contest no. 60
Eurovision 2015: Vienna
The 60th Eurovision Song Contest was held on Saturday, 23 May 2015 at Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria. 40 countries took part. Sweden won with “Heroes” by Måns Zelmerlöw, on 365 points.
How would you have voted? Rank all 40 songs from 2015
- Final
- Saturday, 23 May 2015
- Semi-finals
- Tuesday, 19 May 2015 and Thursday, 21 May 2015
- Venue
- Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria
- Host broadcaster
- Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF)
- Presenters
- Mirjam Weichselbraun, Alice Tumler, Arabella Kiesbauer, Conchita Wurst
- Director
- Kurt Pongratz
- For the EBU
- Jon Ola Sand
- Slogan
- Building Bridges
- Entries
- 40 countries
- Debut
- Australia
- Returning
- Cyprus, Czech Republic, Serbia
- Absent
- Ukraine
- Voting
- Each country/jury awards 12, 10, 8–1 points to their top 10 songs.
The story
Australia arrives, and the public's favourite comes third
For its sixtieth birthday the contest invited a guest from the other side of the world.
Australia
Australia’s SBS had been showing the contest for more than thirty years to a large and loyal audience. In February 2015 the EBU announced that, to mark the anniversary, Australia would be allowed to compete.
It was billed as a one-off. Australia went straight into the final without having to qualify. And there was a plan for the awkward possibility that it might win: the next contest would still be held in Europe, with SBS co-hosting alongside a European broadcaster.
It did not come to that, but it was not far off. Guy Sebastian finished fifth.
Vienna
The slogan was “Building Bridges”, and the city joined in. In the weeks before the contest some of Vienna’s pedestrian crossings were fitted with new signals showing same-sex couples holding hands.
Three women presented, with the previous year’s winner, Conchita Wurst, hosting the green room.
Forty countries took part. Cyprus and Serbia were back, and the Czech Republic returned after five years. Ukraine was missing, kept away by the financial and political crisis of its war.
With Australia added to the usual 26, the final had 27 songs, the most there have ever been.
Russia and the hall
For the second year running, Russia was booed. This time it happened during the voting, every time the country was mentioned or given a high score.
Russia’s singer, Polina Gagarina, was seen in tears in the green room, and at one stage she was leading. During a pause, Wurst went over to her on camera and told her she had given an amazing performance.
What went wrong
A smoke machine malfunctioned during Georgia’s song, and for a few moments Nina Sublatti vanished from her own performance inside a grey cloud.
The jury votes of Macedonia and Montenegro were left out of the final result under the rules, and those two countries’ points were based on their televotes alone. It did not change the outcome.
The result
Sweden’s Måns Zelmerlöw won with “Heroes”, on 365 points. It was Sweden’s second victory in three years.
It was not the song viewers liked best. Sweden won the jury vote and came third with the public. Italy’s Il Volo topped the televote and finished third overall. Russia was second, 62 points behind the winner.
Since juries came back in 2009, no winner had failed to come first with the public. This was the first.
Nul points, twice
At the bottom, two countries scored nothing. One was Germany. The other was the host. Austria, a year after winning, did not receive a single point in its own arena.
It was the last contest scored this way. The following year, the jury and public votes would be announced separately.
Sources: Wikipedia, “Eurovision Song Contest 2015”, 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.
-
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
First semi-final
16 songs, 10 went through to the final
- opened by
-
- Conchita Wurst last year’s winner, “Rise Like a Phoenix”
Every song and who went through ↓ Every vote, country by country →
-
Thursday, 21 May 2015
Second semi-final
17 songs, 10 went through to the final
Our sources don’t record how this one opened or what filled the interval.
