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style="font-size: larger;" | Eurovision Song Contest 2005
Date 19 May 2005, 21 May 2005
Presenters Maria Efrosinina, Pavlo Shylko
Host Broadcaster NTU
Venue Palace of Sports, Kiev, Ukraine.
Winning Song My Number One (Greece)
Voting system Each country awards 1-8, 10, and 12 points to their 10 favourite songs
Number of Songs 24 in final, another 15 DNQ from semifinal
Countries Making Debut Bulgaria , Moldova
Nul points None
Interval Act Ruslana
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was the fiftieth edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, which was held at the Palace of Sports, Kiev (Kyiv), Ukraine. The winner was Greece's My Number One performed by popular singer Elena Paparizou, who scored 230 points, while Malta's Angel performed by Chiara was the runner up with 192 points. The contest took place on 19 May 2005 for the semifinal and 21 May 2005 for the final. Organizers hoped that this event would boost Ukraine's image abroad and increase tourism, while the country's new government hoped that it would also give a modest boost to the long-term goal of acquiring European Union membership.

The official logo of the contest has remained the same from 2004 with the country's flag in the heart being changed. Following Istanbul's "Under The Same Sky" the slogan for the 2005 show is "Awakening", which communicated the awakening of the country and city ready to present itself to Europe. The postcards for the 2005 show illustrated Ukraine’s culture and heritage along with a more modern and industrial side to the country.

The hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev were television presenter Maria "Masha" Efrosinina and DJ Pavlo "Pasha" Shylko. Previous winner Ruslana returned to the stage in Kiev to perform in the interval act and interview the contestants backstage in the “green room”. The famous Ukrainian boxers Vitali Klitschko & Wladimir Klitschko opened the televoting, while a special trophy was presented to the winner by Ukraine's president, Viktor Yushchenko. An official CD and DVD was released and a new introduction is an official pin set, which contains heart-shaped pins with the flags of all 39 participating countries.

Semifinal

The semifinal was held on 19 May 2005 and ten of the twenty-five countries gained places among the fourteen nations already qualified. This years newcomers were Bulgaria and Moldova, while Hungary returned after a hiatus since 1998. Lebanon was also expected to make a debut show appearance but was forced to withdraw after announcing they would show commercials over the Israeli entry. The favourites, Iceland, Belarus, and Netherlands failed to qualify from the semifinal in perhaps the biggest shock of this year's contest. It is also notable that Ireland, the seven times winner of the ESC, failed to qualify for the final.

Country Artist Song Points Place
Marian van de Wal "La mirada interior" 27 23rd
Global.Kryner "Y Así" 30 21st
Angelica Agurbash "Love Me Tonight" 67 13th
Nuno Resende "Le grand soir" 51 17th
Kaffe "Lorraine" 49 19th
Boris Novković feat. Lado Members "Vukovi Umiru Sami" 169 4th
Jakob Sveistrup "Talking to You" 185 3rd
Suntribe "Let's Get Loud" 31 20th
Geir Rönning "Why" 50 18th
Martin Vučić "Make My Day" 97 9th
NOX "Forogj világ" 167 5th
Selma "If I Had Your Love" 52 16th
Donna and Joseph McCaul "Love?" 53 14th
Shiri Maimon "Hasheket Shenish'ar" 158 7th
Valters & Kaža "The War is Not Over" 85 10th
Laura and The Lovers "Little By Little" 17 25th
Zdob şi Zdub "Boonika Bate Doba" 207 2nd
Lise Darly "Tout de moi" 22 24th
Glennis Grace "My Impossible Dream" 53 15th
Wig Wam "In My Dreams" 164 6th
Ivan i Delfin "Czarna dziewczyna" 81 11th
2B "Amar" 51 17th
Luminiţa Anghel & Sistem "Let Me Try" 235 1st
Omar Naber "Stop" 69 12th
Vanilla Ninja "Cool Vibes" 114 8th
Aline Lahoud "Quand Tout S'Enfuit" WD*
*WD = Withdrawn.

Final

The final was held on 21 May 2005 and this years winner, Greece, was chosen with Malta, Romania, Israel and Latvia rounding out the top 5. The host Ukraine along with the so-called 'big 4' (Spain, United Kingdom, France, and Germany) propped up the bottom of the table.

Country Artist Song Points Place
Ledina Çelo Tomorrow I Go 53 16th
Feminnem Call Me 79 14th
Boris Novković feat. Lado Members Vukovi Umiru Sami 115 11th
Constantinos Christoforou Ela, Ela 46 18th
Jakob Sveistrup Talking to You 125 10th
Ortal Chacun Pense à Soi 11 23rd
Martin Vučić Make My Day 52 17th
Gracia Run and Hide 4 24th
Helena Paparizou My Number One 230 1st
NOX Forogj világ 97 12th
Shiri Maimon Hasheket Shenish'ar 154 4th
Valters & Kaža The War is Not Over 153 5th
Chiara Angel 192 2nd
Zdob şi Zdub Bunica Bate Doba 148 6th
Wig Wam In My Dreams 125 9th
Luminiţa Anghel & Sistem Let Me Try 158 3rd
Natalia Podolskaya Nobody Hurt No One 57 15th
No Name Zauvijek Moja 137 7th
Son de Sol Brujería 28 21st
Martin Stenmarck Las Vegas 30 19th
Vanilla Ninja Cool Vibes 128 8th
Gülseren Rimi Rimi Ley 92 13th
GreenJolly Razom Nas Bahato 30 20th
Javine Touch My Fire 18 22nd

Score sheet

See bottom of page for link to semifinal score-sheet. Qualifiers have the country's name highlighted in blue.


ESCAustriaJ.png
ESCBelgiumJ.png
ESCBulgariaJ.png
ESCSwitzerlandJ.png
ESCGermanyJ.png
ESCDenmarkJ.png
ESCFranceJ.png
ESCMoldovaJ.png
ESCNetherlandsJ.png
ESCSwedenJ.pngCountries voting but not competing in the final - AD-Andorra, AT-Austria, BY-Belarus, BE-Belgium, BG-Bulgaria, EE-Estonia, FI-Finland, IS-Iceland, IE-Ireland, LT-Lithuania, MC-Monaco, NL-Netherlands, PL-Poland, PT-Portugal, SI-Slovenia.
 ADALATBABEBGBYCHCSCYDEDKEEESFIFRGBGRHRHUIEILISLTLVMCMDMKMTNLNOPLPTRORUSESITRUA
 
Greece 412461212-71212122-83812-5122721--4761041310412212-
Malta-45-8-53-681047871084510104255---510--21261810
Romania7562781-38-3-12-5-5-105125--472736712--2-4-
Israel 831-6-81--55165107--86--32126-875-5781-37
Latvia 10---5-6--17610-4-6171126312--12-10-846-537-1
Moldova --24167-521-64-22714-48108--52--3101210-3712
Serbia & Montenegro -61210-4312-103----6-6122----16110-4---66410-3
Switzerland 1-----10--44112-10--3333278128--1-364-756-5
Norway 2--3314-23-128312-54--411256-3-51-8---84-6
Denmark 3---4-----6-5102-8--673104410--3812514-10---
Croatia-2812-2-810-2-2-1----7--1677-8-222-51-12-8
Hungary 6--1252-67--35-3-26--86-3--1---10283--62
Turkey -878103-6--108---121----------4-12---3-----
Bosnia & Herzegovina --10----54--4----4-10-1------3-67----7810-
Russia ------12-----7-7--------710-10-----------4
Albania --35---108------1-102--------12---------2-
FYR Macedonia-10-7-7-27---------8------1----------55-
Cyprus-7---10--1-------312----------12----1-----
Sweden-----------7-26----------356--1--------
Ukraine-------------1------------8----127-2----
Spain12------4-------4----------------8------
United Kingdom---------5----------8-------4--------1-
France51-------------------5-----------------
Germany-------------------------22------------
Rows are ordered by finishing rank, columns are in alphabetical order of two-letter ISO code.

Individual entries

Albania

The Albanian Final was held on December 18th at the Palace of Congress in Tirana, hosted by Huejda El Sajed & Leon Menkshi. Before the final there were 2 semi-finals. The winner was chosen by televoting (50%) and an "expert" jury (50%), but only the top 3 were announced. Ledina Çelo was chosen to represent Albania at Eurovision with the song Nesër shkoj. The song a mixed modern World Music style with traditional Balkan influence. At Eurovision, Ledina performed the English version of her song titled Tomorrow I Go. The song is written by Pandi Laco and composed by Adrian Hila.

Ledina Çelo was born on 9 February 1977 and is an Albanian singer who attended ‘Jordan Misja’ artistic school in 1996 and the Academy of Fine Arts, studying classic music, in 2004. In 2000 she won the final of the second series of ‘Star Academy’ in Paris. She competed in many festivals in Albania and has received a number of awards for her music.

Final - December 18th - Only the top 3 were announced:

Position Song Singer Place
8 Hëna dhe yjet dashurojnë Luiz Ejlli 2nd
12 Nesër shkoj Ledina Çelo 1st
13 Frikem se më pëlqen Jonida Maliqi 3rd

Andorra

The Dutch-born hotel owner Marian van de Wal represented Andorra with the song "La Mirada Interior" (The Look Inside). Marian was chosen using a Pop Idol-style show out of 36 contestants. In the final stage, she narrowly defeated Mar Capdevila and Isthar Ruíz, who ended up second in the Andorran National Final in 2004 together as the duo Bis A Bis, and entered separately in 2005. Later, in a song selection show, "La Mirada Interior" was selected from a choice of three songs. The song is written by Rafael Artesero, Daniel Aragay and Rafael Fernández, and composed by Rafael Artesero.

Austria

The Austrian pre-selection song.null.fünf was held on 25 February at the ORF TV Studios in Vienna, hosted by Mirjam Weichselbraun & Christian Clerici. The winner was chosen by regional televoting and mobile phone voting. By a four point margin, Global.Kryner was chosen over 2003 Austrian representative, Alf Poier, with the song Y Así. The song is an Austrian folk tune with yodeling, sung in English and Spanish. The song is written by Christof Spörk and composed by Christof Spörk and Edi Köhldorfer.

Global. Kryner is an Austrian folk group consisting of vocalist Sabine Stieger, trumpet Karl Rossmann, clarinet Christof Spörk, accordion Anton Sauprügl, guitar Edi Köhldorfer and trombone Sebastian Fuchsberger. Global. Kryner had introduced themselves in August 2004 by playing a midnight gig at the Munich Lustspielhaus before a curious audience of a just 100 people. In 2004, their first album made it into the Austrian top 40.

This Austrian pre-selection was very controversial for being unfair because everyone of the nine federal states of Austria entered an equivalent voting (a maximum of points) together with the "Mobile phone votings" forming a tenth entry. When the results eventually were published, "mobile phone votings" had more voters than any federal state else, but gave just as many points as the voters from e.g. Vorarlberg did. Actual winner Alf Poier was annoyed about this way of unfairness.

Final - February 25

Position Song Singer Points Place
1 Y así Global Kryner 102 1st
2 Just like that Jade Davis 22 9th
3 Hotel, hotel Alf Poier 51 7th
4 Back home Mystic Alpin 73 4th
5 Who you are Marque 53 6th
6 Dreaming Global Kryner 54 5th
7 Perfect world Jade Davis 19 10th
8 Good old Europe is dying Alf Poier 98 2nd
9 One world Mystic Alpin 74 3rd
10 In the universe Marque 34 8th

Belarus

Angelica Agurbash (in cyrillic: Анжаліка Агурбаш) was originally selected to represent Belarus with the rock ballad "Boys & Girls". Television viewers joined internet voters to select three songs from the national final. A jury then chose "Boys & Girls" out of the three. The song was inspired by the Beslan massacre. However, disappointed by the lukewarm reaction the song received across Europe, the Belarusian authorities opted to take the highly unusual step of allowing Angelica to perform a different song in Kiev, entitled "Love Me Tonight". The song is written by Nektarios George Tyrakis and composed by Nikos Terzis.

Belgium

The French-speaking RTBF chose its representative at a national final on Sunday March 20 2005. Only two songs were performed in that final, with the public displaying their preference for Nuno Resende's "Le Grand Soir" (The Big Night) by a wafer-thin margin. The song was written by Frédéric Zeitoun and composed by Alec Mansion.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

15 songs competed in the Bosnian final on March 6. The result was decided by 50% jury and 50% televoting. The 2003 Bosnian representative Mija Martina competed in the preselection. The winning song was "Zovi" performed by Feminnem, a female trio composed of contestants of a television show (Hrvatski Idol, the Croatian version of Pop Idol; they were allowed to compete despite two being from Herzegovina, as one was from Croatia). In Kiev, the group competed with an English language version of the song entitled "Call Me". The song is written and composed by Andrej Babić.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria participated for the first time. Their national broadcaster BNT held a national final on February 12 and a jazz inspired band Kaffe was chosen. The song "Lorraine" is written by Vesselin Vesselinov-Eko & Orlin Pavlov and composed by Vesselin Vesselinov-Eko.

Croatia

The Croatian national is HRT Dora. Notable participants were the former Croatian representatives Magazin (1995), Danijela Martinović; (1995, 1998), Goran Karan (2000) and Vesna Pisarović (2002). Giuliano made his fifth Dora appearance. The eventual winner, however, was Boris Novković featuring members of the ethno group Lado, with the song "Vukovi Umiru Sami" (Wolves Die Alone). The song is written by Boris Novković and composed by Franjo Valentić.

Cyprus

Constantinos Christoforou (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Χριστοφόρου) sung "Ela, Ela" (Come, Come) for Cyprus. Christoforou previously sang for Cyprus in the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest where he ended ninth and again as part of the group One in the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest when Cyprus took sixth place. He was accompanied by Elena Patroclou, who represented Cyprus in 1991. "Ela, Ela" was chosen out of four songs. The song is written and composed by Constantinos Christoforou. A combined expert jury and televoting system selected the song.

Denmark

The Danish Melodi Grand Prix took place in Forum Horsens on February 12 2005, hosted by Jarl Friis-Mikkelsen, Birthe Kjær, and Annette Heick. The Olsen Brothers, winners of the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 entered a song in the competition in the hope of repeating their triumph but placed only second. The winning entry was "Tænder På Dig" by Jakob Sveistrup. However, for Eurovision the song switched to English lyrics, with the new title "Talking to You". The song is written and composed by Jacob Launbjerg and Andreas Mørck.

