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contest no. 54

Eurovision 2009: Moscow

The 54th Eurovision Song Contest was held on Saturday, 16 May 2009 at Olimpiyskiy Arena in Moscow, Russia. 42 countries took part. Norway won with “Fairytale” by Alexander Rybak, on 387 points.

By ESC Predictions Updated 7 October 2026

How would you have voted? Rank all 42 songs from 2009

Final
Saturday, 16 May 2009
Semi-finals
Tuesday, 12 May 2009 and Thursday, 14 May 2009
Venue
Olimpiyskiy Arena, Moscow, Russia
Host broadcaster
Channel One (C1R)
Presenters
Natalia Vodianova (semi-finals), Andrey Malakhov (semi-finals), Ivan Urgant (final), Alsou Abramova (final)
Director
Andrei Boltenko
For the EBU
Svante Stockselius
Entries
42 countries
Returning
Slovakia
Absent
Georgia, San Marino
Voting
Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs.
Play: Alexander Rybak — “Fairytale”, the winning performance at Eurovision 2009
the winner, on the night Video: Eurovision Song Contest / YouTube

The story

A pun on Putin, voters called in for questioning, and a record win

The result of the 2009 contest was never in doubt. Almost everything around it was.

Georgia

Georgia and Russia had fought a war the previous summer, and Georgia’s first decision was not to go to Moscow at all. It changed its mind after winning the junior version of the contest, where Russia had given it twelve points.

Then it chose its song: “We Don’t Wanna Put In”, by Stephane & 3G. The title was a play on the name of Russia’s prime minister.

The EBU ruled that the song broke the ban on political content, and on 10 March asked Georgia to change the words or send something else. Georgian television refused. The song was not political, it said, and the EBU was giving way to Russian pressure. The next day Georgia withdrew.

The band later admitted that the song was political, and that the idea had been to embarrass Putin in Moscow.

The juries come back

After criticism of the public vote, the system changed. In the final, each country’s points were now decided half by viewers and half by a jury of five music professionals.

It made no difference to the winner. He came first with both.

Armenia and Azerbaijan

The film introducing Armenia’s song in the first semi-final included a monument that stands in Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory Azerbaijan regards as its own. Azerbaijan complained, and the monument was cut from the film for the final.

Armenia answered during the voting. When its spokesperson appeared, the monument was on a screen behind her, and on the clipboard she read from.

There was worse. Azerbaijani television was accused of hiding the telephone number for the Armenian song. It denied it. An EBU investigation found that the number had been blurred and the picture distorted while the Armenians were on stage, and the broadcaster was fined.

In August, people in Azerbaijan who had voted for Armenia anyway were summoned to the Ministry of National Security and told they were unpatriotic and a possible security threat. The EBU rewrote its rules to make broadcasters responsible for any leak of information that could identify a voter.

Spain’s tennis

Spanish television was committed to showing a tennis tournament and put the second semi-final out more than an hour late. Its viewers could not vote, so a jury did. The EBU announced sanctions. Spain finished twenty-fourth.

The march

A Russian gay rights campaigner, Nikolai Alekseev, called a pride march in Moscow for the day of the final. The city refused permission. The march went ahead, the police broke it up, and twenty people were arrested, Alekseev among them.

Sweden’s singer spoke up for the marchers. The eventual winner, asked about it, called the contest itself the biggest gay parade there was.

The result

Norway’s Alexander Rybak wrote and sang “Fairytale”. It scored 387 points out of a possible 492, the highest total the contest had seen. Iceland, in second place, had 218.

Azerbaijan was third and Turkey fourth. The United Kingdom, last a year earlier, came fifth.

There was one irony in the figures. On the night of his victory Norway’s own televote failed, because of a mistake by the telephone operator, and Norway’s points had to be taken from its jury alone.

Sources: Wikipedia, “Eurovision Song Contest 2009”, and the EBU records and press reports it cites.

The shows, night by night

What opened each show, and what filled the interval while the votes came in.

  1. Tuesday, 12 May 2009

    First semi-final

    18 songs, 10 went through to the final

    opened by
    in the interval
    • The Alexandrov Ensemble and t.A.T.u. “Not Gonna Get Us”

    Every song and who went through ↓ Every vote, country by country →

  2. Thursday, 14 May 2009

    Second semi-final

    19 songs, 10 went through to the final

    opened by
    • A medley of winning songs played by the Terem Quartet, with the Kostroma ballet, an ensemble of the Russian air force and the show ballet Art Dogs
    in the interval
    • The Igor Moiseyev Ensemble folk dances from different countries

    Every song and who went through ↓ Every vote, country by country →

  3. Saturday, 16 May 2009

    Final

    25 songs

    opened by
    • Cirque du Soleil “Prodigal Son”
    • Dima Bilan last year’s winner, “Believe”
    in the interval
    • Fuerza Bruta

    The result ↓ Every vote, country by country →

Every opening and interval act since 1956 →

The final

Place Country Artist Song Points Sang Semi-final
1 Norway Alexander Rybak winner! “Fairytale” English · Alexander Rybak 387 20 SF2 · 1st 201 pts
2 Iceland Yohanna “Is It True?” English · Tinatin Japaridze, Christopher Neil, Óskar Páll Sveinsson 218 7 SF1 · 1st 174 pts
3 Azerbaijan Aysel and Arash “Always” English · Johan Bejerholm, Marcus Englöf, Arash Labaf, Alex Papaconstantinou, Robert Uhlmann, Anderz Wrethov, Elin Wrethov 207 11 SF2 · 2nd 180 pts
4 Turkey Hadise “Düm Tek Tek” English · Hadise Açıkgöz, Sinan Akçıl, Stefaan Fernande 177 18 SF1 · 2nd 172 pts
5 United Kingdom Jade Ewen “It's My Time” English · Andrew Lloyd Webber, Diane Warren 173 23 Straight to the final
6 Estonia Urban Symphony “Rändajad” Estonian · Sven Lõhmus 129 15 SF2 · 3rd 115 pts
7 Greece Sakis Rouvas “This Is Our Night” English · Cameron Giles-Webb, Dimitris Kontopoulos, Craig Porteils 120 8 SF2 · 4th 110 pts
8 France Patricia Kaas “Et s'il fallait le faire” French · Fred Blondin, Anse Lazio 107 3 Straight to the final
9 Bosnia and Herzegovina Regina “Bistra voda” Bosnian · Aleksandar Čović 106 12 SF1 · 3rd 125 pts
10 Armenia Inga and Anush “Jan Jan (Ջան Ջան)” English, Armenian · Avet Barseghyan, Mane Hakobyan, Vardan Zadoyan 92 9 SF1 · 5th 99 pts
11 Russia Anastasia Prikhodko “Mamo (Мамо)” Russian, Ukrainian · Diana Golde, Konstantin Meladze 91 10 Straight to the final
12 Ukraine Svetlana Loboda “Be My Valentine! (Anti-Crisis Girl)” English · Svetlana Loboda, Yevgeny Matyushenko 76 21 SF2 · 6th 80 pts
13 Denmark Brinck “Believe Again” English · Lars Halvor Jensen, Ronan Keating, Martin Michael Larsson 74 16 SF2 · 8th 69 pts
14 Moldova Nelly Ciobanu “Hora din Moldova” Romanian, English · Nelly Ciobanu, Veaceslav Daniliuc, Andrei Hadjiu 69 13 SF2 · 5th 106 pts
15 Portugal Flor-de-Lis “Todas as ruas do amor” Portuguese · Pedro Marques, Paulo Pereira 57 6 SF1 · 8th 70 pts
16 Israel Noa and Mira Awad “There Must Be Another Way” English, Hebrew, Arabic · Mira Awad, Gil Dor, Noa 53 2 SF1 · 7th 75 pts
17 Albania Kejsi Tola “Carry Me in Your Dreams” English · Agim Doçi, Edmond Zhulali 48 19 SF2 · 7th 73 pts
18 Croatia Igor Cukrov Andrea “Lijepa Tena” Croatian · Tonči Huljić, Vjekoslava Huljić 45 5 SF2 · 13th 33 pts
19 Romania Elena “The Balkan Girls” English · Ovidiu Bistriceanu, Laurențiu Duță, Daris Mangal, Alexandru Pelin 40 22 SF1 · 9th 67 pts
20 Germany Alex Swings Oscar Sings! “Miss Kiss Kiss Bang” English · Alex Christensen, Steffen Häfelinger 35 17 Straight to the final
21 Sweden Malena Ernman “La Voix” French, English · Malena Ernman, Fredrik Kempe 33 4 SF1 · 4th 105 pts
22 Malta Chiara “What If We” English · Gregory Bilsen, Marc Paelinck 31 14 SF1 · 6th 86 pts
23 Lithuania Sasha Son “Love” English, Russian · Dmitrij Šavrov 23 1 SF2 · 9th 66 pts
24 Spain Soraya Arnelas “La noche es para mí” Spanish · Jason Gill, Irini Michas, Felipe Pedroso, Dimitri Stassos 23 25 Straight to the final
25 Finland Waldo's People “Lose Control” English · Karima, Annie Kratz-Gutå, Ari Lehtonen, Waldo 22 24 SF1 · 12th 42 pts