Every song and who went through ↓ Every vote, country by country →
-
Saturday, 23 May 2015
Final
27 songs
- opened by
-
- The Vienna Philharmonic the Eurovision theme, played in the gardens of Schönbrunn Palace
- Lidia Baich the violinist played a passage of Austria’s 1966 winner, “Merci, Chérie”, for Udo Jürgens
- Conchita Wurst, the Vienna Boys’ Choir, the Superar children’s choir and Left Boy “Building Bridges”, the contest’s anthem, with the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra
- in the interval
-
- Martin Grubinger and the Percussive Planet Ensemble nine minutes on themes by Austrian composers, with forty players and the Arnold Schoenberg Choir
- Conchita Wurst “You Are Unstoppable” and “Firestorm”
The final
| Place | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Sang | Semi-final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sweden | Måns Zelmerlöw winner! | “Heroes” English · Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Anton Hård af Segerstad | 365 | 10 | SF2 · 1st 217 pts |
| 2 | Russia | Polina Gagarina | “A Million Voices” English · Gabriel Alares, Joakim Björnberg, Leonid Gutkin, Vladimir Matetsky, Katrina Noorbergen | 303 | 25 | SF1 · 1st 182 pts |
| 3 | Italy | Il Volo | “Grande amore” Italian · Francesco Boccia, Ciro Esposito | 292 | 27 | Straight to the final |
| 4 | Belgium | Loïc Nottet | “Rhythm Inside” English · Loïc Nottet, Beverly Jo Scott | 217 | 13 | SF1 · 2nd 149 pts |
| 5 | Australia | Guy Sebastian | “Tonight Again” English · David Ryan Harris, Louis Schoorl, Guy Sebastian | 196 | 12 | Straight to the final |
| 6 | Latvia | Aminata | “Love Injected” English · Aminata Savadogo | 186 | 19 | SF2 · 2nd 155 pts |
| 7 | Estonia | Elina Born and Stig Rästa | “Goodbye to Yesterday” English · Stig Rästa | 106 | 4 | SF1 · 3rd 105 pts |
| 8 | Norway | Mørland and Debrah Scarlett | “A Monster Like Me” English · Kjetil Mørland | 102 | 9 | SF2 · 4th 123 pts |
| 9 | Israel | Nadav Guedj | “Golden Boy” English · Doron Medalie | 97 | 3 | SF2 · 3rd 151 pts |
| 10 | Serbia | Bojana Stamenov | “Beauty Never Lies” English · Vladimir Graić, Charlie Mason | 53 | 8 | SF1 · 9th 63 pts |
| 11 | Georgia | Nina Sublatti | “Warrior” English · Thomas G:son, Nina Sublatti | 51 | 23 | SF1 · 4th 98 pts |
| 12 | Azerbaijan | Elnur Hüseynov | “Hour of the Wolf” English · Sandra Bjurman, Lina Hansson, Nicklas Lif, Nicolas Rebscher | 49 | 24 | SF2 · 10th 53 pts |
| 13 | Montenegro | Knez | “Adio (Адио)” Montenegrin · Dejan Ivanović, Željko Joksimović, Marina Tucaković | 44 | 16 | SF2 · 9th 57 pts |
| 14 | Slovenia | Maraaya | “Here for You” English · Charlie Mason, Raay, Marjetka Vovk | 39 | 1 | SF2 · 5th 92 pts |
| 15 | Romania | Voltaj | “De la capăt” Romanian, English · Victor Răzvan Alstani, Gabriel Constantin, Adrian Cristescu, Călin Gavril Goia, Andrei Mădalin Leonte, Silviu Marian Păduraru, Monica-Ana Stevens | 35 | 20 | SF1 · 5th 89 pts |
| 16 | Armenia | Genealogy | “Face the Shadow” English · Armen Martirosyan, Inna Mkrtchyan | 34 | 6 | SF1 · 7th 77 pts |
| 17 | Albania | Elhaida Dani | “I'm Alive” English · Arbër Elshani, Kristijan Lekaj, Sokol Marsi | 34 | 26 | SF1 · 10th 62 pts |
| 18 | Lithuania | Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila | “This Time” English · Vytautas Bikus, Monika Liubinaitė | 30 | 7 | SF2 · 7th 67 pts |
| 19 | Greece | Maria Elena Kyriakou | “One Last Breath” English · Vangelis Konstantinidis, Maria Elena Kyriakou, Efthivoulos Theocharous, Evelina Tziora | 23 | 15 | SF1 · 6th 81 pts |
| 20 | Hungary | Boggie | “Wars for Nothing” English · Sára Hélène Bori, Boglárka Csemer, Áron Sebestyén | 19 | 22 | SF1 · 8th 67 pts |
| 21 | Spain | Edurne | “Amanecer” Spanish · Peter Boström, Thomas G:son, Tony Sánchez-Ohlsson | 15 | 21 | Straight to the final |
| 22 | Cyprus | John Karayiannis | “One Thing I Should Have Done” English · Mike Connaris | 11 | 11 | SF2 · 6th 87 pts |
| 23 | Poland | Monika Kuszyńska | “In the Name of Love” English · Monika Kuszyńska, Kuba Raczyński | 10 | 18 | SF2 · 8th 57 pts |
| 24 | United Kingdom | Electro Velvet | “Still in Love with You” English · Adrian Bax White, David Mindel | 5 | 5 | Straight to the final |
| 25 | France | Lisa Angell | “N'oubliez pas” French · M. Albert, Michel Illouz, Laure Izon | 4 | 2 | Straight to the final |
| 26 | Austria | The Makemakes | “I Am Yours” English · Jimmy Harry, The Makemakes | 0 | 14 | Straight to the final |
| 27 | Germany | Ann Sophie | “Black Smoke” English · Michael Harwood, Ella McMahon, Tonino Speciale | 0 | 17 | Straight to the final |
The semi-finals
Every song in each semi-final, in finishing order. 13 songs didn’t reach the final.
First semi-final Tuesday, 19 May 2015 · 16 songs, 10 went through
| Place | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Sang | Then |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russia | Polina Gagarina | “A Million Voices” English · Gabriel Alares, Joakim Björnberg, Leonid Gutkin, Vladimir Matetsky, Katrina Noorbergen | 182 | 12 | Through: 2nd in the final |
| 2 | Belgium | Loïc Nottet | “Rhythm Inside” English · Loïc Nottet, Beverly Jo Scott | 149 | 3 | Through: 4th in the final |
| 3 | Estonia | Elina Born and Stig Rästa | “Goodbye to Yesterday” English · Stig Rästa | 105 | 7 | Through: 7th in the final |
| 4 | Georgia | Nina Sublatti | “Warrior” English · Thomas G:son, Nina Sublatti | 98 | 16 | Through: 11th in the final |
| 5 | Romania | Voltaj | “De la capăt” Romanian, English · Victor Răzvan Alstani, Gabriel Constantin, Adrian Cristescu, Călin Gavril Goia, Andrei Mădalin Leonte, Silviu Marian Păduraru, Monica-Ana Stevens | 89 | 15 | Through: 15th in the final |
| 6 | Greece | Maria Elena Kyriakou | “One Last Breath” English · Vangelis Konstantinidis, Maria Elena Kyriakou, Efthivoulos Theocharous, Evelina Tziora | 81 | 6 | Through: 19th in the final |
| 7 | Armenia | Genealogy | “Face the Shadow” English · Armen Martirosyan, Inna Mkrtchyan | 77 | 2 | Through: 16th in the final |
| 8 | Hungary | Boggie | “Wars for Nothing” English · Sára Hélène Bori, Boglárka Csemer, Áron Sebestyén | 67 | 10 | Through: 20th in the final |
| 9 | Serbia | Bojana Stamenov | “Beauty Never Lies” English · Vladimir Graić, Charlie Mason | 63 | 9 | Through: 10th in the final |
| 10 | Albania | Elhaida Dani | “I'm Alive” English · Arbër Elshani, Kristijan Lekaj, Sokol Marsi | 62 | 14 | Through: 17th in the final |
| 11 | Moldova | Eduard Romanyuta | “I Want Your Love” English · Hayley Aitken, Tom Andrews, Erik Lewander | 41 | 1 | Out |
| 12 | Belarus | Uzari and Maimuna | “Time” English · Gerylana, Maimuna, Uzari | 39 | 11 | Out |
| 13 | Denmark | Anti Social Media | “The Way You Are” English · Chief 1, Remee | 33 | 13 | Out |
| 14 | Netherlands | Trijntje Oosterhuis | “Walk Along” English · Tobias Karlsson, Anouk Teeuwe | 33 | 4 | Out |
| 15 | Macedonia | Daniel Kajmakoski | “Autumn Leaves” English · Robert Bilbilov, Joacim Persson | 28 | 8 | Out |
| 16 | Finland | Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät | “Aina mun pitää” Finnish · Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät | 13 | 5 | Out |
Second semi-final Thursday, 21 May 2015 · 17 songs, 10 went through
| Place | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Sang | Then |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sweden | Måns Zelmerlöw | “Heroes” English · Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Anton Hård af Segerstad | 217 | 13 | Through: 1st in the final |
| 2 | Latvia | Aminata | “Love Injected” English · Aminata Savadogo | 155 | 10 | Through: 6th in the final |
| 3 | Israel | Nadav Guedj | “Golden Boy” English · Doron Medalie | 151 | 9 | Through: 9th in the final |
| 4 | Norway | Mørland and Debrah Scarlett | “A Monster Like Me” English · Kjetil Mørland | 123 | 6 | Through: 8th in the final |
