Thirty-seven countries participated in one of the two semi-finals of the contest, with the "
Big Four" countries (, , , and the ) and the host () pre-qualified for the final. However, it was confirmed that the "Big Four" countries would continue to automatically qualify for the final at the 2009 contest.
Graphic design Host broadcaster
Channel One presented the sub-logo and theme for the 2009 contest on 30 January 2009. The sub-logo is based upon a "
Fantasy Bird", which can be used with many colours. As in previous years, the sub-logo was presented alongside the generic logo. Casey explained that together, the various LED shapes form the finished product. Furthermore, large sections of the stage can move, including the circular central portion of curved LED screens, which can be moved to effect and allow each song to have a different feel.
Postcards The music accompanying the postcards used to introduce each participating country was written and produced by British electronic musician
Matthew Herbert. The postcards opened with the words "Moskva 2009" (Москва 2009), the
transliterated Russian way to say "Moscow 2009". It continued with the appearance of
Miss World 2008,
Ksenia Sukhinova of Russia, and then a group of famous landmarks from the participating country were shown in
computer animation. The animation would simulate a
pop-up book, with each "page turn" showing different landmarks. Then Sukhinova reappeared again, wearing a hat comprising all of the landmarks shown (as well as having different hairstyle & make-up each time) and a T-shirt with the colours of the respective country's flag. The Russian video had the exact appearance of Sukhinova shown in the first part of every video, and no different hairstyle was shown for the Russian entry. Then, on the right, the 2009 contest logo appeared with the name and the flag of the country. Finally a phrase in transliterated Russian word and its English translation were shown. The words shown were as were as following, listed in alphabetical order: • Ikra (
Caviar) • Potselui (
Kiss) • Sibir (
Siberia) •
Valenki (Winter boots) •
Karavai (Round loaf of bread) • Veselo (Cheerfully) • Bud zdorov (Bless you!) • Krasota (Beauty) •
Matryoshka (Russian doll) • Druzhba (Friendship) • Privet! (Hi!) •
Ded Moroz (
Santa Claus) • Gagarin () • Na zdarovie! (
Cheers!) • Lublu (Love) • Poehali! (Let's go!) • Vsego dobrogo (Good luck) • Mir (Peace/World) • Sneg (
Snow) •
Balalaika (Music instrument) • Horosho (Good/OK) •
Borsch (Beetroot soup) • Kosmos (
Space) • Klassno (Great/Cool) • Skazka (
Fairytale) • Chudo (Miracle) • Dobro pojalovat! (Welcome!) • Zima (
Winter) • Babushka (Grandmother) • Vecherinka (Party) • Pozhalusta (Please) • Tantsui (Dance) • Davai-davai (Come on!) • Schastie (Happiness) • Medved (Bear) • Vmeste (Together) • Spasibo (Thank you) • Muzika (Music) • Vesna (
Spring) • Kak dela (How are you?) • Shick! (Glamour) • Zazhigai! (Let's rock!)
Semi-final allocation draw On Friday 30 January 2009, the draw to decide which countries would appear in either the first or second semi-final took place at the Marriott Royal Aurora Hotel. The participating countries excluding the automatic finalists (France, Germany, host country Russia, Spain and the United Kingdom) were split into six pots, based upon how those countries have been voting. From these pots, half (or as close to half as is possible) competed in the first semi-final on 12 May 2009. The other half in that particular pot will compete in the second semi-final on 14 May 2009. (TVP), the Polish broadcaster, suggested that an international jury similar to the one used in the
Eurovision Dance Contest 2008 be introduced in the Eurovision Song Contest to lessen the impact of neighbourly voting and place more emphasis on the artistic value of the song. A jury would lead to less political and diaspora voting as the jury members, mandated to be music industry experts, would also have a say in addition to "random members of the public". It was decided that for the contest final, each country's votes would be decided by a combination of 50%
televoting results and 50% national
jury. The method of selecting the
semi-final qualifiers remained the same for the most part, with nine countries, instead of the ten as in years past, qualifying from each semi-final based on the televoting results. For the tenth qualifier from each semi-final, the highest placed country on the back-up jury scoreboard that had not already qualified, was chosen for the final. Despite the inclusion of jury voting in the final, Austria did not return to the contest in 2009.
Juries Each of the 42 participating broadcasters assembled a jury of five music industry professionals (including one jury chairperson) that judged the entries taking part in the Final. Their decision was based on the second dress rehearsal. The names of the jury members was revealed by each broadcaster before or during the Final. • Each jury member of each national jury made a ranking of their ten favourite songs and awarded points from 1 to 8, 10 and 12 points. The chairperson allocated 12 points to the song having obtained the highest number of votes from all jury members, 10 points to the song having obtained the second highest number of votes, 8 points to the song having obtained the third highest number of votes, 7 points to the next, and so on down to 1 point for the song having obtained the tenth highest number of votes from all jury members. In the event of a tie for any of the above positions, the order of the tying songs was ascertained by a show of hands by the jury members (abstentions were not allowed). • The jury consisted of a variety of members in terms of age, gender, and background. All jury members were citizens of the country they were representing. • None of the jury members must be connected with any of the participating songs/artists in such a way that they could not vote independently. The participating broadcasters sent a letter of compliance with the voting instructions together with signed declarations by each jury member stating that they would vote independently. The jury voting was monitored by an independent notary and auditor in each country. == Contest overview ==