As countries are only voting in the semi-final they are taking part in themselves ones chances to qualify for the final with an opportunity of winning the contest can depend on which countries they end up competing against and receiving votes from in the semi-final.
In order to have a chance of winning the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest most of the 43 participating countries needs to get through a tough semi-final first. Only the host country, in this case Russia, and the so-called big4 countries; United Kingdom, Spain, France and Germany are automatically qualified for the final. The 38 remaining participants will battle in two semi-finals held the Tuesday and the Thursday before the final. With 19 countries in each semi-final and ten making it to the final the chances of qualifying is 50%. While such odds would be considered fairly well under different circumstances it means that every second participant is left in tears and basically out of the Contest before it really starts.
Just like in various sports disciplines where a good draw can bring you further in a competition the same counts for the Eurovision Song Contest. For years the Contest have suffered from neighbour voting, tactic and even political voting and though the introduction of juries votes counting 50% this year might have some influence on the final result the semi-final draw is still of high importance. The juries are not directly voting in the two semi-finals, but just like last year the TV viewers picks the first 9 qualifiers from each semi-final while the highest not selected country on the jury list gets the last remaining spot.
Broadcasters and already selected participants are looking forward to the draw together with the many fans all over the world, but at the same time they fear for the outcome. Everyone knows that a bit of luck in the draw can help you come a long way. Placing you a semi-final with countries likely to vote for you will help while ending up surrounded by countries that generally doesn’t like your type of music will make some basically give up immediately.
Every year the Eurovision Song Contest consist of strong songs and some songs everyone knows is without winning potential. The strength of the Contest is that it is not the same countries being strong every year, but it may happen that the draw ends up being unequal with a lot of the stronger songs in the same semi-final. This can result in several great and popular songs not qualifying for the final while songs of a less high standard might get through via a weaker semi-final. Therefore it is not always the case that it is the 25 strongest songs that are competing in the Eurovision Song Contest final with the chance of winning it.
In order to win the Contest you often need to start with a bit of luck in the draw. Does your country have that luck? Below is the result of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest semi-final draw.
The countries for the first semi-final:
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Sweden
Israel
Belgium
Andorra
Czech Republic
Montenegro
Iceland
Georgia
Bulgaria
Portugal
Switzerland
FYR Macedonia
Finland
Belarus
Armenia
Turkey
Romania
Malta
UK
Germany
Spain
The countries for the second semi-final:
Slovenia
Denmark
Azerbaijan
The Netherlands
Latvia
Hungary
Serbia
Norway
Ukraine
Greece
Lithuania
Poland
Croatia
Estonia
Moldova
Cyprus
Ireland
Slovakia
Albania
Russia
France
