:: Eurovision 24 :: Oslo 2010

The 2010 Eurovision Song Contest already has a theme art and a slogan: Share the moment. The theme depicts a series of spheres representing people gathering together to enjoy a unique moment that is followed by more than 100 million viewers across the continent and beyond. The theme and slogan have been revealed today at a press conference held in Oslo, the host city for the next Eurovision Song Contest. EBU and host broadcaster NRK main officials were present to inform the press on the latest identity adopted by the Eurovision Song Contest. Svante Stockselius, executive supervisor of the contest on behalf of the EBU, praised NRK's capability to carry out the Eurovision preparations speedily and successfully: "I never saw a host broadcaster being this well prepared at this time of the year", Stockselius stated. "We want to share the Eurovision Song Contest, rather than just broadcast it", Hasse Lindmo, TV-producer of the contest for NRK explained. "One par

ESC Today reports that Montenegro is the latest country to announce its withdrawal from the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest. The state television of the republic, RTCG, have claimed financial reasons for this decision. Montenegro will miss the 2010 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. According to their national broadcaster, in a brief announcement, the decision has been taken in order to reach financial consolidation after three years as an independent state. -

Esctoday.com reports... Peter Kölbel of Liechtenstein's broadcaster 1FL has stated that the country will not make its debut at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. The station is said not to aim for EBU membership in December, when the admission window will open. Liechtenstein has been strongly rumoured to take part next year in the Eurovision Song Contest owing to the broadcaster 1FL's intention to become a full member of the European Broadcasting Union. Now it seems that the station has decided to postpone these plans due to financial reasons, so that the principality will not make its debut until 2011 at the earliest. Now, the broadcaster will look into all the possible options to fund the costs of the EBU membership, after ruling out an application in December.

Finally, and after strong indications that Estonia would be very likely to withdraw from the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest due to financial reasons, the country's broadcaster ERR has confirmed that Estonia will be in Oslo next year esctoday.com reports. This is thanks to a 1.5 million EEK (around 95,900 euro) loan from the foundation Enterprise Estonia (EAS), while the broadcaster will cover up to 300,000 EEK (19,170 euro) of the costs of the national selection process. -

The Irish broadcaster RTÉ has confirmed to esctoday.com that it will particpate in the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest in 2010. Speculation had arisen that RTÉ may withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 given the current economic financial climate in Ireland as too other countries. With numerous countries' broadcasters having withdrawn or facing a consideration to withdraw due to financial strain, esctoday.com contacted RTÉ for an update. RTÉ have confirmed to esctoday.com that, this week that it has just submitted its' application to the EBU for its participation in next May's contest to be held in Oslo, Norway. With regarding a format for selecting a song, RTÉ are looking at a set of possible options and hope to reach a final decision shortly. SOURCE: ESC TODAY -

ESC TODAY REPORTS The Reference Group of the Eurovision Song Contest, the governing body of the competition, have announced moments ago that the 2010 contest will see an important novelty: viewers will be able to cast their votes from the performance of the first song. Once more, the Junior Eurovision Song Contest proves to be a testing ground for the senior competition. This change will be introduced to both the semifinals and the grand final. Phone lines will remain open from the performance of the first entry until 15 minutes after the end of the last song. This means that televoting via phone call and SMS will be enabled for nearly one or two hours depending on the show. Some reasons are argued from the EBU to support this change. The total amount of votes cast throughout the three shows will be higher and will not arrive in a bulk in just 15 minutes between the last song is performed and the results start to be announced. It is also intended to prevent telephone companies from get

ESC TODAY REPORTS. Hungarian public broadcaster, MTV, have announced that Hungary will not participate at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Oslo. Budget limitations are said to be the reason for this decision. Hungarian broadcaster explained that financial difficulties are behind the country's withdrawal from the competition next year. MTV’s budget is expected be cut down by more than fifty percent in 2010, therefore the company's management has already taken several radical steps, for instance, they have reduced their programs, and fired many of their employees. Hungary was represented by Ádok Zoli this year in Moscow with the song Dance with me, not reaching the final stage of the competition. -

The Eurovision Song Contest's Reference Group of the EBU (the governing body of the contest) has decided that the professional jury in each country will not just decide on 50% of the votes in the Final, but also in the two Semifinal's, in next year's contest in Oslo, Norway. Last year, EBU members, journalists and fans, saw the introduction of the juries to the final in a positive way. The Reference Group, who meets four to five times a year, developes the future format of the Contest. They decided to introduce the juries in the Semifinals too, and not just in the final: The juries will decide upon 50% of the Semifinal votes and the televotes and SMS-votes will make up the other 50%. The top ten countries in the combined results, will qualify to the final, where they will meet the Big 4 countries (Spain, United Kingdom, France and Germany) and this year's host, Norway. The two semifinals will be held in Telenor Arena in Oslo, the capital city of Norway, on 25 (Semifinal

Despite rumours on Eurolaul and grand national final, the CEO of the Estonian state television told the local press today that the broadcaster is considering the option of withdrawal from the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest. It seems that according to Margus Allikmaa (ERR) the problem is not only the cost of participation and national selection but also a potential victory in Oslo. The hosting cost is something that the broadcaster cannot handle in case Estonia wins in Norway, seems to have said in the ELU24.ee site. The broadcaster needs to save 7% of its budget and a year of absence will not hard the popularity of the contest in Estonia Mr Allikmaa says. Eurolaul might take place at the end but the winner is not entering for sure in the row for Oslo. The broadcaster needs at least 224,000 Euros to enter the 2010 Eurovision edition but ERR has made no final decision whether participating or not in Oslo. Source: Oikotimes.com -

The Norwegian broadcaster hosting the 2010 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest has adjusted their original estimate on how much the arrangement is going to cost. The revised sum is now estimated at 211 million Norwegian kroner (ca. €24 mill.), when the original sum quoted was closer to 150 million (€17 mill.) that NRK say it cost YLE to host the contest in Helsinki in Finland in 2007. Last year's contest in Moscow cost reportedly $40 mill. (ca €27 mill.) More from ESC Today -

Liechtenstein's only television broadcaster 1FLTV has launched an apply of admission to the EBU. Being a member of the European Broadcasting Union is obligatory to be allowed to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest. The country is ready to have its debut in the competition in the near future. 1FLTV director Peter Kölbel has stated that the negotiations with the EBU are progressing. He also revealed that it might be possible for Liechtenstein to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2010 already. However, this would demand a change of the regulations: the membership will not be confirmed before December although the number of participating countries in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest has to be definite in November. Kölbel stated that the EBU is therefore considering a change of the regulations, but nothing has been confirmed yet. Source: ESC Today -

During his recent visit to Belarus, Bjorn Erichsen, Director Eurovision TV, told local press that ONT, the broadcaster announced to be taking over the country's Eurovision Song Contest participation from BTRC, do not have the right to do so as they are not officially members of the EBU yet. ONT have applied for membership but their application will be discussed in December whereas country subscriptions for the 2010 contest must be submitted by mid November at the latest. Under the circumstances, the Belarussian call for songs by ONT seems invalid. -

The Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group that met in Oslo on 10th September did discuss Spain's breach of Eurovision Song Contest rules by broadcasting the semi final on a time delay, rendering a televote impossible. It has also concluded it's investigation into whether Azeri broadcaster Ictimai deliberately blocked or distorted the picture to blur out the voting number for Armenia. More from ESC Today

Daniel Jablonski, spokesman at the Polish national broadcaster, TVP, has confirmed that the country will participate at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in May in Oslo (Norway). The details regarding the procedure to select a singer and a song to represent Poland in Oslo have not been disclosed yet. They are due to be released in October. Source: ESC Today -

Although the jury has somewhat returned to the contest, it has not changed Austrias mind as it has now been officially confirmed that Austria will not return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2010. ORF executive Wolfgang Lorenz stated that high costs are the reason considering that the contest has been "ruined by the regulations". -

It has been announced that the Telenor Group have officially become a Presenting Partner for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 to be held in Oslo in May next year. The Telenor Group is one of the leading mobile operators in the world and have been granted pan-european association, media and new media rights with the event to be held in Oslo next year. As a result of these sponsorship rights, the Telenor Group is entitled to produce and market the Official Eurovision Song Contest Mobile Phone across all its participating markets. -

Terry Wogan has announced he is to step down as presenter of BBC Radio 2's breakfast show. The 71-year-old told his listeners shortly after Monday's 0800 news bulletin, calling his decision to go "the hardest thing I have ever done". "It touches me deeply that I've played a part in your lives for, it seems, like generations," Terry said. Terry left his job as commentator for the BBC for the Eurovision Song Contest last year. -

In somewhat surprising news, according to media reports, Steve Schmit, manager of RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg, considers Luxembourg's return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2010. The country has not been taking part in the competition since 1993. Smitt told the website wort.lu that after a very long time, they had a meeting with the EBU and the broadcaster considers submitting an entry in 2010, although any decision has yet to be made. The biggest issue appear to be the expenses considering the small budget of the broadcaster. The final decision has to be taken until December. Luxembourg was one of the seven countries to take part in the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. Over the years, the small country won the contest on five occassions and produced international hit songs like Poupée de cire, poupée de son by France Gall (1965) and Après toi by Vicky Leandros (1972), Parlez-vous français by Baccara (1978) and L'amour est bleu (1967). Based on victories, Luxembourg is the seco

It has been reported that Graham Norton is to leave the BBC later this year to return to former broadcasting home, Channel Four. The entertainment front man commentated for the British public at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, replacing veteran Terry Wogan. He also hosted the selection show, Your country needs you in January. Graham Norton is set to quit the BBC to return to Channel Four later this year. His lucrative contract ends and he is set to reject a new deal to take over the Paul O'Grady talk show at his former stomping ground. Should he remain at the BBC, he is set to move his talk show from BBC2 to BBC1. Norton is said to be unhappy at the BBC after his latest Saturday Night show Totally Saturday flopped and was later pulled by the BBC. He also hosts the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical reality shows that select lead artists for his stage shows, but with the Lord, who wrote this year's British Eurovision Song Contest entry, now in a battle to end his BBC contract and tak

From ESC TODAY .... The Director General of the European Broadcasting Union has issued an official statement regarding the investigation of whether Azeri citizens were questioned by the Ministry of the Interior in Azerbaijan over their decision to vote for Armenia at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. Azeri broadcaster Ictimai has also responded to the EBU investigation. The official statement on the EBU website tonight says: The European Broadcasting Union has received responses from Azerbaijan regarding allegations that telephone voters in Azerbaijan who voted for the Armenian song in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest were interrogated by security police. Ictimai, the EBU’s Azeri Member which broadcast this year’s Song Contest from Moscow in May, has confirmed its commitment to free and fair voting. While two individuals had been invited to the Ministry of National Security, Ictimai said, the Ministry of National Security had given assurances that nobody had been questioned, either

Someone has these on Facebook, had to put them here. What an opening to opening to the Eurovision Song Contest of 1996 in Oslo, Norway on May 18th when Morten Harket performed his song "Heaven's Not For Saints". Also included is Eimear Quinn, winner Ireland 1996 singing "Norwegian Wood". -

The Turkish broadcaster responsible for the events in relation to the European Broadcasting Union namely TRT have denied the participation of the Turkish superstar Tarkan at the Eurovision Song Contest. The news comes just days after his participation was "confirmed" by several Turkish newspapers who reported that some sort of pre-agreement which was said to have been formalised after the return of Hadise from Moscow where she reached a credible fourth place. Source: oikotimes.com -

The European Broadcasting Union have said that an investigation is underway regarding the questioning of Azerbaijan residents that voted for Armenia at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest by the Ministry of the Interior. Media reports claim that the 43 members of the Azeri public that voted for neighbouring Armenia were traced and taken for questioning about their actions. tensions between the two countries remain high after a war fifteen years ago. "The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is aware of the rumours and accusations made in the media and started last week to investigate the matter. The investigation will involve our technical partners and also gives our Member Broadcasters the chance to respond. Until this investigation is completed we cannot comment further on these rumours and accusations," said Svante Stockselius, Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of the EBU. Source: ESCTODAY -

According to Sabah newspaper, Tarkan has agreed with Turkish Radio Televison (TRT) to participate forTurkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. He is reported to have agreed to sign a contract of intention with the national broadcaster this week. According to several leading newspapers in Turkey, today, Tarkan will represent Turkey in 2010 Eurovision Song Contest. Tarkan said that he agreed with TRT last Thursday but still negotiations are ongoing. He added that the contract will be signed this week and next week there will be an official briefing for the media. The Turkish super star also stated that an agreement has been reached withTRT about a music program in the new music channel of TRT. ESCTODAY.COM -

Over ten million televotes were received during the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, the European Broadcasting Union and its voting partner Digame reveal today. With 8,825,527 calls and text messages received in 2008, this year's Eurovision Song Contest saw an increase of over 20 percent. During the two Semi-Finals and the Final, 6,162,749 text messages came in and 4,517,933 calls were made to cast a vote. During this year's Final alone, over 1,5 million more calls and text messages came in compared to last year. Over the past years, the number of incoming calls has been relatively stable, while the amount of incoming text messages has significantly increased year after year. In just five years, the number of text messages sent out to cast a vote has nearly tripled. Televoting revenues are being distributed back to the participating EBU Member Broadcasters, thereby partly compensating participation fees. Source: EBU. -

A campaign to bring back a live orchestra to the Eurovision Song Contest has been launched through social media website, facebook. More than 3,750 people have already signed up in support of the move. The Eurovision Song Contest has not used an orchestra since the 1998 contest in the United Kingdom. It did use an orchestra for the 50th anniversary show in Denmark in October 2005. With the rapid development of music technology, producers, writers and production methods make backing tracks a better alternative. It also means more space for the stage and audience in the Eurovision Song Contest arena during the shows. With the rapid growth in the number of countries participating at the Eurovision Song Contest, orchestras would need to learn more than 40 songs, as opposed to around 20-25 the last time an orchestra was used at the competition. This makes a return to the use of an orchestra unlikely. Despite this, Jan Fredrik Heyerdahl of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra (KORK), said that they

The popular Irish website was re-launched today at www.allkindsofeverything.ie ready for the Eurovision 2010 contest. They have also launched a Twitter feed aswell -

ESC Today reports... The European Broadcasting Union have today announced the full breakdown of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest result. This has been delayed in order for two independent audits to confirm the result and cross check. For the first time, the exact votes of the international juries and televote have been declared. In 2009, the Eurovision Song Contest voting system was modified for the final to include the votes of an international jury from each country comprising of five musical experts. The jury vote and televote were added together to create the result for each participating country. The initial results show that the biggest changes with the introduction of the international jury were the results of France, the United Kingdom, Israel Albania, Denmark and Sweden. France would have finished in a lowly 17th place despite recruiting the internationally acclaimed artist, Patricia Kaas. The multi-million cd selling star however took fourth place from the interntional juri

As Norway look forward to hosting the next Eurovision Song Contest, oikotimes.com look back at the last time they hosted the contest. The year was 1996 and the location Oslo. It was the last time Ireland won the contest. Read more -

After the UK got their best result since 2002 this year, it looks like their is No More Lloyd Webber for Eurovision. According to the British Media, Andrew Lloyd Webber is close to joining the BBC's main rival, ITV. Lord Webber has worked with the BBC for the last few years with his search for the latest theatre star for smash-hit West-end shows such as Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, Oliver! and The Sound of Music. In 2008, the BBC offered Lloyd Webber another reality project to stop him defecting to ITV. Instead of the usual theatre based shows, the BBC in an audacious move put Lord Webber solely in charge of reversing the U.K's ailing Eurovision fortunes by making him write the song and chose the final 6 finalists, in which the British public would eventually chose the act to perform Webber's song. Despite one failed attempt by the head of ITV, Peter Fincham to lure Lloyd Webber, it seems like this time he has his man. The BBC are worried about impartiality and com

The split jury and televoting results of the Final of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest will be revealed this Friday, the 31st of July 2009. Eurovision.tv have announced that on Friday July 31st, the official split jury and televoting results of the final of this years Eurovision Song Contest final will be announced. This gives Eurovision fans the chance to analyse the full results and decide for themselves whether they are happy with the new voting system. -

Terry Wogan has given the thumbs-up to his 'Eurovision Song Contest' successor Graham Norton and described this year's show as flawless. Norton took over commentating duties for this year's show in May, when the UK came fifth in the music spectacular in Moscow, reversing the UK's recent poor record. Speaking to the Radio Times, Wogan said he was able to sit down and watch the programme for the first time in 35 years "and I thought it was wonderful. A spectacular show without a flaw in it". He stepped down from hosting the BBC coverage of the event after growing tired of countries bloc voting. He told the magazine: "Contrary to what is often believed I love Eurovision, or I couldn't have presented it for as long as I did. "This year they sorted the voting out, and I thought Graham Norton was excellent. People have said his approach was rather like mine, and all I can say is I take that as a compliment!" Source: RTE -

According to ESC Today , Mrs. Kateřina Fričová, program director of the Czech public television CT, has declared today that the central European nation will leave the Eurovision Song Contest after a three-year stay. The main reason to stop the country's participation that Mrs. Kateřina Fričová mentioned was the lack of interest from the Czech public after three failed attempts. The Czech republic debuted in the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, being represented by Kabát and Malá dama. The year after, Tereza Kerndlová took the Belgrade stage with the song Have some fun, followed this year by Gypsy.cz and Aven romale. None of them reached the qualification from the semifinals. The Withdrawal has not been confirmed by the European Broadcasting Union. -

Oikotimes reports... The Norwegian broadcaster NRK who earned the right to host after a record breaking victory with Alexander Rybak's brilliant performance of his entry "Fairytale" has just revealed it's budget plans for next years' Eurovision Song Contest. The amount of 17 million euros which was speculated earlier on has now been confirmed by both the broadcaster and the Ministry for Culture. The budget itself is quite lower than the one used in Moscow which reached a maximum of 30 million euro. This means that the proposed budget for next years' Eurovision Song Contest is 13 million lower than than in 2009 yet it is an increase on the budget used in the Helsinki edition which reached a total of 9 million putting in a margin of 4 million in difference. NRK will be doing it's best to make a profit out of the sponsorship, ticket sales, advertising and televoting so that a loss will not be apparent. -

Esctime.com has announced that the Liechtenstein broadcaster 1FL have confirmed that they will be applying for EBU membership before the end of this month on the 31st July 2009. This leads to the suspicion that the may well be appearing the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo, should their application be approved. 1FLTV, the television station for Liechtenstein, began broadcasting on the 15th August 2008. It is the world's first ever television station based in Liechtenstein. It is stated clearly in the rules that any country wishing to enter the Eurovision Song Contest must have a national broadcaster that is an active member of the European Broadcasting Union. For Liechtenstein, a tiny Alpine microstate nestled between Austria & Switzerland, this has prevented them from entering in the past, until last year. News on Liechtenstein -

It seems Johnny Logan wants to keep far away from Ireland as possible as it has been reported that France will be represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo with a song written by Mr Eurovision Johnny Logan, according to the German magazine Bunte. Johnny Logan, who won the Eurovision Song Contest three times in 1980, 1987 and as a writer in 1992, would have been asked by the French public broadcaster to write the French entry. Johnny Logan told in an interview with the German magazine Bunte that "I was asked if I wanted to write a song and I said yes." The australian born Irish singer won the Eurovision Song Contest twice with What's Another Year and Hold Me Now and as composer of the song Why Me? performed by Linda Martin. -

Georgian broadcaster GPB has confirmed today to esctime.com that the Caucasian country is intending to return to the Eurovision competition next year in Oslo. Georgia was excluded in 2009 because their song was in breach of the contest rules, according to the EBU. This year's Georgian entry, We don't wanna put in, was found ineligible to participate because of its political message. This was the last episode of a story that began one year ago, when Georgia decided to quit because of political reasons. Then, after winning the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, GPB decided to apply for the 2009 Eurovision, but the entry they submitted was rejected by the EBU. Norway will then see the Georgian flag fly in May 2010. Source: ESC Today -

The 2010 Eurovision Song Contest will take place at the Telenor Arena, now known as Fornbu Arena in Oslo. NRK, the host broadcaster of the 55th Eurovision Song Contest, announced that the arena, located in the greater metropolitan of Oslo, will be used for the final on May 29th 2010 along with the semi finals on 25th and 27th May. The Arena is more commonly known as the Telenor Arena. The Fornebu Arena is located in Bærum which is placed in the south of Oslo. The two Semifinals and the Grand Final, along with all rehearsals and press conferences will take place exactly there. It was selected ahead of the Spektrum, home of the Melodi Grand Prix final and previous Eurovision Song Contest host arena in 1996. The Spektrum has a smaller capacity and lacks the size to cope with the media circus that accompanies the competition. The Telenor/Fornebu Arena is the largest indoor arena in northern Europe and opened in February 2009 and can host 15,000 spectators for football matches, and 23,000 f

INDEPENDENT.IE REPORTS CASH-strapped RTE, faced with a €68m funding deficit, spent €182,000 on our disastrous 2009 Eurovision entry. The massive sum was splurged on selecting and sending an entourage to Russia during May for the 54th annual song contest. Despite being touted as a decent bet for glory, Sinead Mulvey and Black Daisy failed to even make it to the final. The €182,630 bill covered the cost of selecting the band, entry fees, hotel bills, flights, entertainment and visas. The hotel bill for the 15 member delegation amounted to €24,710, flights €6,761, food and entertainment €9,540, visas €1,400 and airport transfers €978. The information was provided to the Irish Independent under a Freedom of Information request. The bill was more than last year's tab for dispatching Dustin the Turkey, to Serbia, which cost €170,000. This year, the cost of staging a national competition on RTE's own 'Late Late Show' cost €83,879, while the Eurovision participation fee was mor

Last month, Norway won the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in which NRK has become the host broadcaster for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. Key positions have been filled by the host broadcaster in the running of the event next year. Jon Ola Sand (48), has been recently appointed as NRK's Executive Producer for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest. Hasse Lindmo (36) will be the Television Producer, while Stian Malme (39) the current NRK Head of Delgation for the Eurovision Song Contest is to become the Venue Manager. Evy Hauffen (56) was appointed Line Producer, she was involved in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 in Oslo as Production Manager. On Wednesday and Thursday last, the newly appointed production team met with organisers of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to be briefed about the task that's ahead. Discussions on various topics such as the technical aspects of the contest, the content of the three live shows, infrastructure, marketing, branding, new media, press facil

The Eurovision Semi Final 2 on Thursday 14th May featuring Ireland's entry Et Cetera performed by Sinead Mulvey & Black Daisy, was the most watched programme on RTE Two that week with over 438,000 viewers watching Ireland failing to qualify for the final. This is down from 691,000 who watched Dustin the Turkey with his entry last year in Belgrade. The Semi Final 1 on Tuesday 12th May was watched by 208,000. The figures released by RTE , show that the Eurovision Final on Saturday was watched by 438,000, a low fugure compared to other years, due to Ireland not competing that night, but up from 377,000 watching last year . -

The following Link below is a roundup showing the evolution of the Eurovision Song Contest logo from 1956 (when the first contest was held) until now. Some logo's (especially in the early days) are nothing more than simple text. Later on, the logo became more complex, while some find their beauty in simplicity. I love the old days when things where simple!! look at the early 60's, nothing but text in different fonts. See Logos. -

This is how the UK jury voted in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2009: UK JURY VOTE 12 Points - Germany 10 Points - Iceland 8 Points - Norway 7 Points - Malta 6 Points - Turkey 5 Points - Ukraine 4 Points - France 3 Points - Bosnia & Herzegovina 2 Points - Armenia 1 Point - Azerbaijan And now here's how the UK public cast their votes by telephone: UK PUBLIC TELEVOTE 12 Points - Turkey 10 Points - Greece 8 Points - Lithuania 7 Points - Norway 6 Points - Malta 5 Points - Iceland 4 Points - Azerbaijan 3 Points - Denmark 2 Points - Germany 1 Point - Portugal COMBINED JURY AND TELEVOTE 18 Points - Turkey 15 Points - Norway* 15 Points - Iceland 14 Points - Germany 13 Points - Malta 10 Points - Greece 8 Points - Lithuania 5 Points - Azerbaijan* 5 Points - Ukraine 4 Points - France 3 Points - Denmark 3 Points - Bosnia & Herzegovina 2 Points - Armenia 1 Point - Portugal *Where there were two countries on the same score, the act with the higher public phone vote is judged to

The European Broadcasting Union postponed the third Eurovision Dance Contest. The number of broadcasters that signed up for participation did not reach the desired level. The European Broadcasting Union aim to organise a new format to make a more attractive and financially more sustainable production next year, planning to reach larger number of broadcasters. The Eurovision Dance Contest is planned to be organised in Azerbaijan in the autumn of 2010. -

No surprises about the Host city but the dates announced are a shocker! The host city as well as the dates for the 55th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest have now been confirmed by the EBU and NRK although the exact venue remains still to be decided. As announced today by the EBU and host broadcaster NRK, the final dates for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest will be Tuesday 25 May and Thursday 27 May for the semi finals, the Grand Final will take place on Saturday 29 May, 2010 in Oslo. The date for the final was earlier set to the 22nd May but this clashed on the same day with the Champions League Final which is being held on a Saturday for the first time next year. Greece (ERT) and Spain (TVE) were two broadcasters who officially complained about the date. The last time the contest was held on the 29th May was when Israel (IBA Television) held the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest on that date. The Venue for 2010 is still to be decided. According to NRK two options are being considered

Norwegian broadcaster along with several other national broadcasters are surprised with the selection of the provisional dates as the Eurovision 2010 final is set for May 22, the same day with the Champions League Final. It would be a bad day for Greece and Spain as those two broadcasters officially complained about the date. There seems to be two choices. Either a final on May 15 or on May 29 as NRK would like to have the thousands of Eurofans to celebrate the Constitution Day. After all this is what happened back in 1996. Source: Oikotimes. -

This year's Eurovision Song Contest will be memorable not only for being one of the most magnificent shows produced to date, but also because of its very remarkable viewership rates, reaching over 122 million people across the 45 countries broadcasting the event. These figures show an increase of 17 million over Belgrade 2008. 17 million more viewers mean, in relative terms, an increase of 16%. The Eurovision Song Contest viewing figures peaked especially in several countries, such as France, the Netherlands and Estonia, and in many more there was also significant growth in terms of audience. In general, viewing figures for the Eurovision final on May 16 were double the average rates for a Saturday prime time. Source: ESC Today -

The results of the jury vote from all the 42 countries taking part in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest are known. These are the results from the 210 European music professionals: 1. Norway (312 points) 2. Iceland (260 points) 3. United Kingdom (223 points) 4. France (164 points) 5. Estonia (124 points) 6. Denmark (120 points) 7. Turkey (114 points) 8. Azerbaijan (112 points) 9. Israel (107 points) 10. Greece (93 points) 11. Moldova (93 points) 12. Bosnia & Herzegovina (90 points) 13. Malta (87 points) 14. Germany (73 points) 15. Armenia (71 points) 16. Ukraine (68 points) 17. Russia (67 points) 18. Portugal (64 points) 19. Croatia (58 points) 20. Lithuania (31 points) 21. Romania (31 points) 22. Sweden (27 points) 23. Albania (26 points) 24. Finland (12 points) 25. Spain (9 points) Notice how Azerbaijan and Turkey are a bit down the order compared to their result of 3rd and 4th in the final results. If the results were base

Three times winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980, 1987 and writer in 1992, Johnny Logan appeared on early morning television on commercial broadcaster TV3 Ireland's flagship morning show Ireland:AM . Johnny speaks of his reasons why he doesn't watch the Eurovision Song Contest anymore, why Ireland hasn't had much success in the past ten years, how the Eurovision Song Contest has changed and his new album. You can watch the interview here . -

ESC Today reports that Armenian broadcaster APT accuses the broadcaster of the neighbouring country Azerbaijan to have manipulated the voting during the final of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest by obscuring the screen when the Armenian televoting number was shown. Political relations between the two countries have been tense for more than 20 years. APT launched an official complaint to the EBU claiming a severe violation of the Eurovision Song Contest rules. Like in 2008, Azerbaijan gave no points to Armenia. However, even if Azerbaijan had given 12 points to Armenia, the country would have still finished in tenth place behind Bosnia & Herzegovina. Armenia gave one single point to the representatives from Azerbaijan, AySel & Arash, who finished third. The EBU has stated that they cannot comment on the story yet as they have no proof of the accusations so far. However, they are investigating and will report about the outcome in the next two days. Armenia took part in the Eurov

According to Oikotimes , The final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Australia was watched by 482.000 people, making it the 25th most watched programme of the night. This comparision is to 427.000 people that watched the Eurovision final last year. This is a good result for SBS, the Australian broadcaster, especially since the show is not aired live. Interest for Eurovision in Australia is beginning to increase with many newspaper and television stations reporting about Norway’s win. SBS sent its own commentators this year after many years. Until now it has been broadcasting the BBC coverage. SBS has hinted that it will air the contest live next year which would mean it would air at 5.00AM. -

Austrian broadcaster ORF may not be returning to Eurovision anytime soon, as last night's viewing figures were down by some 10% on last year's final. It should be remembered, however, that this year they only showed the voting instead of the full contest. Last year they recorded at 31% audience share, whilst this year only 22% of the Austrian television audience tuned in. ORF quit Eurovision in 2007 citing political voting, and Eurovision no longer being a song contest. However, with generally positive reactions to last night's results, perhaps they will be re-considering. Source: Oikotimes -

13 years ago, the Eurovision Song Contest was held in the Oslo Spektrum Arena, but it looks like now that the 2010 contest may be going to a different arena. It is expected that the 2010 edition will be held in the Telenor Arena in Oslo. The new arena in Oslo, Telenor is about to open this year, it costed 550 million Kronar and it can hold up 23,000 auditors. -