LONDON, UK (Top40 Charts) - After an exciting voting in front of thousands of people in a fully packed Moscow Olimpisky Indoor
Arena and millions of TV viewers all over Europe, it was finally
Alexander Rybak from Norway who received the highest number of points from televoters and juries from the 42 countries participating in this year's edition of Europe's favourite TV-show! Norway managed to gather 387 points altogether - a new record! -, followed by
Yohanna from Iceland with 218 points and Azerbaijan's AySel &
Arash who collected 207 points. You can find the full results of the Grand Final here and of the 2 Semi-Finals here and here.
Europe experienced a breath-taking show live from the Olimpisky Indoor Arena in Moscow tonight with 25 acts from 25 countries giving their very best. 20 of these had qualified from the two Semi-Finals while host nation Russia and the so-called 'Big Four' - France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom - were automatically set for the Final. After all 42 countries had voted, it was Alexander Rybak from Norway who was the lucky winner with his song Fairytale, collecting 387 points altogether.
Alexander Rybak was born in Minsk (Belarus) on the 13th of May, 1986. He grew up in Nesodden just outside the Norwegian capital Oslo. Alexander has played violin and piano since he was five years old, he also composes his own music and sings. Alexander has performed with artists like Arve Tellefsen, Morten Harket, Hanne Krogh and Knutsen & Ludvigsen. In 2006 he won the Norwegian talentshow Kjempesjansen with his own song Foolin. Alexander has performed with one of the worlds most celebrated violinists, Pinchas Zukerman. He also played the role of the fiddler in Fiddler On The Roof at Oslo Nye Theatre (2007) and has a role in the forthcoming movie Yohan - Child Wanderer which will be released in August 2009.
50 percent jury impact
This year, the European Broadcasting Union introduced changes in the voting of the Eurovision Song Contest Final as for the first time in years, the winner wasn't decided solely by televoting. In contrast, a mixture of 50% televote and 50% jury was used. For this purpose, national juries consisting of five music industry professionals gathered in all 42 participating countries who ranked the songs in Eurovision Song Contest style, giving 12 points to their favourite song, 10 points to their second favourite, etc. The results of the five jury members were then added up and accounted for 50% of the country's votes. Those results were then combined with the televoting results.
Alexander Rybak's victory means the 55th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Oslo - Norway next year (2010).
54th Eurovision 2009 voting results (points):
1 - Norway - Alexander Rybak - Fairytale - 387
2 - Iceland - Yohanna - Is It True? - 218
3 - Azerbaijan - AySel & Arash - Always - 207
4 - Turkey - Hadise - Du"m Tek Tek - 177
5 - United Kingdom - Jade Ewen - It's My Time - 173
6 - Estonia - Urban Symphony - Randajad - 129
7 - Greece - Sakis Rouvas - This Is Our Night - 120
8 - France - Patricia Kaas - Et S'il Fallait Le Faire - 107
9 - Bosnia & Herzegovina - Regina - Bistra Voda - 106
10 - Armenia - Inga & Anush - Jan Jan - 92
11 - Russia - Anastasia Prikhodko - Mamo - 91
12 - Ukraine - Svetlana Loboda - Be my Valentine! (Anti-crisis Girl) - 76
13 - Denmark - Brinck - Believe Again - 74
14 - Moldova - Nelly Ciobanu - Hora Din Moldova - 69
15 - Portugal - Flor-de-lis - Todas As Ruas Do Amor - 57
16 - Israel - Noa & Mira Awad - There Must Be Another Way - 53
17 - Albania - Kejsi Tola - Carry Me In Your Dreams - 48
18 - Croatia - Igor Cukrov feat. Andrea - Lijepa Tena - 45
19 - Romania - Elena - The Balkan Girls - 40
20 - Germany - Alex Swings Oscar Sings! - Miss Kiss Kiss Bang - 35
21 - Sweden - Malena Ernman - La Voix - 33
22 - Malta - Chiara - What If We - 31
23 - Lithuania - Sasha Son - Love - 23
23 - Spain - Soraya - La Noche Es Para Mi' (The Night Is For Me) - 23
25 - Finland - Waldo's People - Lose Control - 22