| 5 | Slovenia | Maraaya | “Here for You” English · Charlie Mason, Raay, Marjetka Vovk | 92 | 16 | Through: 14th in the final |
| 6 | Cyprus | John Karayiannis | “One Thing I Should Have Done” English · Mike Connaris | 87 | 15 | Through: 22nd in the final |
| 7 | Lithuania | Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila | “This Time” English · Vytautas Bikus, Monika Liubinaitė | 67 | 1 | Through: 18th in the final |
| 8 | Poland | Monika Kuszyńska | “In the Name of Love” English · Monika Kuszyńska, Kuba Raczyński | 57 | 17 | Through: 23rd in the final |
| 9 | Montenegro | Knez | “Adio (Адио)” Montenegrin · Dejan Ivanović, Željko Joksimović, Marina Tucaković | 57 | 4 | Through: 13th in the final |
| 10 | Azerbaijan | Elnur Hüseynov | “Hour of the Wolf” English · Sandra Bjurman, Lina Hansson, Nicklas Lif, Nicolas Rebscher | 53 | 11 | Through: 12th in the final |
| 11 | Malta | Amber | “Warrior” English · Matt "Muxu" Mercieca, Elton Zarb | 43 | 5 | Out |
| 12 | Ireland | Molly Sterling | “Playing with Numbers” English · Greg French, Molly Sterling | 35 | 2 | Out |
| 13 | Czech Republic | Marta Jandová and Václav Noid Bárta | “Hope Never Dies” English · Václav Noid Bárta, Tereza Šoralová | 33 | 8 | Out |
| 14 | Portugal | Leonor Andrade | “Há um mar que nos separa” Portuguese · Miguel Gameiro | 19 | 7 | Out |
| 15 | Iceland | Maria Olafs | “Unbroken” English · Ásgeir Orri Ásgeirsson, María Ólafsdóttir, Pálmi Ragnar Ásgeirsson, Sæþór Kristjánsson | 14 | 12 | Out |
| 16 | San Marino | Anita Simoncini and Michele Perniola | “Chain of Lights” English · John O'Flynn, Ralph Siegel | 11 | 3 | Out |
| 17 | Switzerland | Mélanie René | “Time to Shine” English · Mélanie René | 4 | 14 | Out |
Who showed it, and who talked over it
The channels that carried the contest in 43 countries, with the commentator where our source names one.
-
Albania
- TVSH Andri Xhahu
-
Australia
- SBS One Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang
-
Austria
- ORF eins Andi Knoll
-
Azerbaijan
- İTV, İTV Radio Kamran Guliyev (presenter)
-
Belarus
- Belarus-1, Belarus 24 Evgeny Perlin
-
Belgium
- La Une Jean-Louis Lahaye and Maureen Louys
- VivaCité (final) Olivier Gilain
- één, Radio 2 Peter Van de Veire and Eva Daeleman
-
Cyprus
- RIK 1, RIK Sat, RIK HD, RIK Triton Melina Karageorgiou
-
Czech Republic
- ČT art (semi-finals) Aleš Háma
- ČT1 (final) Aleš Háma
-
Denmark
- DR1 Ole Tøpholm
- DR Ramasjang Sign language performers
-
Estonia
- ETV Marko Reikop
- Raadio 2 (semi-final 1 and final) Mart Juur and Andrus Kivirähk
-
Finland
- Yle TV2 Finnish: Aino Töllinen and Cristal Snow, Swedish: Eva Frantz and Johan Lindroos
- Yle Radio Suomi Aino Töllinen and Cristal Snow
- Yle Radio Vega Eva Frantz and Johan Lindroos
-
France
- France Ô (semi-final 1) Mareva Galanter and Jérémy Parayre
- France 2 (final) Stéphane Bern and Marianne James
-
Georgia
- 1TV Lado Tatishvili and Tamuna Museridze
-
Germany
- Einsfestival, Phoenix (semi-finals) Peter Urban
- Das Erste (final) Peter Urban
- EinsPlus Sign language performers
-
Greece
- NERIT1, NERIT HD, Deftero Programma Maria Kozakou and Giorgos Kapoutzidis
-
Hungary
- Duna Gábor Gundel Takács
-
Iceland
- RÚV, Rás 2 Felix Bergsson
-
Israel
- Channel 1 Hebrew subtitles
- Channel 33 Arabic subtitles
- IBA 88FM Kobi Menora
- IBA 88FM (semi-final 1) Yuval Caspin
- IBA 88FM (semi-final 2) Tal Argaman
-
Italy
- Rai 4 (semi-finals) Marco Ardemagni and Filippo Solibello
- Rai 2, Rai HD (final) Federico Russo and Valentina Correani
- Rai Radio 2 Marco Ardemagni and Filippo Solibello
-
Latvia
- LTV1 Valters Frīdenbergs
- LTV1 (final) Toms Grēviņš
-
Macedonia
- MRT 1, MRT Sat, Radio Skopje Karolina Petkovska
- MRT 2, MRT 2 Sat
-
Moldova
- Moldova 1 Daniela Babici
- Radio Moldova, Radio Moldova Muzical, Radio Moldova Tineret Daniela Babici
-
Montenegro
- TVCG 2 Dražen Bauković and Tijana Mišković
- TVCG Sat (final) Dražen Bauković and Tijana Mišković
-
Netherlands
- NPO 1, BVN, NPO Radio 2 Cornald Maas and Jan Smit
-
Norway
- NRK1 Olav Viksmo-Slettan
- NRK3 (final) Ronny Brede Aase, Silje Nordnes and Markus Neby
- NRK P1 (final) Per Sundnes
-
Poland
- TVP1, TVP Polonia, TVP Rozrywka, TVP HD Artur Orzech
-
Portugal
- RTP1, RTP Internacional, RTP África Hélder Reis and Ramon Galarza
-
Romania
- TVR 1, TVRi, TVR HD Bogdan Stănescu
-
Russia
- Channel One Russia Yana Churikova and Yuriy Aksyuta
-
San Marino
- San Marino RTV, Radio San Marino Lia Fiorio and Gigi Restivo
-
Serbia
- RTS1, RTS HD, RTS SAT (semi-final 1 and final) Duška Vučinić
- RTS2, RTS SAT (semi-final 2) Silvana Grujić
- Radio Beograd 1 (final) Katarina Epstein and Nataša Raketić
-
Slovenia
- TV SLO 2 (semi-finals) Andrej Hofer
- TV SLO 1 (final) Andrej Hofer
- Radio Val 202, Radio Maribor (semi-final 2 and final) Andrej Hofer
-
Spain
- La 2 (semi-finals) José María Íñigo and Julia Varela
- La 1, Clan (final) José María Íñigo and Julia Varela
-
Sweden
- SVT1 Sanna Nielsen and Edward af Sillén
- SR P4 Carolina Norén and Ronnie Ritterland
-
Switzerland
- SRF zwei (semi-finals) Sven Epiney
- SRF 1 (final) Sven Epiney
- SRF 1, Radio SRF 3 (final) Peter Schneider and Gabriel Vetter
- srf.ch (online) (final) Sign language performers
- rts.ch (online) (semi-final 1) Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner
- RTS Deux (semi-final 2) Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner
- RTS Un (final) Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner
- RSI La 2 (semi-final 2) Clarissa Tami and Paolo Meneguzzi
- RSI La 1 (final) Clarissa Tami and Paolo Meneguzzi
-
United Kingdom
- BBC Three (semi-finals) Scott Mills and Mel Giedroyc
- BBC One (final) Graham Norton
- BBC Radio 2 Eurovision (semi-finals) Ana Matronic
- BBC Radio 2 (final) Ken Bruce
Also shown in
-
Bulgaria
- BNT 1, BNT HD (final) Elena Rosberg and Georgi Kushvaliev
-
Canada
- OutTV Adam Rollins and Tommy D.
-
China
- Hunan Television Kubert Leung and Wu Zhoutong
-
Kosovo
- RTK (final)
-
New Zealand
- BBC UKTV
-
Slovakia
- Rádio FM (final) Daniel Baláž, Pavol Hubinák and Juraj Malíček
-
Ukraine
- UA:Pershyi Timur Miroshnychenko and Tetyana Terekhova
Results as published by the European Broadcasting Union. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it.