Jakob Sveistrup is a 33 year old school teacher and works in a special school for children with autistic spectrum disorder. Jakob Sveistrup lives and works in Odense. He became known by the Danes when he participated in ‘Star for a Night’ on DR TV in 2003. He nearly went all the way but was beaten in the final.

Final - February 12

Position Song Singer Points Place
1 I believe in love Luna Park 16 3rd=
2 Peace, understanding and love Tamra Rosanes 8 5th
3 Little yellow radio Olsen Brothers 52 2nd
4 Tænder på dig Jakob Sveistrup 58 1st
5 Make a Wish Marie Keis Uhre 16 3rd=

Estonia

The all-girl group Suntribe sung "Let's Get Loud" for Estonia. Its members participated in star casting shows in the past. The song defeated eight others by televote in the national final Eurolaul. The song was written and composed by Sven Lõhmus.

Finland

Heikki Paasonen and Jaana Pelkonen hosted the four semi finals and the final of the 2005 national finals for Finland. A new record was set when 503 songs were submitted to broadcaster YLE for the 2005 national selection. 476 songs were received in 2002. In addition, YLE invited eight composers to submit songs directly to the competition. Lahti, Jyväskylä, Turku and Imatra were the host towns of the semifinals on January 14, January 21, February 4 and February 11 respectively. The grand final was held at Tampere Hall on February 19 2005 and the winner was "Why" by Geir Rönning written by Mika Toivanen and Steven Stewart.

France

For the first time since Eurovision 2000, France 3 organised a National Preselection. Five singers battled it out for the right to represent France, with Ortal emerging as the popular choice with her song "Chacun Pense à Soi" (Everyone Thinks of Themself). The song is written and composed by Saad Tabainet.

F.Y.R. Macedonia

The 2005 FYR Macedonian national final was held on 19 February 2005 in Skopje and featured two artists Aleksandra Pileva and Martin Vučić. During the first phase of the preselection both of them were selected to participate in the final by a jury of sixteen music professionals. The two performed four songs each - one song was of their own choosing, the other three were from an open competition to submit songs for the final. Martin Vučić turned out to be the winner. The song is written by Branka Kostić and composed by Dragan Vučić.

Germany

The German final, Germany 12 Points was held on March 12 in Berlin. It was won by Gracia, with the song "Run and Hide", with other participants including Allee der Kosmonauten, Ellen ten Damme, Stefan Gwildis, Königwerq, Murphy Brothers, Orange Blue, Under One Flag, Villaine and the Swiss singer Mia Aegerter. The song is written by David Brandes and composed by Bernd Meinunger.

"Run & Hide" stirred some controversy in Germany, when it turned out that the producer of the song had bought numerous copies of the CD himself so the song would chart high in the German Top 100. The song was temporarily disqualified from the chart listing, but Gracia's Eurovision appearance itself was never in any danger.

Greece

Elena Paparizou (Greek: Έλενα Παπαρίζου), who won third place for Greece in the 2001 contest in her duo band Antique, was selected internally by ERT. She sung "My Number One" in Kiev, chosen by a mixture of televoting and jury selection in the national final on March 2. The song is written by Christos Dantis and Natalia Germanou, and composed by Christos Dantis.

Hungary

Hungary returned to the Eurovision Song Contest after six years of absence, with the song "Forogj, Világ" (Spin, World), performed by NOX. The song is wrtten by Attila Valla and composed by Szabolcs Harmath.

Iceland

The 1999 Eurovision Song Contest runner-up Selma was internally selected to represent Iceland, and performed the song "If I Had Your Love" in Kiev. The song is written by Linda Thompson and composed by Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson and Vignir Snær Vigfússon.

Ireland

RTÉ, the Irish state broadcaster once again ran the You're A Star talent contest to choose an act. The act technically represented only the Republic of Ireland (though entered in the Eurovision under the official name of Ireland), but similarly to its previous entries, the You're A Star competition was open to all of Ireland, the winner of which, announced on March 6 2005, were Donna & Joseph McCaul with the song "Love?". The song is written and composed by Karl Broderick.

Donna and Joseph McCaul are from the town of Athlone in Co. Westmeath, in the centre of Ireland. Donna (20) is a full-time singer with The Doc Carroll Band and her ambition is to duet with Shania Twain. She enjoys learning about music and playing hockey. Her younger brother Joe (17) was a full-time school student. He is a fan of Paddy Casey, Maroon 5 and Liverpool football club.

Final - March 6

Position Song Singer Place
1 Love? Donna and Joseph McCaul 1st
2 Pink champagne Jade 2nd

Israel

For the first time since 2001, a full-scale Israeli preselection was held on 2 March. Unlike previous years, IBA invited only established artists to the Kdam. Among the better-known participants were Shiri Maymon (runner-up of a popular Pop Idol-style audition show in 2003) as well as Svika Pick, composer and producer of the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest winner Diva. Shiri Maymon's song "Hasheket Shenish'ar" (The Silence That Remained) won the event to become Israel's entry in Kiev. The song is written by Pini Aaronbayev and Eyal Shachar and composed by Pini Aaronbayev. At Eurovision, the song was presented in English and Hebrew.

Shiri Maymon was born in Haifa, and grew up in the neighboring town of Kiriyat Haim. Shiri made her first professional appearance at the annual children’s ‘Festigal’ in 1991. In 2000, she was called for her National Service, and was invited to join the Air Force Entertainment Group, entertaining Israeli troops. In 2003 Shiri came in 2nd place at ‘A Star Is Born’, Israel’s version of ‘Pop Idol’, which caused a large amount of popularity. Shiri was invited to join the team of presenters of ‘Exit’, a daily television program in which she interviews people and discusses subjects that are of interest to youth.

Final - February 2

Position Song Singer Points Place
1 Be'ahava gdola Samir Shukri & Efrat Cohen 26 9th
2 Peace and love Zehava Ben 48 5th
3 Targish oti Michal Amdurski 39 8th
4 Yesh li et halayla Momi Levi 23 10th
5 Hamon Merav Siman-Tov 10 13th
6 Ode-le-ya Gaya 15 11th=
7 Hasheket shenish'ar Shiri Maymon 116 1st
8 Jerusalem Rinat Gabay 62 4th
9 Don’t worry baby Yossi Azulai 70 2nd
10 Zman Mira Awad 5 8th
11 Esperansa The Elayev Family 45 6th
12 Hello, hello Sharona & Daniela Pick 15 11th=
13 Or yare'ach Tzvika Pick & Company 66 3rd
14 Kmo chalom Rinat Bar 40 7th

Latvia

The Latvian Final was held on February 26 in Ventspils, hosted by Elvis Jansons & Ija Circene. Before the final there were 2 semi-finals on January 29 and February 5. The winner was chosen in two rounds of televoting - the first to select the top 3 and the second to select the winner. Valters & Kaža won the event with "The War is Not Over". The song is written and composed by Mārtiņš Freimanis.

Kārlis Būmeisters and Valters Frīdenbergs are the singers of Putnu Balle (Birds' Party) who met 16 years ago at the age of two, when they joined the children’s pop group Dzeguzīte (Cuckoo). They had a hit single called ‘Sapņu Pārdevējs’ (‘Seller of Dreams’), which was written by Mārtiņš Freimanis. Their first album was launched in 2005 contain several songs by Mārtiņš Freimanis.

Final - February 26

Position Song Singer Points Place
1 The war is not over Valters & Kaža 28214 1st
2 In the heat of the night Ksenija 8308 3rd
3 Sing it! Swing it! Agnese & Intars 20318 2nd

Lebanon

The Lebanese broadcaster Télé Liban had internally selected Aline Lahoud to be their debut entrant, but had to withdraw from the contest after doubts were raised over whether Israel's entry would be broadcast in Lebanon. According to reports the Lebanese broadcasters had stated that they would show commercials during the Israeli entry, because Lebanese law made broadcasting the Israeli song impossible. This resulted in Lebanon's forced withdrawal. Aline had been intended to sing "Quand Tout s'Enfuit", written and composed by Jad Rahbani and Romeo Lahoud.

Lithuania

The Lithuanian national final, Nacionalinė atranka į Euroviziją 2005, was held in Kaunas on February 26. Twenty-one songs selected from seven semifinals participated. Laura & the Lovers were chosen by Lithuanian viewers with the song Little by Little, written and composed by Swedes Bobby Ljunggren & William Butt.

Laura & the Lovers are a Lithuanian pop group. They were formed by Lithuanian music executives Justas Garliauskas and Danielius Mironas and composers and producers Ljunggren and Butt. Laura has competed in many International festivals and has released hit songs and album. .

Final - February 26

Position Song Singer Points Place
1 I'll let you fly Aiste Pilvelyte 651 9th
2 I'll be there Eva & Ceslovas Gabalis 713 8th
3 Now you know Reda Striškaite 155 16th
4 One-man-band The Road Band 51 18th
5 Oceans of love B'Avarija 507 10th
6 You are in Hollywood N.E.O. 464 11th
7 You're the one Robertas Kupstas 269 14th
8 La reina of the world El Mar 40 20th
9 Oh my God Vilija Mataciunaite 733 7th
10 All I know Artas 872 6th
11 Discoholic Saules Kliošas 1060 5th
12 Back in the game Rasa Kaušiute 286 13th
13 Let the music play Sea Stars 42 19th
14 Be with me Bugs Band 78 17th
15 With you Violeta Riaubiškyte 456 12th
16 Little by little Laura & The Lovers 5465 1st
17 Buona siera Ergo Fine 1533 3rd
18 Pupa, pupa Tele Bim-Bam Neringa & Draugai 1462 4th
19 My pretty Pusbroliai Aliukai & Sesute 268 15th
20 Light up the world Alanas Chošnau 5292 2nd

Malta

Malta Song for Europe was held on February 19. Out of twenty-two participating songs, five were written by German Eurovision winning composer Ralph Siegel. Former Maltese Eurovision participants, Chiara (1998) and Fabrizio Faniello (2001) were among the participants, and a televote decided that Chiara's song "Angel" would represent Malta in Kiev. The song is written and composed by Chiara Siracusa.

