The 54th Eurovision Song Contest Final In Moscow - Live Blog

Official Sites: Eurovision, BBC Eurovision. ESCToday

Other Live Blogs: The Guardian, Bill Cameron

Welcome to Eurovision 2009! Not without it's controversies such as the on again/off again Georgian entry and today's abuse of homosexual activists in Moscow. Whilst I suspect acknowledgment of the Russian invasion of Georgia last year is a little too much to ask for, a mention of today's events would be very welcome indeed.

There's a rather Western European theme tonight as our entries have done comparatively well considering we are vastly out numbered by countries from the East of the old Iron Curtain in the competition as a whole. Of course you won't hear that on the news, as everyone is soooo obsessed with Eastern domination.

Not only is there a change in voting (details plus all artists videos here) but also a rather huge change for us Brits. Terry Wogan has, thankfully, passed his commentating jacket on to a new generation (after last years contest I think it was the best decision for all involved). Graham Norton will be leading the proceedings tonight, and it will be interesting to see how he performs, although those who hope for him to actually like Eurovision might be asking too much.

Anyway... Good luck to Jade!!! Here we go...

20:01 Graham sounds rather reserved, in a good way. Your usual show opening, all costumes and dancing.

20:04 Very impressive Cirque Du Soleil

20:06 Dima looks as cute as ever!! But lip synching? TUT!

20:08 Wow, that was the worst returning performance I've ever seen on Eurovision!

20:10 Thank God. It's not the semi final presenters. Fingers crossed Dimitry still about though!

20:11 Graham, stop talking over the presenters!!!!

Lithuania

"Love" - Sasha Son

I wasn't a big fan of thise last night. He looks very smart, and sings well. But the song is a bit too "Blue" esqe (the band that is!). But a nifty performance nevertheless.

Israel

"There Must Be Another Way" - Noa and Mira Awad

As I said the other day, it's the first Israeli entry I'm not dismissing outright for political reasons. (Yeah, I encourage political voting!). The message is good. The song is good. But the singing is really average. Almost good kareoke rather than of the high standard I'd expect.

France

"Et s'il fallait le faire" - Patricia Kaas

It's the first of the Big 4. Very good. Amazing singing, good song. And it was in French. Always good. Liked it alot.

Sweden

"La voix" Malena Ernman

Viewing this afresh tonight, it is actually rather good isn't it? Liked it.

Croatia

"Lijepa Tena" - Igor Cukrov feat. Andrea

Yeah, it's alright. But I don't really like it myself.

Portugal

"Todas as ruas do amor" - Flor-de-Lis

Very good. Very summery and upbeat.

Iceland

"Is It True?" - Yohanna

Good song, good singer, should do well. IS IT TRUE??? But Iceland really don't want to win... how would they afford it?!

Greece

"This is our night" - Sakis Rouvas

There were nipples. There was dancing. There was Sakis, Mr Eurovision himself. Gotta be in the top ten for me.

Armenia

"Jan Jan" - Inga and Anush

I don't know. I thought I was in a very forgiving mood for the semi finals, but on second viewing I am even more ready to like these songs. Brilliant song, singing not so much but the outfits and the dancing almost made up for that deficiency.

Russia

"Mamo" - Anastasiya Prikhodko

After what happened in Moscow today, I think we should all do raspberries through this song. And it's not brilliant either.

Azerbaijan

"Always" - AySel and Arash

Again more forgiving. Liked this a lot tonight, very Eurovision. Maybe it's because most of my favourite are gone and I'm very these with less prejudice than before.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

"Bistra Voda" - Regina

Good singing, but the song is soooo boring.

We are not treated to Dimitry during the break, instead a "light hearted" look at singing policeman which allowed Graham to mention the pride incident! In your face Russia!

Moldova

"Hora din Moldova" - Nelly Ciobanu

Fun song, with Steve's favourite dancers, but difficult to sing along to. Not that I tried... ;)

Malta

"What If We" - Chiara

Oh here she is again... 3rd time lucky! I actually really love this song, and not just because Malta have always been generous with their votes to the UK. She can certainly sing, and this song shows that off.

