Eurovision Song Contest 2011

56th Eurovision Song Contest

The 56th Annual Eurovision Song Contest was held in Düsseldorf (Germany), due to Germany's first place with their singer Lena Meyer-Landrut with her song "Satellite" in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo (Norway). Like previous years, a system of two semi-finals was used: the first on 10 May and the second on 13 May 2011. The final was on the evening of 14 May 2011. The winners were Ell & Nikki with their song Running scared, they represented Azerbaijan.

Eurovision Song Contest 2011
"Feel Your Heart Beat!"
Dates
Semi-final 1 date 10 May 2011
Semi-final 2 date 12 May 2011
Final date 14 May 2011
Host
Venue Esprit Arena
Düsseldorf, Germany[1]
Presenter(s) Anke Engelke, Judith Rakers and Stefan Raab
Executive supervisor Jon Ola Sand
Host broadcaster Germany ARD/NDR
Opening act Final: Stefan Raab performing "Satellite" with Lena Meyer-Landrut
Interval act Semi-final 1: Cold Steel Drummers
Semi-final 2: Flying Steps – "Flying Bach"
Final: Jan Delay performing "Oh Jonny" and "Klar"
Participants
Number of entries 43
Debuting countries None
Returning countries  Austria
 Hungary
 Italy
 San Marino
Withdrawing countries None
Participation map
  • frameless}}      Participating countries     Countries that did not qualify for the final     Countries that have participated in the past but did not do so in 2011
Vote
Nul points None
Winning song  Azerbaijan
"Running Scared"
Eurovision Song Contest
◄2010 2012►
The Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf

Venue change

On 12 October 2010, the German broadcaster, Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) announced that the Esprit Arena of Düsseldorf as the venue of the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. Germany has already held the Eurovision Song Contest. The first in 1957 in Frankfurt am Main and the second in 1983 in Munich. Since 1998 and the victory of the United Kingdom the year before, it is the first time that a country of the "Big Five" (Germany, France, Spain, United Kingdom & Italy (since 2011)) will held the Eurovision Song Contest.

Bidding Phase change

23 cities of Germany participated to the bidding phase of the venue for the 56th Annual Eurovision Song Contest. Eight cities showed interest of hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 : Berlin, Hamburg, Hanover, Gelsenkirchen, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich. On 21 August 2010, NDR announced that four of those cities had officially applied to host the 2011 Contest :

  • Berlin : In a hangar near the former Tempelhof Airport
  • Düsseldorf: Esprit Arena
  • Hamburg: Hamburg Exhibition Centre
  • Hanover: Hanover Exhibition Centre

Format change

The five countries that are part of the "Big Five", along with the host of the contest, automatically qualify for a place in the final. But Germany is both the host of the 2011 edition and a member from the "Big Five". To answer this question of if a country will qualify directly for the final (maybe the second of the 2010 Contest), the EBU held a meeting in Belgrade (Serbia). And it was decided that the existing rules will remain in place, and that the number of participants in the final will simply decreased from twenty-five to twenty-four. On 31 December 2010, the EBU published the official list of the participants for the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest and which stated the return of Italy, Austria, San Marino and Hungary. And thanks to the return of Italy twenty-fiv countries will participate for the final of the 2011 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Hosts change

On 16 December 2010, NDR revealed the presenters of the 2011 edition : Anke Engelke, Judith Rakers, and Stefan Raab. It will be the third time that three people have hosted the contest after 1999 and 2010. And the second time in a row.

Pot allocations change

To determine the semi-final running orders for the Eurovision Song Contest, participating nations were split into six pots on 17 January 2011. Countries has been drawn from each pot to determine if they will compete in either the first or second semi-final and like in 2010, it will determine in which half of the semi-final they will perform, in order for delegations to know when rehearsals will begin for their respective countries. The draw also determine in which semi-finals the members of the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and Italy) will be able to vote.

Israeli broadcaster IBA requested to take part in the second semi-final due to the Israeli Memorial Day, which will be held during the first semi-final. German broadcaster NDR also requested that they be allowed to vote in the second semi-final for scheduling reasons.

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 Pot 5 Pot 6

Participating Countries change

 
  Countries in the first semi-final
  Countries voting in the first semi-final
  Countries in the second semi-final
  Countries voting in the second semi-final

On 31 December 2010, the EBU confirmed the forty-three countries which will be competing fir the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest. The 2011 edition which will mark the returns of Austria, which last participated in 2007, Italy, which last participated in 1997, San Marino, which only took part in 2008, and Hungary, which last participated in 2009.

At a meeting in Belgrade, the EBU decided that the countries has to choose their artists and their songs before 14 March because the running draw for the Eurovision Song Contest will be held on March 15.

Semi-finals change

Semi-final 1 change

  • The first semi-final of the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest will take place on 10 May 2011.
  • The ten countries which has received the most points, will participate for the final of the contest
  • Two members of the "Big Five", Spain and the United Kingdom will vote in this semi-final
Draw Country Language Artist Song English translation Results
01   Poland Polish Magdalena Tul "Jestem" I am Out
02   Norway English, Swahili Stella Mwangi "Haba Haba" Little by little Out
03   Albania English, Albanian Aurela Gaçe "Feel the Passion" Out
04   Armenia English Emmy "Boom-Boom" Out
05   Turkey English Yüksek Sadakat "Live It Up" Out
06   Serbia Serbian Nina Radojčić "Čaroban" (Чаробан) Magical Qualified
07   Russia English Alexey Vorobyov "Get You" Qualified
08   Switzerland English Anna Rossinelli "In Love for a While" Qualified
09   Georgia English Eldrine "One More Day" Qualified
10   Finland English Paradise Oskar "Da Da Dam" Qualified
11   Malta English Glen Vella "One Life" Out
12   San Marino English Senit "Stand By" Out
13   Croatia English Daria Kinzer "Celebrate" Out
14   Iceland English Sigurjón's Friends "Coming Home" Qualified
15   Hungary English, Hungarian Kati Wolf "What About My Dreams?" Qualified
16   Portugal Portuguese Homens da Luta "A luta é alegria" The struggle is joy Out
17   Lithuania English Evelina Sašenko "C'est ma vie" It's my life Qualified
18   Azerbaijan English Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal "Running Scared" Qualified
19   Greece English, Greek Loukas Giorkas feat.
Stereo Mike
"Watch My Dance" Qualified

Semi-final 2 change

  • The first semi-final of the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest will take place on 12 May 2011.
  • The ten countries which has received the most points, will participate for the final of the contest
  • Three members of the "Big Five", France, Germany and the Italy will vote in this semi-final
Draw Country Language Artist Song English translation Results
01   Bosnia and Herzegovina English, Bosnian Dino Merlin "Love in Rewind" Qualified
02   Austria English Nadine Beiler "The Secret Is Love" Qualified
03   Netherlands English 3JS "Never Alone" Out
04   Belgium English Witloof Bay "With Love Baby" Out
05   Slovakia English TWiiNS "I'm Still Alive" Out
06   Ukraine English Mika Newton "Angel" Qualified
07   Moldova English Zdob şi Zdub "So Lucky" Qualified
08   Sweden English Eric Saade "Popular" Qualified
09   Cyprus Greek Christos Mylordos I loved you like an angel Out
10   Bulgaria Bulgarian Poli Genova "Na inat" (На инат) For spite Out
11   Macedonia Macedonian Vlatko Ilievski "Rusinka" (Русинкa) Russian Girl Out
12   Israel Hebrew, English Dana International "Ding Dong" Out
13   Slovenia English Maja Keuc "No One" Qualified
14   Romania English Hotel FM "Change" Qualified
15   Estonia English Getter Jaani "Rockefeller Street" Qualified
16   Belarus English Anastasia Vinnikova "I Love Belarus" Out
17   Latvia English Musiqq "Angel in Disguise" Out
18   Denmark English A Friend In London "New Tomorrow" Qualified
19   Ireland English Jedward "Lipstick" Qualified

Final change

  • The final of the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest will took place on 14 May 2011.
  • Only the countries of the "Big Five" automatically qualify for the final.
  • From the two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May 2011, twenty countries qualified for the final, and a total of twenty-five countries will competed in the final.
  • The voting system used will be the same as used in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, a 50/50 system, with a combination of televotes and jury votes who will select the winner. Viewers were able to vote during the performances.
Draw Country Language Artist Song English translation Points Place
01   Finland English Paradise Oskar "Da Da Dam" 57 21
02   Bosnia and Herzegovina English, Bosnian Dino Merlin "Love in Rewind" 125 06
03   Denmark English A Friend In London "New Tomorrow" 134 05
04   Lithuania English Evelina Sašenko "C'est ma vie" It's my life 63 19
05   Hungary English, Hungarian Kati Wolf "What About My Dreams ?" 53 22
06   Ireland English Jedward "Lipstick" 119 08
07   Sweden English Eric Saade "Popular" 185 03
08   Estonia English Getter Jaani "Rockefeller Street" 44 24
09   Greece English, Greek Loukas Giorkas feat.
Stereo Mike
"Watch My Dance" 120 07
10   Russia English, Russian Alexey Vorobyov "Get You" 77 16
11   France Corsican Amaury Vassili "Sognu" Dream 82 15
12   Italy Italian, English Raphael Gualazzi "Madness of Love" 189 02
13   Switzerland English Anna Rossinelli "In Love for a While" 19 25
14   United Kingdom English Blue "I Can" 100 11
15   Moldova English Zdob şi Zdub "So Lucky" 97 12
16   Germany English Lena Meyer-Landrut "Taken by a Stranger" 107 10
17   Romania English Hotel FM "Change" 77 17
18   Austria English Nadine Beiler "The Secret Is Love" 64 18
19   Azerbaijan English Ell and Nikki "Running Scared" 221 01
20   Slovenia English Maja Keuc "No One" 96 13
21   Iceland English Sjonni's Friends "Coming Home" 61 20
22   Spain Spanish Lucía Pérez "Que me quiten lo bailao" They can't take away
the good things I've lived
50 23
23   Ukraine English Mika Newton "Angel" 159 04
24   Serbia Serbian Nina "Čaroban" (Чаробан) Magical 85 14
25   Georgia English Eldrine "One More Day" 110 09

References change

  1. Siim, Jarmo (12 October 2010). "And the winner is... Düsseldorf!". EBU (Eurovision.tv). Retrieved 12 October 2010.