Participating countries Eurovision Song Contest 2009

1 participating countries

1.1 notable artists did not qualify
1.2 returning artists
1.3 semi-finals

1.3.1 semi-final 1
1.3.2 semi-final 2


1.4 final

participating countries

following release of final participants list ebu, 42 countries confirmed participation in 2009 contest, including slovakia, returned contest after 11 years. georgia announced withdraw contest due 2008 south ossetia war in protest of foreign policies of russia, later decided return contest, inspired win @ junior eurovision song contest 2008, russia s 12 points in same contest. country withdrew contest due entry being deemed contain political references, including in title play on words of russia s prime minister s surname.

rumours arose surrounding participation , return of san marino , monaco. télé monte carlo (tmc), monegasque broadcaster, confirmed there talks ebu on monegasque return 2009 contest. @ same time, rumours spread san marino s broadcaster, radiotelevisione della repubblica di san marino (smrtv), withdraw contest due poor placing @ 2008 contest. in end, after confirming intent participate in moscow, smrtv forced withdraw event due financial difficulties prevented second entry.

alexander rybak after winning final.

the latvian broadcaster, latvijas televīzija (ltv), had reportedly withdrawn 2009 contest on 17 december 2008, 3 days after final participation deadline. came due budget cuts of on 2 million lati (2.8 million euros) ltv budget, hindering ability pay participation fee. ltv confirmed had informed ebu of intent withdraw based solely on financial difficulties. ltv went discussions ebu in attempt find solution keep country in contest. on 20 december 2008, ltv announced withdrawing contest, , both ebu , channel 1 had agreed not force financial penalty on late withdrawal of broadcaster 2009 contest. ltv announced intent @ 2010 contest. however, on 12 january 2009, announced latvia participate in 2009 contest. each country chose entry contest through own selection process. countries selected entry through internal selection, representing network chose both song , artist, while others held national finals public chose song, artist, or both.

notable artists did not qualify

notable artists participated in 1 of national song selection shows, did not manage qualify eurovision song contest include agnes carlsson, alcazar, alexey vorobyov, ana bebić, ana nikolić, anita hegerland, anna semenovich, bambir, emilia rydberg, hera björk, hurriganes, jari sillanpää, kaliopi, måns zelmerlöw, marie serneholt, valeriya , wenche myhre.

returning artists

by completion of 2009 selection processes, 3 countries had chosen artists had participated in contest. returning artists included chiara, represented malta in 1998 , 2005, sakis rouvas, represented greece in 2004 , presented 2006 contest. friðrik Ómar, part of euroband duo in 2008, part of choir in iceland s entry , martina majerle, represented slovenia quartissimo, had participated backing vocalist in 2003 croatian , 2007 slovenian entries.

semi-finals

thirty-seven countries participated in 1 of 2 semi-finals of contest. semi-final allocation draw took place on 30 january 2009, while draw running order held on 16 march 2009.

semi-final 1

the first semi final took place in moscow on 12 may.
the united kingdom , germany voted in semi-final.
georgia drawn perform in semi-final, withdrew contest due song controversy.
flax denotes entry chosen jury go final.


semi-final 2

the second semi final took place in moscow on 14 may.
france , russia voted in semi-final. spain scheduled televote in semi-final, due scheduling errors @ tve, semi-final aired late , spanish viewers not able vote, spanish jury s vote used instead.
flax denotes entry chosen jury go final.


final

the finalists were:

the big 4 (france, germany, spain , united kingdom).
the host country, russia.
the top 9 countries first semi-final plus 1 wildcard juries.
the top 9 countries second semi-final plus 1 wildcard juries.

the final took place in moscow on 16 may @ 23:00 mst (19:00 utc) , won norway. received points every voting country (lowest score 2 points bulgaria) , led vote beginning end. norway got 36 nations top 3 scores (no less 8 points).