The semi-finals

Every song in each semi-final, in finishing order. 17 songs didn’t reach the final.

First semi-final Tuesday, 12 May 2009 · 18 songs, 10 went through

Place Country Artist Song Points Sang Then
1 Iceland Yohanna “Is It True?” English · Tinatin Japaridze, Christopher Neil, Óskar Páll Sveinsson 174 12 Through: 2nd in the final
2 Turkey Hadise “Düm Tek Tek” English · Hadise Açıkgöz, Sinan Akçıl, Stefaan Fernande 172 9 Through: 4th in the final
3 Bosnia and Herzegovina Regina “Bistra voda” Bosnian · Aleksandar Čović 125 18 Through: 9th in the final
4 Sweden Malena Ernman “La Voix” French, English · Malena Ernman, Fredrik Kempe 105 5 Through: 21st in the final
5 Armenia Inga and Anush “Jan Jan (Ջան Ջան)” English, Armenian · Avet Barseghyan, Mane Hakobyan, Vardan Zadoyan 99 6 Through: 10th in the final
6 Malta Chiara “What If We” English · Gregory Bilsen, Marc Paelinck 86 17 Through: 22nd in the final
7 Israel Noa and Mira Awad “There Must Be Another Way” English, Hebrew, Arabic · Mira Awad, Gil Dor, Noa 75 10 Through: 16th in the final
8 Portugal Flor-de-Lis “Todas as ruas do amor” Portuguese · Pedro Marques, Paulo Pereira 70 16 Through: 15th in the final
9 Romania Elena “The Balkan Girls” English · Ovidiu Bistriceanu, Laurențiu Duță, Daris Mangal, Alexandru Pelin 67 14 Through: 19th in the final
10 Macedonia Next Time “Nešto što kje ostane (Нешто што ќе остане)” Macedonian · Jovan Jovanov, Damjan Lazarov, Elvir Mekić 45 13 Out
11 Montenegro Andrea Demirović “Just Get Out of My Life” English · Bernd Meinunger, José Juan Santana Rodríguez, Ralph Siegel 44 1 Out
12 Finland Waldo's People “Lose Control” English · Karima, Annie Kratz-Gutå, Ari Lehtonen, Waldo 42 15 Through: 25th in the final
13 Belarus Petr Elfimov “Eyes That Never Lie” English · Petr Elfimov, Valery Prokhozhy 25 4 Out
14 Switzerland Lovebugs “The Highest Heights” English · Lovebugs, Florian Senn, Adrian Sieber, Thomas Rechberger 15 8 Out
15 Andorra Susanne Georgi “La teva decisió (Get a Life)” Catalan, English · Rune Braager, Lene Dissing, Pernille Georgi, Susanne Georgi, Josep Roca Vila, Marcus Winther-John 8 7 Out
16 Bulgaria Krassimir Avramov “Illusion” English · Krassimir Avramov, Casie Tabanau, William Tabanau 7 11 Out
17 Belgium Copycat “Copycat” English · Jacques Duvall, Benjamin Schoos 1 3 Out
18 Czech Republic Gipsy.cz “Aven Romale” English, Romani · Radoslav "Gipsy" Banga 0 2 Out