Love you Malta!

Estonia

"Rändajad" - Urban Symphony

Another great song, another good performance. Not going to get my vote but I'll be listening to it again.

Denmark

"Believe Again" - Niels Brinck

Too much of Ronan Keating in this song. The sound, the lyrics, all too Ronan for me.

Germany

"Miss Kiss Kiss Bang" - Alex Swings Oscar Sings!

Love the song. Really very good. Shame about the glittery trousers...

Turkey

"Düm Tek Tek" - Hadise

My favourite all along. Sadly the singing here let it down... big time... :(

Albania

"Carry Me In Your Dreams" - Kejsi Tola

I do like this song. Very good... Graham and Twitterers seem really down on this... I don't know why.

Norway

"Fairytale" - Alexander Rybak

Hmm... it's a bit annoying this song. But then I just imagine Alexander and myself in an orchard frolicing naked and all is forgiven. Sorry for the images there Dear Constant Reader.

I wish someone had told him this was not a speaking contest.

Ukraine

"Be My Valentine! (Anti-Crisis Girl)" - Svetlana Loboda

It's crazy. It's the Ukraine! What does one expect? Men in silver Roman centurion outfits, crazy set, brilliant chorus. I like it in a "I wouldn't vote for it in a million years" sort of way.

Romania

"The Balkan Girls" - Elena

Hmm.. good song but the dodgy singing arrangements left me cold.

United Kingdom

"It's My Time" - Jade Ewan

It's my country. Not my choice of song, but Jade is, as always, amazing. Did the Lord need to be there? He looked a mess and made us look tacky! Might as well have had me up on the stage.

Finland

"Lose Control" - Waldo's People

Jesus, did I have some happy juice today? At the semi final I decried this as "eurorap" but loved it this evening!

Spain

"La noche es para mí" - Soraya Arnelas

Hmm... not as good as in the video. The singing let it down BUT vast improvement on last few Spanish entries.

Voting

I'll be voting for Malta who have snuck past Turkey to steal my affections. Esctoday have their top ten as:

1. Norway
2. Turkey
3. Greece
4. Azerbaijan
5. Iceland
6. Bosnia & Herzegovina
7. United Kingdom
8. Ukraine
9. France
10. Estonia

It'll be interesting to see how that pans out.

This year, as a seasoned Eurovision viewer, I have been totally shocked by the high quality of songs this year. Going to be difficult to call, especially with the new voting.

That was the most crazy interval act ever!! Swimming pools in the sky.

Here we go...

Spain gives us 10 points!!!!! We love you Spain!!!
No points for us from Belgium (BOOO)
Belarus gives us 3 points! WOOOO...
Malta gives us 10 points!!! WOOOOOO... best showing for ages!
Germany gives us 8 points! YAYYYY!
The Czech Republic gives us 6 points!!! Love to Prague!
Sweden. No more love for you!
Iceland... grr.. the Scandanavians.
France gives us 4 points.. :D
Israel gives us 4 points. Send them some weapons!!!
Russia gives us 6 points but they are not forgiven!!!
Latvia gives us 2. Who would have thought this could be though of as an insult???? We would have loved 2 points this time last year.
Montenegro shock everyone. Or not. No points.
Andorra gives us 4 points! YAY!
Finland. Nada.
Switzerland. Nada. Off the Christmas list.
Bulgaria. 7 points. We love Sofia.
Lithuania give us 3 points. :D
We give 12 points to Turkey woooo...
Macedonia give us 6 points. Wooo..

I'm stopping this, as really Jade has already done us proud!!!!!! :D See you at the end of voting.

Norway won by a landslide, but that was a sure thing. We came 5th!!!! We are back Europe!! WOOOOO....

see you tomorrow for my thoughts on the winner, Graham and Jade!

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