The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that it will work harder to bring back Italy, Monaco and Austria to the 2010 edition of the contest.

The Norwegian Minister for Culture, Trond Giske, and the head of host broadcaster NRK, Hans-Tore Bjerkaas agreed on a budget of 17 million euros (150 million Norwegian Kroner). The amount is less than the amount which was spent on the 2009 edition in Moscow, but is greater than the amount dedicated to the 2007 Contest in Helsinki.

On a press conference in Oslo on 27 May, 2009 it was announced that the show will be held in the Oslo metropolitan area. NRK argued that Oslo was the only city with the required capacity, venues and infrastructure to hold the show. While they haven’t decided the venue for the contest, NRK confirmed that it’s down to two shortlist alternatives; the venue of the 1996 contest, Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, or the newly constructed Telenor Arena in the neighboring municipality Bærum.

It has been widely debated in Norwegian media regarding which television personalities who will present the 2010 contest; NRK hosts Jon Almaas and Fredrik Skavlan of Nytt på nytt and Først & sist, respectively, are amongst the ones being discussed, while the popular TV 2 duo Thomas Numme and Harald Rønneberg came in first during a voting-campaign that Dagbladet had posted on its homepage where readers could vote on the celebrity they’d wanted the most. Also in the TV2 network, television personality Dorthe Skappel has expressed interest in presenting the contest ceremony, and came in second on Dagbladet’s vote toll, however, nothing has been determined yet.

Georgia: “We Don’t Wanna Put In”

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. The EBU rejected the song due to these political connotations, calling it a clear breach of the contest’s rules. The EBU then asked the Georgian broadcaster Georgian Public Broadcasting (GPB) on 10 March to change either the lyrics of the song, or to select a new song to compete for the country. GPB refused to change the lyrics or the song, claiming that the song contained no political references, and that the rejection by the EBU was due to political pressure from Russia. As such, GPB withdrew Georgia from the contest on 11 March. The EBU has yet to make a comment on the country’s withdrawal, and it is unknown how Georgia’s withdrawal may affect its future participation. On 11 May the band admitted the political content of the song and their intention was just to embarrass Putin in Moscow. They also claim that the EBU banned their message from the competition.

LGBT protests

Russian gay rights activist Nikolai Alekseev used the Contest’s presence in Russia as a platform for promoting the country’s position on the rights of LGBT people, countering Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov’s view that homosexuality is “satanic”. Alekseev announced that the 2009 edition of Moscow Pride, the city’s annual gay pride parade, would coincide with the finals on May 16, the day before the International Day Against Homophobia. The parade was also renamed “Slavic Gay Pride”, to promote gay rights and culture across the entire Slavic region of Europe. The parade was denied authorisation by Moscow officials on the basis that it would “destroy morals in society” and statements were issued stating that protesters would be treated “toughly”, and that “tough measures” would be faced by anyone joining the march. In the event, 20 protesters were arrested by Moscow police on the day of the finals including Nikolai Alexeyev and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who exclaimed that “this shows the Russian people are not free” as he was taken away by police. Sweden’s representative Malena Ernman supported the cause saying that she is not homosexual herself but would be proud to call herself gay to support her fans. She stated that she was sad that the Moscow government would not allow a “tribute to love”. The Swedish spokesperson Sarah Dawn Finer reading the votes, wore a rainbow coloured dog tag in solidarity. Norway’s Alexander Rybak also referred to the controversy when he called the Eurovision Song Contest itself the biggest gay parade.

Broadcast delay in Spain
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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. Due to another conflict of interest, Spain had already switched to broadcast the second semi-final rather than the first, which also led to criticisms from the delegations of Andorra and Portugal, which stated that they would have experienced an advantage from a Spanish vote due to their similar cultures.

The day after the semifinal, El Mundo speculated that this delay may have been done on purpose in order to prevent Spain from winning and hosting the contest, speculating that RTVE may not actually want to host the contest if Spain were to win. A statement in ABC had cited technical difficulties for the delay.

Armenian and Azerbaijani postcards

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, capital city of unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which de jure constitutes a part of Azerbaijan. The statue was built in Soviet times to celebrate the area’s Armenian heritage. Azerbaijan complained to the EBU that the video clip was unacceptable based on the fact that Nagorno-Karabakh is a part of Azerbaijan, and it was subsequently edited out for the broadcast of the final. In retaliation, the presenter of the Armenian votes, Sirusho, held up a clipboard with the monument’s picture on it multiple times as she read off the votes, and in the background a screen in the capital’s main square could also be seen to display the disputed monument. Despite the controversy, the votes were revealed that Armenia had given Azerbaijan a point.

Azerbaijan’s reel depicted Maqbaratoshoara and Segonbad monuments, the symbols of the cities of Tabriz and Urumieh in the Azerbaijan region of Iran. The Armenian media have complained that while Eurovision forbade demonstration of the Armenian monument located in Azerbaijan`s Karabakh region after the protest of Azerbaijani government, it allowed the inclusion of the Iranian monuments.

The EBU released a statement in late May, stating that the sanctions would be announced for Azerbaijan, by June. As the source states, the Azeri broadcaster failed to show the image of the Armenian representatives, and another contestant’s entry were shown instead. Also, there was no number for the public to call and vote for the Armenian Song. Azerbaijan denied all the charges, providing a video of the broadcast in support of its position.

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. Second place went to Iceland and third to Azerbaijan with Turkey and the United Kingdom finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

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.

The contest was held in Russia following its victory in the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia with Dima Bilan’s “Believe”. Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia, stated that the contest would be held in Moscow.

It was proposed by Channel One, that the contest be held in Moscow’s Olympic Indoor Arena and this proposal was evaluated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and confirmed on 13 September 2008.The Director-General of the venue, Vladimir Churilin refuted rumours of emergency reconstruction of the building, saying: “It will not be required for the Eurovision Song Contest. We now can take up to 25 thousand spectators.”

Host broadcaster Channel One presented the sub-logo and theme for the 2009 contest on 30 January 2009. The sub-logo is based upon a “Fantasy Bird”, which can be used with many colours. Like in previous years, the sub-logo was presented alongside the generic logo. 2009 was the first year since 2001 that there was no slogan for the contest.

The stage was designed by New York-based set designer John Casey and is based around the theme of contemporary Russian avant-garde. Casey, who had previously designed the stage for the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 in Dublin, was also involved in design teams for the 1994 and 1995 contests. He explained that “even before worked with the Russians on the TEFI Awards in Moscow in 1998, was inspired by and drawn to art from the Russian Avant Garde period, especially the constructivists… tried to come up with a theatrical design for the contest that incorporates Russian avant-garde art into a contemporary setting, almost entirely made up of different types of LED screens.” Casey explained that together, the various LED shapes form the finished product. Furthermore, large sections of the stage have the ability to move, including the circular central portion of curved LED screens which can be moved to effect and allows for each song to have a different feel.

The postcards (short videos between the acts) were as follows:

* Miss World 2008, Ksenia Sukhinova appears.
* A group of famous buildings, monuments and landscapes from the corresponding country appear, like making 3-D pages of a book.
* Sukhinova reappears wearing a hat with all those buildings and a t-shirt with the colours of the country’s flag. On the right appears the logo of ESC09 and the name of the country.
* Then appears a Russian expression and its meaning. (For example: “Spasibo” = Thank You)

Following the release of the final participants list by the EBU, forty-two countries confirmed their participation in the 2009 contest, including Slovakia, which returned to the contest after 11 years.

Georgia originally announced that it was to withdraw from the contest due to the 2008 South Ossetia war in protest of the foreign policies of Russia, but later decided to return to the contest, inspired by its win at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008, as well as Russia’s 12 points to it in the same contest. The country eventually withdrew from the contest due to its entry being deemed to contain political references.

Rumours arose surrounding the participation and return of San Marino and Monaco. Télé Monte Carlo (TMC), the Monegasque broadcaster, confirmed that there were talks with the EBU over a Monegasque return to the 2009 contest. At the same time, rumours spread that San Marino’s broadcaster, Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV), would withdraw from the contest due to poor placing at the 2008 contest. In the end, after originally confirming their intent to participate in Moscow, SMRTV was forced to withdraw from the event due to financial difficulties that prevented a second entry.

The Latvian broadcaster, Latvijas Televīzija (LTV), had reportedly withdrawn from the 2009 contest on 17 December 2008, three days after the final participation deadline. This came about due to budget cuts of over 2 million lati (2.8 million euros) from the LTV budget, hindering their ability to pay the participation fee. LTV confirmed that they had informed the EBU of their intent to withdraw based solely on financial difficulties. LTV then went into discussions with the EBU in an attempt to find a solution that would keep the country in the Contest. On 20 December 2008, LTV announced that it would be withdrawing from the contest, and that both the EBU and Channel One had agreed not to force a financial penalty on the late withdrawal of the broadcaster from the 2009 contest. LTV also announced its intent to be at the 2010 contest. However, on 12 January 2009, it was announced that Latvia would participate in the 2009 contest.

Each country chose its entry for the contest through its own selection process. Some countries selected their entry through an internal selection, where the representing network chose both the song and artist, while others held national finals where the public chose the song, the artist, or both. By the completion of the 2009 selection processes, two countries had chosen artists who had previously participated in the contest. Returning artists included Chiara, who represented Malta in 1998 and 2005, and Sakis Rouvas, who represented Greece in 2004.

The contest final took place on 16 May 2009 at the Olympic Indoor Arena in Moscow, Russia with two semi-finals preceding it on 12 and 14 May. Thirty-seven countries participated in one of the two semi-finals of the contest, with the “Big Four” countries (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the host pre-qualified for the final. In addition to those pre-qualified, the final also included the ten selected countries from each semi-final, making a total of twenty-five participants.

A discussion on changes to the format of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest had taken place at a EBU meeting in Athens, Greece in June 2008 where a proposal was made that could have resulted in the “Big Four” losing their automatic place in the final of the contest. However, it was confirmed that the “Big Four” countries would continue to automatically qualify for the final at the 2009 contest.

In response to some broadcasters’ continued complaints about politically charged, neighbourly and diaspora voting, the EBU evaluated the voting procedure used in the contest, with the possibility of a change in the voting system for 2009. Contest organisers sent a questionnaire regarding the voting system to participating broadcasters, and a reference group incorporated the responses into their suggestions for next year’s format. Telewizja Polska (TVP), the Polish broadcaster, suggested that an international jury similar to the one used in the 2008 Eurovision Dance Contest be introduced in the Eurovision Song Contest to lessen the impact of neighbourly voting and place more emphasis on the artistic value of the song.A jury would lead to less political and diaspora voting as the jury members, mandated to be music industry experts, would also have a say in addition to “random members of the public”.

It was decided that for the contest final, each country’s votes would be decided by a combination of 50% televoting results and 50% national jury. The method of selecting the semi-final qualifiers remained the same for the most part, with nine countries, instead of the ten as in years past, qualifying from each semi-final based on the televoting results.For the tenth qualifier from each semi-final, the highest placed country on the back-up jury scoreboard that had not already qualified, was chosen for the final. At the final, each country combined their 1-12 points from the televote with their 1-12 jury points to create their “national scorecard”. The country with the most points received 12 points, the second placed country received 10 points and so on. If a tie arose, the song with the higher televote position was given the advantage and the higher point value. National juries were originally phased out of the contest beginning in 1997, with televoting becoming mandatory for nearly all participants since 2003.

Edgar Böhm, director of entertainment for Austria’s public broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), has stated that the 2008 format with two semi-finals “still incorporates a mix of countries who will be politically favoured in the voting process,” and “that, unless a clear guideline as to how the semifinals are organised is made by the EBU, Austria will not be taking part in Moscow 2009.” Despite the inclusion of jury voting in the final, Austria did not return to the contest in 2009.

Pot allocations

On Friday 30 January 2009, the draw to decide which countries will appear in either the first or second semi-final took place. Participating countries were separated into six pots as determined by voting patterns in previous contests. A draw then took place from the six pots to determine which countries would participate in the first semi-final or second semi-final. It was also determined that Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom would vote in the first semi-final, while France and Russia would vote in the second semi-final. The draw for the running order of the semi-finals, finals, and the order of voting, occurred on 16 March 2009.

Both Jørgen and Niels Olsen participated in the musical Hair in the Cirkusbygningen in Copenhagen March 1971, and went on tour afterwards through Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

The Olsen Brothers’ first album came out in 1972. To date they have released 12 albums.

Their big hit singles include “Angelina” (1972), “Julie” (1977), “San Francisco” (1978), “Dans Dans Dans” (1979), “Marie, Marie” (1982) and “Neon Madonna” (1985).

After having won the annual Dansk Melodi Grand Prix song competition in 2000 in Copenhagen they went on to represent Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 in Stockholm, where they stormed to a landslide victory with the song “Fly on the Wings of Love” (translated from the Danish Smuk som et Stjerneskud (literally translated, “Beautiful as a Shooting Star”). At one stage, they sold 100,000 copies in one day, in Denmark.

They opened the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 in Copenhagen with a short reprise of their winning song from the previous year, followed by a full performance of their new release “Walk Right Back”.

In 2005 for the first time since their victory, they re-entered the Danish Melodi Grand Prix, the national pre-selection for the Eurovision contest, with the song “Little Yellow Radio”. It was widely reported that they hoped to repeat their triumph; however this time they had to settle for second place, finishing behind Jakob Sveistrup, a student teacher from Odense and former finalist on Danish television’s talent competition Stjerne for en aften (“Star for a Night”).

Their song Fly on the Wings of Love was nominated as one of the 14 finalists for the 50th anniversary Eurovision concert in Copenhagen, Denmark, at which they also performed.

In 2001, Padar claimed the spotlight for himself along with the boyband 2XL and the Aruban born Dave Benton, a novice at the Eurovision, but with extensive performance experience. They won the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with their song Everybody.

Padar performs with a band known as The Sun and is currently very popular in Estonia. In 2006 Tanel & The Sun places in Estonian 2006 chart (top 40) was 1. 4. 12. 23. 29. 31(R2- yearly hit). The song “Hopelessness you” was in MTV World Chart Express (WCE). Tanel Padar was married to Katarina Kalda, a former model. He dated Evely Ventsli until August 2007. Tanel’s sister Gerli Padar is also a famous singer in Estonia, who became well-known years before Tanel did.

Dave Benton (born January 31, 1951, real name Efren Eugene Benita) is a pop musician and 2001 winner of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Benton was born on the Caribbean island of Aruba in 1951 and in his 20s moved to the United States. As a drummer and a backing vocalist, he worked with The Drifters, Tom Jones, Billy Ocean, José Feliciano and the Platters.

While living in the Netherlands in the 1980s, he met his future Estonian wife Maris on a cruise ship, then settled in Estonia in 1997. He has had a varied musical career in Northern European countries. He now lives in Estonia with his wife and two daughters, Sissi and Lisa. He performed in the German production of the musical ‘City Lights’ after which he was asked to replace Engelbert Humperdinck on his Australian tour.

Though he has released and produced quite a few albums already, one of which in his native tongue, Papiamento, his career to date shows him to be more of a performing artist rather than a recording one.

In 2001 he performed with budding Estonian rock singer Tanel Padar and boyband 2XL to win the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with their song Everybody.

Soul Militia (known until 2002 as 2XL) is an Estonian hip-hop act, internationally most notable for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 as backing singers for Tanel Padar and Dave Benton, with the song “Everybody”. The group consists of Lauri Pihlap (“Lowry”), Sergei Morgun (“Semy”) and Kaido Põldma (“Craig”). A fourth member, Indrek Soom (“Ince”), left the group in 2004. 2XL was originally founded by Morgun and Soom in 1997. They later participated in the 2007 Estonian Eurovision preselection with a song titled “My Place”.