The 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held in Moscow in 2009, is one of the best loved shows amongst fans. Now videos of all the grand final performances are available on the official Eurovision YouTube channel, in shiny high definition. On a stage that used 30% of the world’s LED screens, we were treated to an evening of unforgettable performances. Let’s take a look back at some of our favourites.

Turkey: Hadise – “DĂźm Tek Tek”

Blending saucy Eastern beats with a contemporary pop style, Belgium-Turkish singer Hadise shimmied her way to a fourth place for Turkey. It’s songs like this that make Eurovision fans hope that Turkey will some day return to the contest.

United Kingdom: Jade Ewen – “It’s My Time”

Just in case anyone was thinking that it was impossible for the UK to do well at Eurovision, Jade Ewan along with composer Andrew Lloyd Webber showed just the opposite. Jade and the Lord Lloyd-Webber delivered an uplifting ballad that earned the UK fifth place, a placing that has yet to be beaten.

Greece: Sakis Rouvas – “This Is Our Night”

While Sakis Rouvas didn’t better his third place from 2004, he still delivered an iconic performance with “This Is Our Night” that took Eurovision staging in bold new directions. But as well as the rotating platform and choreography by Fokas Evangelinos, Sakis also sent hearts fluttering with his ability to make an innocent white shirt seem oh-so-naughty.

Ukraine: Svetlana Loboda – “Be My Valentine (Anti-Crisis Girl)”

While writhing inside giant cogs and dancing with sexy centurions, Svetlana firmly demanded “Be my Valentine!” And how could we resist? The anti-crisis girl’s track placed 12th but has become a firm Euroclub favourite in the years since. This song makes us feel so sexy bom.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Regina – “Bistra voda”

“Bistra voda” has been on our minds lately use to the passing of Regina’s bass player Denis Cabric. The song is just as powerful as it was seven years ago, with the dramatic staging adding an emotional dimension to the Balkan rock ballad.

Moldova: Nelly Ciobanu – “Hora din Moldova”

“Hora din Moldova” is a reminder that Moldova always seems to do best when it embraces its own musical culture and language. Nelly delivers a fun performance that livened up the grand final in just the right way.

Germany: Alex Swings Oscar Sings! – “Miss Kiss Kiss Bang”

Germany got super saucy with the electro swing track “Miss Kiss Kiss Bang”. But the staging took things to the next level, with Dita Von Teese giving a tantalising burlesque performance that was initially too hot for Eurovision and had to be toned down before the live final. *fans self*

Iceland: Yohanna – “Is It True?”

Yohanna turned an average performance in Iceland’s national final into a killer grand final performance that came close to giving Iceland its first Eurovision win. The country tinged ballad took second place and, with 218 points, gave Iceland its best score to date.

Azerbaijan: AySel and Arash – “Always”

“Always” was another step towards Azerbaijan emerging as a power player of the early 2010s. It delivered a catchy pop tune with Eastern influences performed by Azerbaijani singer AySel and Swedish-Iranian singer-songwriter Arash. “Always” gave Azerbaijan a third-place finish and laid the groundwork for the Azerbaijan duo who would go on to win the competition in 2011.

France: Patricia Kaas “Et s’il fallait le faire”

Patricia Kaas wasn’t just a smoky-eyed diva in a one-shouldered dress. She was a chanteuse, and brought a sultry but emotional performance, commanding the stage all by herself. The beguiling performance gave France its best placing since 2002 – and one that was only beaten by Amir this year.

Armenia: Inga and Anush – “Jan Jan”

The Arshakyan sisters delivered the very fun and highly danceable “Jan Jan”, with an energetic performance that combined fresh electropop with staging and costumes that drew on traditional Armenian elements, as well as braids that a Kardashian would kill for.

Norway: Alexander Rybak – “Fairytale”

And of course there’s the champ. “Fairytale” remains one of the best loved Eurovision winners, a killer combination of that unforgettable fiddle line, Rybak’s cheeky chappy charm and the dreamy staging. And let’s not forget – under the old scoring system, no one has managed to beat the 387 points of “Fairytale”.

What is your favourite song from Eurovision 2009?

Those were some of our favourites from 2009, what what were yours? Have your say in our poll. You can vote for as many songs as you like but you can only vote once so make it count!

[polldaddy poll=9500983]
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Cali
Cali
7 years ago

…and now the semi final please! ^^
My favorites from this year are Latvia, Bulgaria and Finland.

Colin
Colin
7 years ago

1. Estonia
2. Bosnia & Herzegovina
3. Lithuania
4. UK
5. Iceland

(J)ESC Fanatic
(J)ESC Fanatic
7 years ago

@Charles

I totally agree with you. You couldn’t have said it better. 🙂

karminowe.usta
karminowe.usta
7 years ago

Eurovision in Moscow and Eurovision 2016 were the best. Level is so high:)

Charles
Charles
7 years ago

I shall always remember Estonia and Iceland as the two biggest entries that year that proved me that there was still some room for depth in Eurovision music and that there is an audience who knows how to stop with the bs and listen attentively to some great songs instead of being distracted and fooled by joke entries as was the trend back then … The UK for once made sense …. and Norway’s sudden and massive popularity shall always bewilder me for as long as I live … but at least we didn’t have crap filling in the top… Read more »

Charles
Charles
7 years ago

2009 … the end of a decade of a complete utter nightmare … a moment in TV entertainment I shall always have a hard time explaining … this was not just a coming out of the closet event … it was pure desperation to survive after nearly 50 years of existence bringing the worst music possible for the sake of comic relief and complete embarrassment … the pure 100% televoting days … what a fine taste in music we Europeans showcased, Mozart and Bach must have rolled themselves under their graves of complete excitement over this. Thank God some brains… Read more »

Jackqulen
Jackqulen
7 years ago

Loved 2009 songs so much! My favourites would have to be Armenia, which was perhaps my favorite Eurovision song, and Estonia, which still gives me the creeps in a good way. I also liked the Swedish entry but the performance looked like a bad budget cut from the Mello version.

7 years later I still don’t understand how Rybek can sound so awful but still manage to get the highest points ever in history…

Tha
Tha
7 years ago

That entry from Estonia, by Urban Symphony and Sven Lohmus, made me a fan of Eurovision. Is one of my favorite entries of all times! And my winner of 2009, of course. 🙂 So magical, it gives me goosebumps
(But it’s “interesting” how can Lohmus write such a good song as Randajad and write “things” as Let’s Get Loud, Supersonic, etc…)

Jonas
Jonas
7 years ago

#TeamPatriciaKaas

How can it be seven years ago already?

Zebb
Zebb
7 years ago

Agreed with top mostly but I have a tie between Is It True (what a culmination!) and Fairytale (complexity) followed by armenian, turkish, moldovan and estonian entries. Scene worked very well for atmosphere, way better than this year

Avstrya
Avstrya
7 years ago

1. Finland
2. Lithuania
3. Albania

Katy
Katy
7 years ago

I have that final from Channel One with Russian commentary, by Yana Churikova and Kirkorov and it makes the whole experience even better.

Katy
Katy
7 years ago

Best year ever. Dat final is seriously LIT. Even the fillers are enjoyable.

Paul D.
Paul D.
7 years ago

Actually, there’s not a single song from the final that I don’t like. This doesn’t happen on the other contests

Paul D.
Paul D.
7 years ago

It still remains my top favourite year… the memories!

Marco
Marco
7 years ago

Poor Yohanna competed in the wrong year… I also think that the fact that Armenia and Estonia didn’t make the top 5 is a travesty. Such an amazing contest tho

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
7 years ago

Truly a glorious year… with a horrid winner. “Mamo” by Anastasia Prikhodko from Russia should’ve been the winner, but Europe didn’t stan for raw talent and risky music back then.

Amor Amankwah
Amor Amankwah
7 years ago

Dum tek tek, mamo and hora din Moldova are some of my favorites. I also love Ukraine, Norway and Estonia.

Pollaski
Pollaski
7 years ago

Moldova. Easily.

I’m a sucker for redheads in green.

Decision
Decision
7 years ago

Best edition.

Mei International
Mei International
7 years ago

Seriously one of the BEST contests ever.

really good songs, stage, presenters, interval acts, graphics, and of course WINNER!

DenizNL
DenizNL
7 years ago

Albania and Turkey

ms
ms
7 years ago

Patricia Kaas was amazing!

(J)ESC Fanatic
(J)ESC Fanatic
7 years ago

Great to see Iceland 1st on the poll! 🙂

Emil
Emil
7 years ago

Yes! This was the Moldovan entry that got me hooked on Eurovision!

Erasmus
Erasmus
7 years ago

Estonia and Norway for me!<3

jamaladingdong
jamaladingdong
7 years ago

This made me realize that Turkey’s semi final performance is much better than their grand final. Wtf.

Laburnum
Laburnum
7 years ago

1. Iceland
2. Estonia
3. United Kingdom

Fairytale is probably one of my least favourite winners ever imo.

Marc
Marc
7 years ago

Fairytale was the best,
and that time when simple, cheerful, good mood, commercial and not typical esc songs could manage to win Eurovision as Fairytale and Satellite.
Miss this kind of winners.

CookieMonsta
CookieMonsta
7 years ago

In 2016, i still have dum tek tek on my playlist. It was sadly underrated. Maybe Turkey is right by not participating anymore. That was unfair to them.

Maya G
Maya G
7 years ago

Bosnia and Estonia are my absolute favorites, and I think they’re two of the best songs in the Eurovision of the 21st century. Beautiful songs, great performance, good vocals, beautiful languages. Practically masterpieces.

I also like Portugal, Lithuania (though I prefer the Lithuanian version), Armenia, Moldova and Turkey.

Of the songs that didn’t qualify I like Switzerland, Ireland, Latvia, Serbia and Slovakia. They all should have qualified IMO.

(J)ESC Fanatic
(J)ESC Fanatic
7 years ago

Iceland and Turkey were by far the best! Moldova, Armenia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Romania, Estonia, Albania, Spain and Azerbaijan follow.

Roelof Meesters
Roelof Meesters
7 years ago

My top 5:

1. Estonia
2. Israel
3. Armenia
4. Albania
5. Ukraine

But i also love Norway, Russia, United Kingdom, Azerbaijan and Lithuania A LOT…

Ben Rafter
Ben Rafter
7 years ago

Turkey ftw!!!!

Zebb
Zebb
7 years ago

Hard year to remember since it was all about storming Norway & Turkey 😀

ella
ella
7 years ago

My favorite was Estonia. It was magical!

Yalta
Yalta
7 years ago

Jade Ewen’s violin stick accident is seen better in HD.

Ewan
Ewan
7 years ago

Rändajad continues to be one of my favourite eurovision songs of all time.
I remember watching an Estonian entry as a kid, but only vaguely remembered it as just a woman in blue with long black hair and a string instrument. Could never remember what year it was for ages and when I found it again I fell in love. I also love Mamo.

aussie
aussie
7 years ago

the first time i saw it on tv here in australia! remember dum tek tek so well