contest no. 59
Eurovision 2014: Copenhagen
The 59th Eurovision Song Contest was held on Saturday, 10 May 2014 at B&W Hallerne in Copenhagen, Denmark. 37 countries took part. Austria won with “Rise Like a Phoenix” by Conchita Wurst, on 290 points.
How would you have voted? Rank all 37 songs from 2014
- Final
- Saturday, 10 May 2014
- Semi-finals
- Tuesday, 6 May 2014 and Thursday, 8 May 2014
- Venue
- B&W Hallerne, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Host broadcaster
- Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR)
- Presenters
- Lise Rønne, Nikolaj Koppel, Pilou Asbæk
- Director
- Per Zachariassen
- For the EBU
- Jon Ola Sand
- Slogan
- #JoinUs
- Entries
- 37 countries
- Returning
- Poland, Portugal
- Absent
- Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Serbia
- Voting
- Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs.
The story
Rise Like a Phoenix, and a hall that booed Russia
Austria had won the contest once, in 1966. Forty-eight years later it won again — at that point the longest any country had waited between victories.
A smaller contest
Thirty-seven countries came to Copenhagen, the fewest since 2006. Poland and Portugal returned. Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Serbia stayed at home.
The slogan was a hashtag, “#JoinUs”. Three people presented, and the Danish crown prince and princess were in the audience for the final.
Australia was not competing, but it was noticed. In recognition of how devotedly the contest was followed there, the Australian singer Jessica Mauboy was invited to perform in the interval of the second semi-final.
Jurors in the open
For 2014 the EBU set out to make the juries more transparent. The names of all the jurors were published before the contest. Afterwards, so was each juror’s complete ranking.
It caught somebody at once. In the final, every member of Georgia’s jury had ranked the songs identically, from three points all the way up to twelve. The EBU called that a statistical impossibility, threw the jury’s votes out and used Georgia’s televote alone.
Crimea
The contest came immediately after the revolution in Ukraine and Russia’s annexation of Crimea. One practical question had to be answered: whose votes were Crimea’s? The ruling was that votes cast through Ukrainian telephone networks there counted as Ukraine’s.
The audience gave its own answer. Russia’s entrants, the Tolmachevy Sisters, were booed in the semi-final, booed when they were announced as qualifiers and booed in the final. There was more booing when Russia’s spokesperson appeared, and whenever another country gave Russia points.
Conchita
Austria’s singer was Conchita Wurst, and a good deal of the week’s talk was about her beard.
During contest week Armenia’s entrant said that her way of life was “not natural” and that she should decide whether she was a woman or a man. He apologised and said he had been joking. Wurst accepted the apology, and observed that as a joke it was not funny.
During the voting Lithuania’s spokesman announced that it was time for a shave and mimed one with a razor, just before reading out ten points for her. The Danish host disagreed. “Time to shave? I think not,” he said. The next country to vote was Austria.
The result
“Rise Like a Phoenix” won with the juries and with the public. It finished on 290 points, and the result was certain with three countries still to vote.
The Netherlands came second with the Common Linnets, its best result since it last won, in 1975. Sweden was third. Hungary, fifth, had its best result in twenty years.
France finished last, with two points.
The bill
A record 195 million people watched. The production later won an international television award.
It was less of a triumph on paper. The Danish organisers spent three times what had been budgeted, and were accused of nepotism as well.
Sources: Wikipedia, “Eurovision Song Contest 2014”, 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.
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Tuesday, 6 May 2014
First semi-final
16 songs, 10 went through to the final
- opened by
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- Emmelie de Forest last year’s winner “Only Teardrops”, with a choir
- in the interval
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- “The Ugly Duckling”
Every song and who went through ↓ Every vote, country by country →
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Thursday, 8 May 2014
Second semi-final
15 songs, 10 went through to the final
- opened by
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- “Building the Stage”
- in the interval
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- Jessica Mauboy “Sea of Flags”, as Denmark’s nod to Australia’s love of the contest
Every song and who went through ↓ Every vote, country by country →
-
Saturday, 10 May 2014
Final
26 songs
- in the interval
-
- Emmelie de Forest and the 26 finalists “Rainmaker”
The final
| Place | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Sang | Semi-final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austria | Conchita Wurst winner! | “Rise Like a Phoenix” English · Julian Maas, Charlie Mason, Joey Patulka, Ali Zuckowski | 290 | 11 | SF2 · 1st 169 pts |
| 2 | Netherlands | The Common Linnets | “Calm After the Storm” English · Matthew Crosby, Rob Crosby, Ilse DeLange, Jake Etheridge, JB Meijers | 238 | 24 | SF1 · 1st 150 pts |
| 3 | Sweden | Sanna Nielsen | “Undo” English · Fredrik Kempe, David Kreuger, Hamed "K-One" Pirouzpanah | 218 | 13 | SF1 · 2nd 131 pts |
| 4 | Armenia | Aram Mp3 | “Not Alone” English · Aram Mp3, Garik Papoyan | 174 | 7 | SF1 · 4th 121 pts |
| 5 | Hungary | András Kállay-Saunders | “Running” English · András Kállay-Saunders, Krisztián Szakos | 143 | 21 | SF1 · 3rd 127 pts |
| 6 | Ukraine | Mariya Yaremchuk | “Tick-Tock” English · Sandra Bjurman, Mariya Yaremchuk | 113 | 1 | SF1 · 5th 118 pts |
| 7 | Russia | Tolmachevy Sisters | “Shine” English · John Ballard, Gerard James Borg, Ralph Charlie, Philipp Kirkorov, Dimitris Kontopoulos | 89 | 15 | SF1 · 6th 63 pts |
| 8 | Norway | Carl Espen | “Silent Storm” English · Josefin Winther | 88 | 5 | SF2 · 6th 77 pts |
| 9 | Denmark | Basim | “Cliche Love Song” English · Daniel Fält, Lasse Lindorff, Basim Moujahid, Kim Novak-Zorde | 74 | 23 | Straight to the final |
| 10 | Spain | Ruth Lorenzo | “Dancing in the Rain” English, Spanish · Julian Emery, James Lawrence Irvin, Ruth Lorenzo | 74 | 19 | Straight to the final |
| 11 | Finland | Softengine | “Something Better” English · Topi Latukka, Henri Oskár | 72 | 18 | SF2 · 3rd 97 pts |
| 12 | Romania | Paula Seling and Ovi | “Miracle” English · Frida Amundsen, Beyond51, Philip Halloun, Ovi | 72 | 6 | SF2 · 2nd 125 pts |
| 13 | Switzerland | Sebalter | “Hunter of Stars” English · Sebastiano Paù-Lessi | 64 | 20 | SF2 · 4th 92 pts |
| 14 | Poland | Donatan and Cleo | “My Słowianie – We Are Slavic” Polish, English · Cleo, Donatan | 62 | 9 | SF2 · 8th 70 pts |
| 15 | Iceland | Pollapönk | “No Prejudice” English · John Grant, Haraldur Freyr Gíslason, Heiðar Örn Kristjánsson | 58 | 4 | SF1 · 8th 61 pts |
| 16 | Belarus | Teo | “Cheesecake” English · Dmitry Novik, Yury Vashchuk | 43 | 2 | SF2 · 5th 87 pts |
| 17 | United Kingdom | Molly | “Children of the Universe” English · Anders Hansson, Molly Smitten-Downes | 40 | 26 | Straight to the final |
| 18 | Germany | Elaiza | “Is It Right” English · Adam Kesselhaut, Frank Kretschmer, Elżbieta Steinmetz | 39 | 12 | Straight to the final |
| 19 | Montenegro | Sergej Ćetković | “Moj svijet (Мој свијет)” Montenegrin · Sergej Ćetković, Emina Sandal | 37 | 8 | SF1 · 7th 63 pts |
| 20 | Greece | Freaky Fortune RiskyKidd | “Rise Up” English · Freaky Fortune, RiskyKidd | 35 | 10 | SF2 · 7th 74 pts |
| 21 | Italy | Emma | “La mia città” Italian · Emma Marrone | 33 | 16 | Straight to the final |
| 22 | Azerbaijan | Dilara Kazimova | “Start a Fire” English · Alessandra Günthardt, Johan Kronlund, Stefan Örn | 33 | 3 | SF1 · 9th 57 pts |
| 23 | Malta | Firelight | “Coming Home” English · Richard Edwards Micallef | 32 | 22 | SF2 · 9th 63 pts |
| 24 | San Marino | Valentina Monetta | “Maybe” English · Mauro Balestri, Ralph Siegel | 14 | 25 | SF1 · 10th 40 pts |
| 25 | Slovenia | Tinkara Kovač | “Round and Round” English, Slovene · Tinkara Kovač, Hannah Mancini, Tina Piš, Raay | 9 | 17 | SF2 · 10th 52 pts |
| 26 | France | Twin Twin | “Moustache” French · François Ardouvin, Lorent Ardouvin, Pierre Beyres, Kim N'Guyen | 2 | 14 | Straight to the final |
The semi-finals
Every song in each semi-final, in finishing order. 11 songs didn’t reach the final.
First semi-final Tuesday, 6 May 2014 · 16 songs, 10 went through
| Place | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Sang | Then |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netherlands | The Common Linnets | “Calm After the Storm” English · Matthew Crosby, Rob Crosby, Ilse DeLange, Jake Etheridge, JB Meijers | 150 | 14 | Through: 2nd in the final |
| 2 | Sweden | Sanna Nielsen | “Undo” English · Fredrik Kempe, David Kreuger, Hamed "K-One" Pirouzpanah | 131 | 4 | Through: 3rd in the final |
| 3 | Hungary | András Kállay-Saunders | “Running” English · András Kállay-Saunders, Krisztián Szakos | 127 | 16 | Through: 5th in the final |
| 4 | Armenia | Aram Mp3 | “Not Alone” English · Aram Mp3, Garik Papoyan | 121 | 1 | Through: 4th in the final |
| 5 | Ukraine | Mariya Yaremchuk | “Tick-Tock” English · Sandra Bjurman, Mariya Yaremchuk | 118 | 9 | Through: 6th in the final |
| 6 | Russia | Tolmachevy Sisters | “Shine” English · John Ballard, Gerard James Borg, Ralph Charlie, Philipp Kirkorov, Dimitris Kontopoulos | 63 | 7 | Through: 7th in the final |
| 7 | Montenegro | Sergej Ćetković | “Moj svijet (Мој свијет)” Montenegrin · Sergej Ćetković, Emina Sandal | 63 | 15 | Through: 19th in the final |
| 8 | Iceland | Pollapönk | “No Prejudice” English · John Grant, Haraldur Freyr Gíslason, Heiðar Örn Kristjánsson | 61 | 5 | Through: 15th in the final |
| 9 | Azerbaijan | Dilara Kazimova | “Start a Fire” English · Alessandra Günthardt, Johan Kronlund, Stefan Örn | 57 | 8 | Through: 22nd in the final |
| 10 | San Marino | Valentina Monetta | “Maybe” English · Mauro Balestri, Ralph Siegel | 40 | 12 | Through: 24th in the final |
| 11 | Portugal | Suzy | “Quero ser tua” Portuguese · Emanuel | 39 | 13 | Out |
| 12 | Estonia | Tanja | “Amazing” English · Tanja, Timo Vendt | 36 | 3 | Out |
| 13 | Latvia | Aarzemnieki | “Cake to Bake” English · Guntis Veilands | 33 | 2 | Out |
| 14 | Belgium | Axel Hirsoux | “Mother” English · Rafael Artesero, Ashley Hicklin | 28 | 10 | Out |
| 15 | Albania | Hersi | “One Night's Anger” English · Gentian Lako, Jorgo Papingji | 22 | 6 | Out |
| 16 | Moldova | Cristina Scarlat | “Wild Soul” English · Ivan Akulov, Lidia Scarlat | 13 | 11 | Out |
Second semi-final Thursday, 8 May 2014 · 15 songs, 10 went through
| Place | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Sang | Then |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austria | Conchita Wurst | “Rise Like a Phoenix” English · Julian Maas, Charlie Mason, Joey Patulka, Ali Zuckowski | 169 | 6 | Through: 1st in the final |
| 2 | Romania | Paula Seling and Ovi | “Miracle” English · Frida Amundsen, Beyond51, Philip Halloun, Ovi | 125 | 15 | Through: 12th in the final |
| 3 | Finland | Softengine | “Something Better” English · Topi Latukka, Henri Oskár | 97 | 8 | Through: 11th in the final |
| 4 | Switzerland | Sebalter | “Hunter of Stars” English · Sebastiano Paù-Lessi | 92 | 12 | Through: 13th in the final |
| 5 | Belarus | Teo | “Cheesecake” English · Dmitry Novik, Yury Vashchuk | 87 | 10 | Through: 16th in the final |
| 6 | Norway | Carl Espen | “Silent Storm” English · Josefin Winther | 77 | 3 | Through: 8th in the final |
| 7 | Greece | Freaky Fortune RiskyKidd | “Rise Up” English · Freaky Fortune, RiskyKidd | 74 | 13 | Through: 20th in the final |
| 8 | Poland | Donatan and Cleo | “My Słowianie – We Are Slavic” Polish, English · Cleo, Donatan | 70 | 5 | Through: 14th in the final |
| 9 | Malta | Firelight | “Coming Home” English · Richard Edwards Micallef | 63 | 1 | Through: 23rd in the final |
| 10 | Slovenia | Tinkara Kovač | “Round and Round” English, Slovene · Tinkara Kovač, Hannah Mancini, Tina Piš, Raay | 52 | 14 | Through: 25th in the final |
| 11 | Lithuania | Vilija | “Attention” English · Vilija Matačiūnaitė, Viktoras Vaupšas | 36 | 7 | Out |
| 12 | Ireland | Can-linn feat. Kasey Smith | “Heartbeat” English · Jonas Gladnikoff, Patrizia Helander, Hazel Kaneswaran, Rasmus Palmgren | 35 | 9 | Out |
| 13 | Macedonia | Tijana | “To the Sky” English · Lazar Cvetkoski, Darko Dimitrov, Elena Risteska Ivanovska | 33 | 11 | Out |
| 14 | Israel | Mei Finegold | “Same Heart” English, Hebrew · Rami Talmid | 19 | 2 | Out |
| 15 | Georgia | The Shin and Mariko | “Three Minutes to Earth” English · Eugen Eliu, Zaza Miminoshvili | 15 | 4 | Out |
Who showed it, and who talked over it
The channels that carried the contest in 46 countries, with the commentator where our source names one.
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Albania
- TVSH, RTSH Muzikë, Radio Tirana Andri Xhahu
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Armenia
- Armenia 1 (semi-finals) Erik Antaranyan and Anna Avanesyan
- Armenia 1 (final) Tigran Danielyan and Arevik Udumyan
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Austria
- ORF eins Andi Knoll
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Azerbaijan
- İTV, İTV Radio Konul Arifgizi
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Belarus
- Belarus-1, Belarus 24 Evgeny Perlin
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Belgium
- één, Radio 2 Peter Van de Veire and Eva Daeleman
- La Une Jean-Louis Lahaye and Maureen Louys
- VivaCité (final) Olivier Gilain
-
Denmark
- DR1 (semi-finals) Anders Bisgaard
- DR1 (final) Ole Tøpholm
- DR3 (final) Peter Falktoft and Esben Bjerre Hansen
- DR Ramasjang (final) Sign language performers
- DR P4 (final) Anders Bisgaard
-
Estonia
- ETV Marko Reikop
- Raadio 2 (semi-final 1 and final) Mart Juur and Andrus Kivirähk
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Finland
- Yle TV2, Yle Radio Suomi Finnish: Jorma Hietamäki and Sanna Pirkkalainen, Swedish: Eva Frantz and Johan Lindroos
- YLE Radio Suomi Jorma Hietamäki and Sanna Pirkkalainen
- Yle Radio Vega Eva Frantz and Johan Lindroos
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France
- France Ô (semi-final 1) Audrey Chauveau and Bruno Berberes
- France 3 (final) Cyril Féraud and Natasha St-Pier
-
Georgia
- 1TV Lado Tatishvili and Tamuna Museridze
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Germany
- EinsPlus, Einsfestival Peter Urban
- Phoenix (semi-finals) Peter Urban
- Das Erste (final) Peter Urban
-
Greece
- NERIT1, NERIT HD Maria Kozakou
- NERIT1, NERIT HD (final) Giorgos Kapoutzidis
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Hungary
- M1 Gábor Gundel Takács
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Iceland
- RÚV, Rás 2 Felix Bergsson
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Ireland
- RTÉ Two (semi-finals) Marty Whelan
- RTÉ One (final) Marty Whelan
- RTÉ Radio 1 (semi-final 2 and final) Shay Byrne and Zbyszek Zalinski
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Israel
- Channel 1 Hebrew subtitles
- Channel 33 Arabic subtitles
- IBA 88FM Kobi Menora and Yuval Caspin
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Italy
- Rai 4 (semi-finals) Marco Ardemagni and Filippo Solibello
- Rai 2 (final) Linus and Nicola Savino
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Latvia
- LTV1 Valters Frīdenbergs and Kārlis Būmeisters
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Lithuania
- LRT, LRT Radijas Darius Užkuraitis
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Macedonia
- MRT 1, MRT Sat, Radio Skopje Karolina Petkovska
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Malta
- TVM Carlo Borg Bonaci
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Moldova
- Moldova 1, Radio Moldova Daniela Babici
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Montenegro
- TVCG 1, TVCG Sat Dražen Bauković and Tamara Ivanković
- Radio Crne Gore, Radio 98 Sonja Savović and Sanja Pejović
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Netherlands
- Nederland 1, BVN Cornald Maas and Jan Smit
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Norway
- NRK1 Olav Viksmo-Slettan
- NRK3 (final) Ronny Brede Aase, Silje Nordnes and Line Elvsåshagen
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Poland
- TVP1, TVP HD, TVP Polonia, TVP Rozrywka Artur Orzech
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Portugal
- RTP1 Sílvia Alberto
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Romania
- TVR 1, TVRi, TVR HD Bogdan Stănescu
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Russia
- Russia-1 Olga Shelest and Dmitry Guberniev
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San Marino
- San Marino RTV, Radio San Marino Lia Fiorio and Gigi Restivo
- SMtv Web TV John Kennedy O'Connor and Jamarie Milkovic
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Slovenia
- TV SLO 2 (semi-finals) Andrej Hofer
- TV SLO 1, Televizija Maribor (final) Andrej Hofer
- Radio Val 202, Radio Maribor (semi-final 2 and final) Andrej Hofer
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Spain
- La 2 (semi-final 1) José María Íñigo
- La 1 (final) José María Íñigo
- Cadena COPE (final) Paco González and Tiempo de juego team
- Ona FM – Cadena SER Catalunya (final) Sergi Mas
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Sweden
- SVT1 Malin Olsson and Edward af Sillén
- SR P4 Carolina Norén and Ronnie Ritterland
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Switzerland
- SRF zwei (semi-finals) Sven Epiney
- SRF 1 (final) Sven Epiney
- RTS Deux (semi-final 2) Jean-Marc Richard and Valérie Ogier
- RTS Un (final) Jean-Marc Richard and Valérie Ogier
- RSI La 2 (semi-final 2) Sandy Altermatt and Alessandro Bertoglio
- RSI La 1 (final) Sandy Altermatt and Alessandro Bertoglio
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Ukraine
- Pershyi Natsionalnyi Timur Miroshnychenko and Tetyana Terekhova
- UR-2 Olena Zelinchenko
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United Kingdom
- BBC Three (semi-finals) Scott Mills and Laura Whitmore
- BBC One (final) Graham Norton
- BBC Radio 2 Eurovision (semi-final 2) Ana Matronic
- BBC Radio 2 (final) Ken Bruce
Also shown in
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Australia
- SBS One Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang
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Canada
- OutTV Adam Rollins and Tommy D.
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Croatia
- HRT 1, HR 2 (final) Aleksandar Kostadinov
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Cyprus
- RIK 1 Melina Karageorgiou
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Faroe Islands
- KvF
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Kazakhstan
- Khabar TV Diana Snegina and Kaldybek Zhaysanbay
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New Zealand
- BBC UKTV
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Serbia
- RTS1, RTS Digital, RTS SAT, RTS HD Silvana Grujić
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Slovakia
- Rádio FM (semi-finals) Daniel Baláž and Pavol Hubinák
- Rádio FM (final) Daniel Baláž, Pavol Hubinák and Juraj Kemka
Results as published by the European Broadcasting Union. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it.