the preparations for the Eurovision Song Contest for himself.
National juries were re-introduced alongside televoting, each accounting for 50% of the result. Georgia’s entry was deemed to have broken the rules of the contest and the country chose to withdraw rather than submit a different song. Estonia finished a credible sixth with the song Rändajad, the first song to be performed fully in Estonian since 1998 (their entry in 2004 was performed in a dialect). The United Kingdom scored its best placing since 2002 when Jade Ewen finished in fifth place with the song My Time, written by Dianne Warren and composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
About the winner
There was no stopping the Norwegian violin-playing star, Alexander Rybak and his entry Fairytale. It received a record-breaking 387 points out of a possible 492, the highest total score in Eurovision history at that time.
Facts and figures
- For the first time the contest was presented by two different pairs of hosts – one pair in the Semi-Finals and the other pair in the Grand Final. Both Semi-Finals were hosted by the supermodel Natalya Vodyanova and popular TV host Andrey Malakhov. The Grand Final was hosted by the singer (and their 2000 contest participant) Alsou and the TV star Ivan Urgant.
- Chaira, who achieved two of Malta’s best placings second and third, in 2005 and 1998 respectively, returned to the competition but finished in 22nd place in the Grand Final.
The Participants
| # | Representing country | Performer(s) | Song title, writer(s) and composer(s) | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Lithuania LRT | Sasha Son participant profile | Love | 023 | 23 |
| 02 | Israel IBA | Noa & Mira Awad participant profile | There Must Be Another Way | 053 | 16 |
| 03 | France France 3 | Patricia Kaas participant profile | Et S’il Fallait Le Faire | 107 | 08 |
| 04 | Sweden SVT | Malena Ernman participant profile | La Voix | 033 | 21 |
| 05 | Croatia HRT | Igor Cukrov feat. Andrea participant profile | Lijepa Tena | 045 | 18 |
| 06 | Portugal RTP | Flor-de-lis participant profile | Todas As Ruas Do Amor | 057 | 15 |
| 07 | Iceland RÚV | Yohanna participant profile | Is It True? | 218 | 02 |
| 08 | Greece ERT | Sakis Rouvas participant profile | This Is Our Night | 120 | 07 |
| 09 | Armenia AMPTV | Inga & Anush participant profile | Jan Jan | 092 | 10 |
| 10 | Russia C1R | Anastasia Prikhodko participant profile | Mamo | 091 | 11 |
| 11 | Azerbaijan İctimai | AySel & Arash participant profile | AlwaysWatch video | 207 | 03 |
| 12 | Bosnia & Herzegovina BHRT | Regina participant profile | Bistra Voda | 106 | 09 |
| 13 | Moldova TRM | Nelly Ciobanu participant profile | Hora Din Moldova | 069 | 14 |
| 14 | Malta PBS | Chiara participant profile | What If We | 031 | 22 |
| 15 | Estonia ERR | Urban Symphony participant profile | Rändajad | 129 | 06 |
| 16 | Denmark DR | Brinck participant profile | Believe Again | 074 | 13 |
| 17 | Germany NDR | Alex Swings Oscar Sings! participant profile | Miss Kiss Kiss Bang | 035 | 20 |
| 18 | Turkey TRT | Hadise participant profile | Düm Tek Tek | 177 | 04 |
| 19 | Albania RTSH | Kejsi Tola participant profile | Carry Me In Your Dreams | 048 | 17 |
| 20 | Norway NRK | Alexander Rybak participant profile | Fairytale | 387 | 01 |
| 21 | Ukraine NTU | Svetlana Loboda participant profile | Be my Valentine! (Anti-crisis Girl) | 076 | 12 |
| 22 | Romania TVR | Elena participant profile | The Balkan Girls | 040 | 19 |
| 23 | United Kingdom BBC | Jade Ewen participant profile | It’s My Time | 173 | 05 |
| 24 | Finland YLE | Waldo’s People participant profile | Lose Control | 022 | 25 |
| 25 | Spain TVE | Soraya participant profile | La Noche Es Para Mí (The Night Is For Me) | 023 | 24 |
Scoreboard
| Participant | |  | | |  |  | |  | |  |  | | |  | | | | |  | |  | |  | | | |  | |  | | | |  |  |  | | |  |  | | | | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lithuania | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 23 | 23 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Israel | 7 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 53 | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| France | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 107 | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
| Sweden | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 33 | 21 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Croatia | 5 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 45 | 18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portugal | 6 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 57 | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iceland | 6 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 218 | 2 | ||||||||
| Greece | 12 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 120 | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Armenia | 1 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 92 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Russia | 12 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 91 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Azerbaijan | 4 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 3 | 207 | 3 | ||||||||
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | 5 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 106 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Moldova | 2 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 69 | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Malta | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 31 | 22 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Estonia | 4 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 129 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Denmark | 5 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 74 | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Germany | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 35 | 20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turkey | 10 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 177 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Albania | 5 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 48 | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norway | 7 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 387 | 1 | |
| Ukraine | 3 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 76 | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Romania | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 40 | 19 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United Kingdom | 8 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 173 | 5 | |||||||||||
| Finland | 3 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 25 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spain | 12 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 23 | 24 |