Second semi-final Thursday, 14 May 2009 · 19 songs, 10 went through

Place Country Artist Song Points Sang Then
1 Norway Alexander Rybak “Fairytale” English · Alexander Rybak 201 6 Through: 1st in the final
2 Azerbaijan Aysel and Arash “Always” English · Johan Bejerholm, Marcus Englöf, Arash Labaf, Alex Papaconstantinou, Robert Uhlmann, Anderz Wrethov, Elin Wrethov 180 12 Through: 3rd in the final
3 Estonia Urban Symphony “Rändajad” Estonian · Sven Lõhmus 115 18 Through: 6th in the final
4 Greece Sakis Rouvas “This Is Our Night” English · Cameron Giles-Webb, Dimitris Kontopoulos, Craig Porteils 110 13 Through: 7th in the final
5 Moldova Nelly Ciobanu “Hora din Moldova” Romanian, English · Nelly Ciobanu, Veaceslav Daniliuc, Andrei Hadjiu 106 15 Through: 14th in the final
6 Ukraine Svetlana Loboda “Be My Valentine! (Anti-Crisis Girl)” English · Svetlana Loboda, Yevgeny Matyushenko 80 17 Through: 12th in the final
7 Albania Kejsi Tola “Carry Me in Your Dreams” English · Agim Doçi, Edmond Zhulali 73 16 Through: 17th in the final
8 Denmark Brinck “Believe Again” English · Lars Halvor Jensen, Ronan Keating, Martin Michael Larsson 69 9 Through: 13th in the final
9 Lithuania Sasha Son “Love” English, Russian · Dmitrij Šavrov 66 14 Through: 23rd in the final
10 Serbia Marko Kon and Milaan “Cipela (Ципела)” Serbian · Aleksandar Kobac, Marko Kon, Milan Nikolić 60 4 Out
11 Ireland Sinéad Mulvey and Black Daisy “Et Cetera” English · Jonas Gladnikoff, Niall Mooney, Daniele Moretti, Christina Schilling 52 2 Out
12 Poland Lidia Kopania “I Don't Wanna Leave” English · Dee Adam, Rike Boomgaarden, Alex Geringas, Bernd Klimpel 43 5 Out
13 Croatia Igor Cukrov Andrea “Lijepa Tena” Croatian · Tonči Huljić, Vjekoslava Huljić 33 1 Through: 18th in the final
14 Cyprus Christina Metaxa “Firefly” English · Nikolas Metaxas 32 7 Out
15 Hungary Zoli Ádok “Dance with Me” English · Kasai, Zé Szabó 16 11 Out
16 Slovenia Quartissimo feat. Martina “Love Symphony” English, Slovene · Andrej Babić, Saša Lendero 14 10 Out
17 Netherlands The Toppers “Shine” English · Gordon Heuckeroth 11 19 Out
18 Slovakia Kamil Mikulčík and Nela Pocisková “Leť tmou” Slovak · Rastislav Dubovský, Petronela Kolevská, Ada Žigová 8 8 Out
19 Latvia Intars Busulis “Probka (Пробка)” Russian · Jānis Elsbergs, Kārlis Lācis, Sergejs Timofejevs 7 3 Out

Who showed it, and who talked over it

The channels that carried the contest in 40 countries, with the commentator where our source names one.

  • Andorra

    • ATV Meri Picart

  • Azerbaijan

    • İTV (semi-final 1) Aysel Teymurzadeh

  • Belarus

    • Belarus-1 Denis Kurian and Alexander Tikhanovich

  • Belgium

    • La Une, RTBF Sat Jean-Pierre Hautier and Jean-Louis Lahaye
    • Eén Anja Daems and André Vermeulen

  • Bosnia and Herzegovina

    • BHT 1, BH Radio 1 Dejan Kukrić

  • Croatia

    • HRT 2 (semi-finals) Duško Ćurlić
    • HRT 1 (final) Duško Ćurlić

  • Cyprus

    • RIK 1
    • RIK Deftero (semi-final 2 and final) Nathan Morley

  • Czech Republic

    • ČT1 (semi-final 1 and final) Jan Rejžek
    • ČT2 (semi-final 2) Jan Rejžek

  • Denmark

    • DR1 Nicolai Molbech

  • Estonia

    • ETV Marko Reikop
    • ETV (final) Olav Osolin

  • Finland

    • YLE TV2 Finnish: Jaana Pelkonen, Mikko Peltola and Asko Murtomäki, Swedish: Thomas Larsson
    • YLE Radio Suomi Sanna Kojo and Jorma Hietamäki

  • France

    • France 4 (semi-final 2) Peggy Olmi and Yann Renoard
    • France 3 (final) Julien Courbet and Cyril Hanouna

  • Germany

    • Phoenix (semi-final 1) Tim Frühling
    • NDR Fernsehen (semi-final 2) Tim Frühling
    • Das Erste (final) Tim Frühling

  • Greece

    • ERT Betty and Mathildi Maggira
    • ERT Maria Kozakou

  • Hungary

    • m1 Gábor Gundel Takács

  • Iceland

    • Sjónvarpið, Rás 2 Sigmar Guðmundsson

  • Ireland

    • RTÉ Two (semi-finals) Marty Whelan
    • RTÉ One (final) Marty Whelan
    • RTÉ Radio 1 (semi-final 2 and final) Maxi

  • Latvia

    • LTV Kārlis Streips

  • Lithuania

    • LRT Darius Užkuraitis

  • Macedonia

    • MRT Karolina Petkovska and Aleksandra Jovanovska

  • Malta

    • TVM Valerie Vella

  • Montenegro

    • TVCG 1 (semi-final 1 and final) Dražen Bauković and Tamara Ivanković
    • TVCG 2 (semi-final 2) Dražen Bauković and Tamara Ivanković
    • RTCG Sat Dražen Bauković and Tamara Ivanković

  • Netherlands

    • Nederland 1 Cornald Maas

  • Norway

    • NRK1 Synnøve Svabø

  • Poland

    • TVP1 (semi-final 2 and final) Artur Orzech

  • Portugal

    • RTP1, RTP Internacional Hélder Reis

  • Romania

    • TVR 1

  • Russia

    • Channel One Yana Churikova
    • Channel One (semi-finals) Alexey Manuylov
    • Channel One (final) Philipp Kirkorov

  • Serbia

    • RTS1, RTS Digital, RTS Sat

  • Slovakia

    • Jednotka Roman Bomboš

  • Slovenia

    • TV SLO 1 Andrej Hofer

  • Spain

    • La 2 (semi-finals) Joaquín Guzmán
    • La 1, TVE Internacional (final) Joaquín Guzmán

  • Sweden

    • SVT1 Shirley Clamp and Edward af Sillén
    • SVT1 (semi-final 1) Arash
    • SR Carolina Norén and Björn Kjellman

  • Switzerland

    • SF zwei (semi-final 1 and final) Sven Epiney
    • TSR 2 (semi-final 1 and final) Jean-Marc Richard
    • TSR 2 (final) Nicolas Tanner
    • RSI La 2 (semi-final 1) Sandy Altermatt
    • RSI La 1 (final) Sandy Altermatt

  • Turkey

    • TRT 1

  • Ukraine

    • Pershyi Natsionalnyi

  • United Kingdom

    • BBC Three (semi-finals) Paddy O'Connell and Sarah Cawood
    • BBC One (final) Graham Norton
    • BBC Radio 2 (final) Ken Bruce

Also shown in

  • Australia

    • SBS Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang

  • Austria

    • ORF 1 Benny Hörtnagl

  • New Zealand

    • Triangle Stratos (final)

Results as published by the European Broadcasting Union. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it.