Moldova

The Moldovan Final was held on February 26 at the National Palace in Chişinău, hosted by Aurelia Vasilica & Valeriu Myrza. The winner was chosen by televoting (50%) and an "expert" jury (50%) - Zdob si Zdub won the televote while Millennium was favourite with the "expert" jury. Zdob şi Zdub was selected with the song Bunica Bate Toba. The song is written by Roman Iagupov and composed by Mihai Gincu.

Zdob şi Zdub is a Moldovan band consisting of Roman Iagupov, Mihai Gincu, Anatol Pugaci, Valeriu Mazilu, Victor Dandes, and Igor Buzurniuc. The band has released 5 albums, released the debut album Hardcore Moldovenesc in 1997. The ethno-rockers combine hardcore with Moldovan folklore. They have 10 years of experience behind them, adding a touch of hip-hop, drum'n'bass, jungle and disco as the music genre.

Final - February 26

Position Song Singer Place
1 Evolution Johnny Alici 12th=
2 One more time Nelly Ciobanu 2nd
3 Mǎ cheamǎ dragostea Nona Marian 10th
4 La iubire nu voi renunţa Iana Ştefan 12th=
5 Yellow roses Lou 7th
6 Pentru tine Cezara 12th=
7 Tablou pe sticlǎ Millennium 3rd
8 O mie cinci sute Alternosfera 11th
9 Bunica bate toba Zdob şi Zdub 1st
10 Lacrimi şi durere Adrian Ursu 4th
11 I'm begging you In Quadro 5th
12 Ploaia ta Edict 12th=
10 O stea Sergiu Cuzencov 6th
11 Am sǎ vin Gindul Mitei 8th
12 Un sǎrut Alexa 9th

Monaco

The French singer Lise Darly was selected internally to sing "Tout de Moi" (All About Me) in Kiev. Lise finished second to Märyon in the Monegasque singer selection of 2004. The song is written and composed by Philippe Bosco.

The Netherlands

The Netherlands chose their song for the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest on Sunday, 13 February at the Pepsi Center in Amsterdam. Twenty-four songs participated in the four televised semi finals. From each heat, three songs won places in the final. The heats were broadcast by TROS and there was no 'second chance' round. The winner turned out to be a Whitney Houston influenced singer Glennis Grace. The song is written by Bruce Smith and composed by Robert D. Fisher.

Norway

On March 5 2005, viewers were given the chance to help decide which song should represent Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev. The rules for the national final were changed for the 2005 contest. Previously NRK used to issue an open call for songs; in 2005 the broadcaster invited composers and artists directly with the aim of providing eight songs for consideration by televoters. The winner was the song "In My Dreams", sung by Wig Wam. The song was written and composed by Trond “Teeny” Holter.

Poland

The Russian-Polish duo Ivan i Delfin sung the Russian folk-style "Czarna Dziewczyna" (Beautiful Girl). The song had one of the fastest beats per minute in Eurovision's history. It was internally selected by TVP amongst 63 songs. The song was performed in both Polish and Russian. The song is written by Ivan Komarenko & Michał Szymański and composed by Łukasz Lazer.

Portugal

The Portuguese entry, "Amar" (To Love) by 2B was selected internally by RTP (Portugal). The semifinal performance on the night fell victim to a poor performance, but still got three 12s. The song is written by Alexandre Honrado, Ernesto Leite & José da Ponte and composed by Ernesto Leite and José da Ponte.

Romania

Twelve songs competed in the Romanian national final on March 5 2005. The winning song was "Let Me Try" performed by Luminiţa Anghel and Sistem. The song is written and composed by Christian Faur.

Russia

The Russian final took place on 25 February in Moscow. Three songs that qualified from each of the three semifinals participated. Natalia Podolskaya from Belarus emerged victorious with her song "Nobody Hurt No One". The song is written by M. S. Applegate and J. P. Chase, and composed by Victor Drobysh.

