Eleven superfacts about the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

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» Favourites Norway were given a good draw - 20th out of 25 - for the final. In six of the last eight years, one of the final eight acts on stage have won.

» Nine of the last ten winners have sung in English, with the only exception being Serbia in 2007.

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» The last eight Eurovision Song Contests have all been won by countries who had never previously tasted victory. This year, Azerbaijan and Bosnia and Herzegovina are the pick of the nations never to have triumphed, although Malta and Iceland could also challenge.

» Moldova have progressed through the qualifying stages twice before and on both occasions finished in the top ten.

» Malta’s Chiara has entered the competition twice before - finishing third in 1998 and second in 2005. Greece’s Sakis Rouvas came third in 2004.

» Five of the last seven winners have been solo women. Turkey, the UK, Iceland, Malta and France have all taken that route this year.

» Only once in the last 18 years has the winner been a solo man - Dima Bilan last year. Frontrunners Norway and Greece need to buck that trend.

» The UK are heavily tipped for a top-four finish this year despite having failed to break into even the top 15 in any of the last six contests.

» Jade Ewen, the British entry, will be the third last performer. The last time the UK appeared that late was in 1997 when Katrina and the Waves won.

» Russia won’t be retaining. Ireland (1992-94) are the only country since 1980 to have won the competition in consecutive years.

» Spain have been drawn to perform last and in four of the last five years, the closing act has finished in the top ten.

Posted: May 15th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn |