2005: An Overview
AN "AWAKENING" IN KYIV, UKRAINE
In late November 2004, a mere five months after Ukraine won the Eurovision Song Contest, Kyiv erupted into protests. Calls that the election that year had been rigged, the Ukrainian people rallied together in a huge campaign for their civil rights. The Orange Revolution, so it was called, ended peacefully and was deemed a success by the people at large. The protests had a lasting effect on the country and it's effects on the contest that year showed. Ukraine was keen on showing the world their independence and creating a night to remember.
This was the first Eurovision I really started to recognize people, for instance, this year's host in Kyiv was the same presenter who gave the final votes the year before. His dry accent made for an interesting contrast to the brassy voice of his co-host. Her voice made Fran Drescher's seem pleasant. Per the rules of the European Broadcasting Union at the time, the top 10 countries from the previous year would qualify straight to the final. All the other countries would have to compete in a semi-final. The 50th Eurovision Song Contest saw the debut of Bulgaria and Moldova, and the return of Hungary since 1998. The total of 39 countries would be the largest contest yet and the semi-final was brimming with tough competition.By the end of the semi-final, I was pretty disappointed. Only four of my favorites from the night qualified - Romania, Hungary, Moldova and Switzerland. I went into the final certain that Romania would win buy, like the semi-final, things didn't go the way I planned. Romania almost got drowned out by the songs surrounding it, the Maltese song before it being especially performed well. Then the Greek song came. The recording never hooked me, but the performance had it all. The reaction of the crowd made me think I'd picked the wrong winner. Even the popular Swiss song near the end of the competition didn't get the same reaction. At the end, after they opened the voting, the last year's winner Ruslana performed English versions of the best songs from her Ukrainian album "Dyki Tantsy."
The voting was all over the place. With 39 countries voting in what seemed like a random order, it was hard to know when it would all end. For a while Latvia led the board, with Moldova at second. Then Greece began to creep up the scoreboard, with Malta on it's heels. Terry Wogan would moan every time Moldova got any points, and after a while he was certain Greece couldn't be caught. He was right, by the time France had given it's 8 points away it was clear. Greece had won.This might have been the first Eurovision that left me confused by the results. I was determined to do better the next year and do even more research than I had for 2005. Sadly, 2006 proved to be even more unpredictable than anyone could've imagined.
Picks of 2005
2005: The Best (Romania)
2005: The Worst (Germany)
2005: The Guilty (Iceland)
2005: The Weird (Moldova)
2005: The Hilarious (Austria)
2005: The Honorable (Slovenia)
2005: The Winner (Greece)
Semi-Final Song Recap May 19, 2005:
Grand Final Song Recap May 21, 2005: