Eurovision Song Contest 2009 Results and Controversies

Eurovision Song Contest 2009 Results and Controversies

The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 took place between 12 and 16 May 2009 at the Olympic Indoor Arena in Moscow, Russia. The contest was won by Norway’s Alexander Rybak and his song “Fairytale” which received a record breaking 387 points, the highest total score in Eurovision history. Following Norway’s victory was Iceland in second place, Azerbaijan in third place, Turkey in fourth place and United Kingdom in fifth place.

Changes in the voting procedure were made with the re-introduction of a national jury alongside televoting while the format of the semi-finals remained the same. Forty-two countries participated in the contest; Slovakia announced that it would return to the contest, while San Marino withdrew due to financial issues. Latvia and Georgia originally announced their intention to withdraw, but it was later stated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) that both countries would indeed participate. However, Georgia later decided to withdraw after the EBU rejected its selected song as being a breach of contest rules.

Eurovision Song Contest 2009 Controversies:

- After being placed to compete in the first semi-final on 12 May, a national final was held in Georgia to select its entry. The selected entry, Stefane & 3G with “We Don’t Wanna Put In” gained coverage and controversy due to perceived political connotations within its lyrics relating to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.[59] The EBU rejected the song due to these political connotations

- Due to its commitments to broadcast the Madrid Open tennis tournament, Spain’s public broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE) broadcast the second semi-final on a tape delay on its second channel TVE2 approximately 66 minutes after the show began in Moscow, and used a backup jury rather than televoting to decide its votes. Due to this rule violation, it was announced that Spain would eventually face sanctions, although these sanctions would not affect its participation in Moscow.

- A series of controversies between Armenia and Azerbaijan unfolded throughout the semi-finals and final. The introductory ‘postcard’ for Armenia (the short video clip played before the Armenian performance) depicted, amongst other monuments, We Are Our Mountains, a statue located in Stepanakert (Khankendi), Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The statue was built in Soviet times to celebrate the area’s Armenian heritage, but its location in Karabakh is claimed by both countries. Azerbaijan complained to the EBU that the video clip was unacceptable due to the fact that the statue was on Azerbaijani land.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).