:: Eurovision 24 :: Oslo 2010

Ahead of the 54th Eurovision Song Contest on May 16th in Moscow, Russia, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra are pleased to present an evening of celebration of Ireland's Eurovision Song Contest hits and others. The programme will include, "What's Another Year?" winner Eurovision Song Contest 1980, "In Your Eyes" winner Eurovision Song Contest 1993, "Volare" from Eurovision Song Contest 1958, "Rock'n'Roll Kids" winner Eurovision Song Contest 1994 and more. You can relive Ireland's successes, watch Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan perform in Eurovision Song Contest 1994 and Niamh Kavanagh in Eurovision Song Contest 1993. The show will be presented by Maxi, who represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973, and in 1981 with Sheeba. There will also be a guest appearance by Dustin the Turkey who represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. The show will be held at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, Ireland on

TV & radio Broadcaster Pat Kenny , who co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 has tonight announced that he will resign as host of The Late Late Show at the end of the season. The 61 year-old veteran TV host made the announcement live during tonight's show. He said he had come to the decision in consultation with his family and said that 'all good things must come to an end'. He hosted the Eurosong 2009 show this year to select Irelands entry for Moscow. He said it had been a joy to present the show for almost ten years and he was stepping down at a time when the viewing figures were at an all-time high. He said he would be moving to present another TV show in the autumn, but gave no further details of this. He thanked his audience for their support and wished the best of luck to his successor. -

Oikotimes reports that Austrian national broadcaster ORF announced its withdrawal from the Eurovision Dance Contest. Austria won't take part in the third edition of the contest, which is held in Baku later this year. Austrian broadcaster have not given any reasons about its withdrawal, but it's very likely that massive economize of money and the bad place last year in Glasgow are guilty. So from now on, Austria is not taking part in Eurovision events anymore. Since 2007 when Eric Papilaya came 27th in the semi final in Helsinki, Austria hasn't sent any participants to the Eurovision Song Contest. -

Russia Today reports that the first set of tickets for Eurovision 2009 were sold out on the day sales were launched. Massive queues began forming on Sunday night outside the ticket offices of the Olympiisky Arena in Moscow, despite the fact that nothing would be sold until the morning. By 11.30am on Monday, more than 500 people were waiting in line. The cheapest tickets were sold out by midday. Soon after, movement in the queues stopped. Because of the organisers’ policy to sell no more than 8 tickets per person, touts blocked the entrance to try and make quick deals with those in line to buy their tickets from them. Upset people in the crowd had to call the police to get them cleared away. The situation proved concerns that limiting the number of tickets sold to one person would fail to stop the touts. The release date for when the next batch of tickets goes on sale is being kept under wraps – and organisers are afraid of the touts resurfacing. Many of those planning to attend the Eu

According to ESC Today , Russian TV presenter Andrey Malahov and Alsou, the runnerup of the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest will be the hosts of the 2009 contest semi finals. The host of the final has not been confirmed yet but it is being heavily tipped that Holywood superstar Milla Jovovich has been approached by Channel One and is close to an agreement. -

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Today at the Heads of Delegations meeting, it has been announced Postcards between each song will feature Miss Russia, who won the title of Miss World 2008. For semi final 1 , the opening act will feature the winners of Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006, the Tolmachevy Sisters. The interval act will feature Russian choirs, that will finish with t.A.T.u's song Never Gonna Get Us. However it is still undecided if t.A.T.u. will perform. In semi final 2 , the opening act will feature matrioshka-grafiti painted on stage, carnival elements and folk orchestra performing pop music. The interval act will see Russian ballet in a "surprising form". The Final of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest will feature a performance of Cirque du Soleil, and Dima Bilan featuring ice skater Evgeni Pluchenko, who also accompanied last year's Eurovision Song Contest winner on stage. Channel One doesn't reveal much about the interval act of the Final, just that the arena will most likely b

Webcast: The show can be watched here The pots look like this: Semi final 1: Andorra, Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland, Israel, FYR Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey. Semi Final 2: Albania, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine. Final: France, Germany, Russia, Spain, United Kingdom Semifinal 1 Wildcards: First semi final: Malta receives first wild card and decides their position and that will be to perform 17th. Bulgaria received the second and decides to perform eleventh. Portugal gets the 3rd wild card and will perform 16th. Running Order 01 - Montenegro 02 - Czech Republic 03 - Belgium 04 - Belarus 05 - Sweden 06 - Armenia 07 - Andorra 08 - Switzerland 09 - Turkey 10 - Israel 11 - Bulgaria 12 - Iceland 13 - FYR Macedonia 14 - Romania 15 - Finland 16 - P

Just as we were getting comfortable with the 2009 song entries as the last song was choosen on Saturday, The delegation heads from the participating countries arrived this weekend in Moscow for the annual Heads of Delegation Meeting. During this two-day meeting, EBU and Channel 1 will inform the broadcaster representatives what to expect, how the preparations progress and everything else they need to know. For the broadcasters, it also marks the official deadline to send in their nationally selected song for the international competition. BU/UER will verify if the songs comply with the Eurovision regulations. It’s uncertain the future of Georgia in this year’s contest; tomorrow, we'll know if the first semi-final includes 18 or 19 entries and how many will proceed to the final (if Georgia withdraws definitely). It’s expected that the tickets sale for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest will start this Monday. While the Russian Channel 1 announced 8:00 CET as the hour scheduled to

The last song of the 2009 season was announced in Prague. On the 14th March, during the Andel Awards on Ceska TV the verdict of the Czech public was announced. Gipsy.cz will perform Aven Romale in the first semi final of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Moscow. -

The Swedish national final for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest was held on Saturday 14th March. Eleven acts competed and in the end, it was decided that Malena Ernman will go to Moscow with her song La voix written by Fredrik Kempe (music and lyrics) and Malena Ernman (lyrics). -

According to Oikotimes , The head of LRT Audrius Siaurusevičius is going to request EBU for more information about Georgian disqualification. 'In Lithuanian folk songs word putinas (a kind of bush called viburnum) is very popular and let's say we send a song with that word in it... Would we also be disqualified? Are the words following each other and sounding similar to any famous person also counted as insulting? I really do not understand this decision by EBU. The play of words, especially in the cultural context, cannot be an excuse for this kind of behavious' , says the head of LRT. He also adds that this decision makes Eurovision even more political. -

Russian Channel One confirmed that tickets for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest will be available Monday, March 16 – 8:00 – 21:00 CET. There will be tickets for twelve shows (that would be nine rehearsals, two semifinals and the final). Tickets for the dress rehearsals will cost between 450 and 1.500 roubles (EUR 10 - 33); Tickets for the semifinals will cost between 800 and 20.000 roubles (EUR 17,50 - 435); Tickets for the final will cost between 1.000 and 30.000 roubles (EUR 21 - 655). Only to OGAE members the tickets costs 53 Euros (each semifinal) and 100 Euros (final). Tickets sales through Channel One website , or by telephone: +74953636060. Eurovision shows schedule: May 11 First Rehearsal of First Semifinal (12:00 CET) Second Rehearsal of First Semifinal (18:00 CET) May 12 Dress Rehearsal of First Semifinal (15:00 CET) Eurovision Song Contest: First Semifinal (21:00 CET) May 13 First Rehearsal of Second Semifinal (12:00 CET) Second Rehearsal of Second Semifinal (18:00 CET) May

It has been announced that Georgia is to withdraw from the 54th Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow after the EBU rejected a Georgian entry that poked fun at Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. "We have decided not to change the lyrics or choose a different song. We will not go to Moscow and will not take part in Eurovision 2009," said Natia Uznadze, a producer with Georgian public television responsible for the Caucasus nation's Eurovision entry. "It's still not clear to us why Eurovision took this decision. We have not received a concrete explanation," she told AFP. The song titled "We don't wanna put in," performed by the group Stephane and 3G with its play on the prime minister's surname, was rejected by Eurovision organisers on Tuesday for the May 14-16 event, which Russia is hosting. Georgia and Russia remain deeply at odds after a brief war between the two countries over the rebel region of South Ossetia last August. Georgia

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has officially informed Georgian public broadcaster GPB that the lyrics of their song for the 54th Eurovision Song Contest. We Don't Wanna Put In do not comply with the rules of the competition. The EBU Reference Group of the Eurovision Song Contest has now offered GPB the opportunity to either re-write the lyrics of the song, or to select another song for the contest. Today, the Reference Group of the Eurovision Song Contest announced that the title and lyrics of the selected Georgian entry for this year's Contest do not comply with Section 4 Rule 9 of the Rules of the 54th Eurovision Song Contest, and cannot take part in the competition as such. 4.9 The lyrics and/or performance of the songs shall not bring the Shows or the Eurovision Song Contest as such into disrepute. No lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political or similar nature shall be permitted during the Eurovision Song Contest. No swearing or other unacceptable language shall be

On the 10th March, RTBF held a press conference to present the song and release the video for the song that will represent Belgium in Eurovision this year. Elvis impersonator Patrick Ouchène will represent Belgium with the song ‘Copycat’. The press conference took place in Brussels. -

The 2008 Hosts, Serbia choose their participant for Moscow. The Winner was Marko Kon and Milan Nikolić with “Cipela” (Shoe). After the SMS voting mix up, a eventual finalist Ana Nikolić, decided not to participate. -

Kamil Mikulčík & Nela Pocisková with the song Leť tmou will represent Slovakia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009! Slovakia makes a welcome return to the contest after 11 years. -

On the 8th March, the national final for the Ukraine was held. 14 acts fought for the ticket to Moscow, and it was decided at the end of the night that Svetlana Loboda would go to Eurovision with her song "Be My Valentine". -

The Russian national final for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest was held on Saturday 7th March. 16 acts competed and in the end, it was decided that Anastasiya Prikhodko will represent the host country with the song Mama. -

UPDATE: CLICK HERE. Although originally scheduled for the 12th March, ticket release for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest will probably be postponed for the 16th March 2009 according to ESC Today . Unlike in recent years, there will be no packages but tickets can be purchased individually. Prices, for those who have been following the contest these past years, are back to Helsinki levels. This year's contest will be held at the Olympiinski Arena in Moscow, which after the modifications for the stage will be able to accommodate about 15.000 spectators per show. There will be ten different pricing categories for the tickets of the 2009 according to the location of the seats. Prices will range from about €20 for the semi final dress rehearsals to up about €650 for the VIP tickets to the final. An average price for the semi final dress rehearsals will be about €15, the final dress rehearsal €25, €95 for each of the semi finals and €150 for the final. Tickets will be sold online through

Urban Symphony with the song “Rändajad” (”Travelers”) will represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. -

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The Azerbaijani entry for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest was released by Warner Music. Always was composed by Arash and will be performed by the composer and newcomer AySel in Moscow. -

Russian Channel One confirmed that tickets for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest will be available this month. There will be tickets for twelve shows (that would be nine dress rehearsals, two semifinals and the final). Tickets for the dress rehearsals will cost between 450 and 1.500 roubles. (EUR 10 - 33) Tickets for the semifinals will cost between 800 and 20.000 roubles. (EUR 17,50 - 435) Tickets for the final will cost between 1.000 and 30.000 roubles. (EUR 21 - 655) Soon, more information will be provided by Channel One and Eurovision.tv. -

Mira and Noa will represent Israel with the song There must be another way on the stage in the first semifinal of ESC 2009, on 12th May. -

The song presentation show for Bosnia & Herzegovina's entry in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest was held on the 1st March. The band Regina will perform the song Bistra voda in Moscow. -

On the 28th February, Dora 2009, the Croatian national final for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest was held. 16 acts competed and at the end of the voting it was decided that Igor Cukrov will represent in Croatia with the song Lijepa Tena composed by Tonci Huljic. -

Eirodziesma 2009 was held on the 28th February and the Latvian verdict is to send Intars Busulis to the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest with Sastregums. -

On the 28th February, the Portuguese national final for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest was held. Twelve acts competed and it was decided that Flor-de-Lis will go to Moscow with the song Todas as ruas do amor written by Pedro Marquesand Paulo Pereira. -

After a long evening show comprising the third semifinal and the national final, Spanish viewers have decided their representative: Soraya will represent Spain in Moscow with the song La noche es para mi. -