Eurovision Song Contest 2010
| Eurovision Song Contest 2010 | |
|---|---|
| Share the Moment | |
| Dates and venue | |
| Semi-final 1 |
|
| Semi-final 2 |
|
| Final |
|
| Venue | Telenor Arena Oslo, Norway |
| Organisation | |
| Organiser | European Broadcasting Union (EBU) |
| Executive supervisor | Svante Stockselius |
| Production | |
| Host broadcaster | Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) |
| Directors |
|
| Executive producer | Jon Ola Sand |
| Presenters | |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 39 |
| Number of finalists | 25 |
| Returning countries | Georgia |
| Non-returning countries | |
Participation map
| |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs. |
| Winning song | |
The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It consisted of two semi-finals on 25 and 27 May and a final on 29 May 2010, held at the Telenor Arena in Oslo, Norway, and presented by Erik Solbakken, Nadia Hasnaoui, and Haddy N'jie. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), which staged the event after winning the 2009 contest for Norway with the song "Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. It was the contest hosted the latest, tying with the 1999 edition.
Broadcasters from thirty-nine countries took part in the contest, with Georgia returning after a one-year absence. Meanwhile, Andorra, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Montenegro ceased their participation, mainly due to the 2008 financial crisis. Lithuania originally announced its non-participation, but was later confirmed as among the participants by the EBU.
The winner was Germany with the song "Satellite", performed by Lena and written by Julie Frost and John Gordon. The song won both the jury vote and televote and was Germany's second victory in the contest, following 1982. It was also its first win as a unified country, and the first win for one of the "Big Four" countries since the rule's introduction in 2000. Turkey, Romania, Denmark, and Azerbaijan rounded out the top five. Romania, finishing third, equalled its best result from 2005, while further down the table, Georgia achieved its best result to date, finishing ninth. For the first time since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Sweden failed to qualify for the final.
Prior to the contest, the EBU announced that the voting system used in the semi-finals would change from previous years to balance jury voting with televoting. A return of accompaniment by orchestra was also proposed, but ultimately did not occur. The 2008 financial crisis affected how the contest was run, with NRK being forced to sell its broadcasting rights for the 2010 FIFA World Cup to TV 2 and Viasat in order to finance the event.