Serbia and Montenegro

The national final was held in Podgorica on 4 March 2005. It featured 14 Serbian and 10 Montenegrin songs that had earlier been pre-selected in each republic. "Zauvijek Moja" (Forever Mine) by the band No Name, a qualifier from Montenegro's semifinal, was the controversial winner of the event which was decided by a mixture of jury selection and televote. All four Montenegrin jurors had noticeably awarded no points whatsoever to Jelena Tomasevic's song Jutro, the leading qualifier from the Serbian semifinal, which conversely had received high scores from all four Serbian jurors, who in turn awarded very few points to No Name. The probable partisan feeling that led to such a polarised outcome may be partly attributable to the fallout from an earlier heated dispute, initiated when the Serbian qualifiers had been actively promoted on the airwaves in the run-up to the final, in a breach of the rules agreed between the two sides. Before allowing "Zauvijek Moja" to be confirmed as Serbia and Montenegro's entry, the EBU launched an investigation into a number of formal complaints, which also related to hotly disputed allegations of plagiarism. However, after prolonged deliberations, the song was given the green light. The song won the award for the best composition in the contest. The song is written by Milan Peric and composed by Slaven Knezovic.

Slovenia

The Slovenian national final (EMA) took place on 6 February at the RTVSLO TV Studios in Ljubljana, hosted by Saša Einsiedler and Saša Gerdej. Unlike previous years, there was only one show and no semifinals. "Stop", sung by Omar Naber, was the choice to go to Kiev. The song is a dynamic ballad, but was turned into a rock song for Eurovision. The song is written and composed by Urša Vlašič.

Omar Naber was born on 7 July 1981 as Omar Kareem, which in Arabic since his father is Jordanian. Omar is a dental technician and plays piano, guitar and bass piano. And apart from singing, composing, writing lyrics and musical arrangements, he is interested in the music industry as a whole. Omar Naber came to fame after he won "Bitka Talentov", which is a talent search contest.

Final - February 6

Position Song Singer Points Place
1 Metulj Saša Lendero 27825 2nd
2 Stop Omar Naber 29945 1st
3 Pojdi z menoj Rebeka Dremelj 23514 3rd

Spain

Twelve acts participated in the Spanish national preselection held in Madrid and broadcast by TVE on March 4th and 5th, 2005. The list of participants included the controversial trio Las Supremas de Móstoles, who finally ranked second. Son de Sol won the contest featuring their song "Brujería" (Witchcraft). The song is written and composed by Alfredo Panebianco.

Sweden

Four semifinals and one second chance show were broadcast to decide the line-up for the grand final. As in recent years the qualifying heats were held across Sweden. The Melodifestival started out in Göteborg and travelled through Linköping, Skellefteå, and Växjö before the final. The final was won by Martin Stenmarck with his song "Las Vegas". Nanne, who was the favourite of televoters, came second, Alcazar were third, and Shirley Clamp was fourth. The song was written and composed by Niklas Edberger, Johan Fransson, Tim Larsson and Tobias Lundgren.

Switzerland

The Estonian girl-band Vanilla Ninja represented Switzerland with the song "Cool Vibes". The band had previously had a major amount of hits in Germany and Switzerland among others and therefore was internally selected by the Swiss television. The song is written by John O'Flynn and composed by David Brandes.

Turkey

After two years of selecting an entry for the Eurovision Song Contest internally, Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) decided to return to the public national final system used previously. Ten songs were short-listed by an internal committee at TRT to take part. All songs had to be written in Turkish. "Rimi Rimi Ley" (Love Will Find a Way), performed by Gülseren, was the eventual choice to represent Turkey in Kiev. The song was written by Göksan Arman and composed by Erdinç Tunç.

Ukraine

For the first time ever Ukraine held a national final. 527 songs were received by NTU. A jury narrowed this down to 75. Five songs were shown each week from November 1, 2004 on and viewers picked the best one each week for fifteen weeks. The fifteen winners went forward to a public national final on February 27] 2005, although singers of entries that had been published prior to November 2004, including the heavy favourite Ani Lorak, were asked to submit a new song for the final. In addition, four wildcards were added to the line-up for the final and one of these, the hip-hop entry "Razom Nas Bahato" (Together We Are Many) by the band GreenJolly, was controversially voted the winner, beating Ani Lorak into second place. The controversial decision to add the entrants into the final was initiated by Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister on Humanitarian Policy Mykola Tomenko. While he tried to justify his decision in the contest aftermath arguing that it needed to reflect the dramatic changes in the society due to the recent Orange Revolution, the perceived government intervention into a musical contest attracted much criticism. Indeed, for many weeks the song, which almost certainly owes its victory to its familiarity as an unofficial anthem of the Orange Revolution, appeared to be in danger of falling foul of two criteria for eligibility as an entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. Firstly, it was openly derivative of an older revolutionary song, and therefore was arguably not an original composition, and secondly, the lyrics could be classed as political propaganda, especially since they mentioned President Viktor Yushchenko by name. However, after substantial revisions were made, the song was deemed a legitimate entry by the EBU. The song is written by Oleg Lanjak and composed by Roman Kalin.

United Kingdom

The BBC held the United Kingdom final Making Your Mind Up on March 5 in London. The five acts taking part were Andy Scott-Lee, Australian-born Gina G (who represented the UK in 1996, coming 8th), Javine, Katie Price (better known as glamour model Jordan), and Tricolore. Voting was open to the public, with votes converted into points in a similar way to the actual contest, and the act receiving the most points representing the UK. In the end Javine won and represented the UK with the song "Touch My Fire". The song is written by Javine and composed by John Themis & Javine Hylton.

Javine Hylton was born on 27 December 1981 and as a yougster, she enjoyed listening to her mother’s collection of soul and reggae albums. At the tender age of 10 Javine was offered an arts scholarship. Modelling and appearances in pop videos followed before, at the age of 18, Javine won the coveted role of Nala in the West End production of Disney’s ‘The Lion King’. In December 2002 she took part hit show ‘Popstars: The Rivals’. Javine has established herself as a leading UK R&B pop star with four hit singles under her belt.

Final - March 5

Position Song Singer Points Place
1 Touch my fire Javine 116 1st
2 Brand new day Tricolore 58 4th
3 Flashback Gina G 20 5th
4 Guardian angel Andy Scott-Lee 61 3rd
5 Not just anybody Katie Price 101 2nd

Map

  • Green = Participating countries
  • Yellow = Countries who have participated in the past but don't this year
  • Red = Countries who didn't survive the semi-final

Spokespersons

From *
  • Albania: Zhani Ciko (Director of the National Opera House)
  • Andorra: Ruth Gumbau (ATV presenter)
  • Austria: Dodo Roscic (ORF host, Austrian spokesperson since 1999)
  • Belarus: Elena Ponomareva -(TVR presenter)
  • Belgium: Armelle (Journalist and La Une host)
  • Bosnia & Herzegovina: Ana Mirjana Račanović(Miss Bosnia & Herzegovina 2001)
  • Bulgaria: Viara Ankova (Co-worker BNT)
  • Croatia: Barbara Kolar (HRT host)
  • Cyprus: Melani Steliou (CyBC host)
  • Denmark: Gry Johansen-Meilstrup (Danish representative in 1983)
  • Estonia: Maarja-Liis Ilus (Estonian representative in 1996 and 1997)
  • Finland: Jari Sillanpää (Finnish representative in 2004)
  • France: Marie Myriam (French representative in 1977)
  • FYR Macedonia: Karolina Goceva (Representative of FYROM in 2002)
  • Germany: Thomas Hermanns (Comedian)
  • Greece: Alexis Kostalas (ERT Board member, spokesperson in 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004)
  • Hungary: Zsuzsa Demcsák (Model and MTV host)
  • Iceland: Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir (RUV host, Miss Iceland 2003)
  • Ireland: Dana (Irish representative, who also wonthe Eurovision in 1970)
  • Israel: Dana Herman (Journalist)
  • Latvia: Marie N (Latvian representative in 2002)
  • Lithuania: Rolandas Vilkončius (LRT host)
  • Malta: Valerie Vella (TVM and Malta Song for Europe 2002 host)
  • Moldova: Elena Camerzan (TVM host)
  • Monaco: Anne Allegrini (TMC host)
  • The Netherlands: Nance (Nationaal Songfestival host)
  • Norway: Ingvild Helljesen (NRK host)
  • Poland: Maciej Orłoś (TVP host)
  • Portugal: Isabel Angelino (RTP host)
  • Romania: Berti Barbera (Singer and TVR host)
  • Russia: Yana Churikova (Channel One host)
  • Serbia & Montenegro: Nina Radulovic (RTCG journalist and presenter)
  • Slovenia: Katarina Cas (TV SLO host)
  • Spain: Ainhoa Arbizu (TVE and Spanish national final host)
  • Sweden: Annika Jankell (SVT and radio host)
  • Switzerland: Cécile Bähler (VIVA VJ)
  • Turkey: Meltem Ersan Yazgan (TRT and Turkish national final host)
  • Ukraine: Maria Orlova (NTU and Ukrainian national final host)
  • United Kingdom: Cheryl Baker (Singer of Bucks Fizz, UK representative in 1981)

See also

External links

2005 in music

Eurovision Song Contest 2005 | Eurovision Song Contest 2005 | Eurovision Song Contest 2005 | Festival de la Canción de Eurovisión 2005 | Eŭrovido-Kantokonkurso 2005 | Concours Eurovision de la chanson 2005 | Eurofestival 2005 | אירוויזיון 2005 | Eurovisiesongfestival 2005 | Eurovision Song Contest 2005 | Eurovision Song Contest 2005 | Konkurs Piosenki Eurowizji 2005 | Festival Eurovisão da Canção (2005) | Eurovision Sang Contest 2005 | Eurovision laulukilpailu 2005 | Eurovisionsschlagerfestivalen 2005 | Пісенний конкурс Євробачення 2005

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Eurovision Song Contest 2005".

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