Eurovision is over for another year and Russia did the contest proud, hosting three spectacular concerts at Moscow’s Indoor Olympic Sports Arena. The contest, as you’re well aware by now, was won by Norway’s Alexander Rybak with his single ‘Fairytale’. The 22 year old also became the highest scorer in Eurovision history, amassing an incredible 387 points to win the award from Iceland and Azerbaijan in second and third respectively. The UK’s entry finished a respectable fifth after the voting process was overhauled for the 2009 competition in an effort to stamp out the block voting which had plagued Eurovision in recent years.
Here’s a recap of where the top 25 finished;
01 (387 points) : NORWAY (Alexander Rybak)
02 (218 points) : ICELAND (Yohanna)
03 (207 points) : AZERBAIJAN (Aysel & Arash)
04 (177 points) : TURKEY (Hadise)
05 (173 points) : UNITED KINGDOM (Jade Ewen)
06 (129 points) : ESTONIA (Urban Symphony)
07 (120 points) : GREECE (Sakis Rouvas)
08 (107 points) : FRANCE (Patricia Kaas)
09 (106 points) : BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA (Regina)
10 (92 points) : ARMENIA (Inga & Anush)
11 (91 points) : RUSSIA (Anastasia Prikhodko)
12 (76 points) : UKRAINE (Svetlana Loboda)
13 (74 points) : DENMARK (Brinck)
14 (69 points) : MOLDOVA (Nelly Ciobanu)
15 (57 points) : PORTUGAL (Flor-De-Lis)
16 (53 points) : ISRAEL (Noa & Mira Awad)
17 (48 points) : ALBANIA (Kejsi Tola)
18 (45 points) : CROATIA (Igor Cukrov ftg. Andrea)
19 (40 points) : ROMANIA (Elena)
20 (35 points) : GERMANY (Alex Swings, Oscar Sings)
21 (33 points) : SWEDEN (Malena Ernman)
22 (31 points) : MALTA (Chiara)
23 (23 points) : LITHUANIA (Sasha Son)
23 (23 points) : SPAIN (Soraya)
25 (22 points) : FINLAND (Waldo’s People)
Some decidedly memorable events, some truly spectacular staging and lighting, some slightly lacklustre hosting (not from the Russian end of things) and a deserving winner in Alexander Rybak. Until next year when Eurovision heads to Oslo then… Here again is the winning performance;