RTÉ Television broadcasts live coverage of the 54th Eurovision Song Contest Final with commentary by Marty Whelan from the Olimpiysky Indoor Arena in Moscow.
Artists from 25 of the 42 represented countries will compete in the Final of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.
As with last year, all countries barring the UK, Spain, Germany, France and last year’s winner Russia, must compete in one of two Semi-Finals to qualify for the Final, with 10 countries qualifying from each Semi-Final. Sinead and Black Daisy will perform in the second Eurovision Semi-Final on Thursday 14 May, competing against 18 other countries for a place in the Final.
The Final of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest sees a new voting system, involving professional juries in all 42 participating countries. Television viewers and juries will each have a 50% stake in the outcome of the Final. It is the
first time since 1997 that juries will vote in all participating countries. Voting during the Semi-Final will remain unchanged.
Ruurd Bierman, Chairman of the Reference Group, explained the decision: “We strongly believe in televoting as a way of measuring the opinion of our millions of viewers across Europe. After
the public debate about neighbour- and diaspora voting, we decided to give national juries a say in the outcome of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest Final.”