Eurovision Song Contest 2010

150 million Norwegian kroner (€17 million) was originally the venue budget agreed upon by Trond Giske and Hans-Tore Bjerkaas, respectively the Norwegian Minister for Culture and the head of Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK).^[7][8]

At a press conference in Oslo on 27 May 2009, it was announced that the show was to be held in the Oslo metropolitan area. NRK argued that Oslo was the only city with the required capacity, venues, and infrastructure to hold the show. On 3 July 2009, it was decided that the venue would be the newly constructed Telenor Arena, in the municipality of Bærum neighbouring Oslo.^[9] The Oslo Spektrum (host venue in 1996) was ruled out to host the contest due to its smaller size and capacity,^[1] as was Vallhall ArenainOslo and the Hamar Vikingskipet. NRK had decided they wanted to take the contest back to the basics and after the contest in 2009, where LEDs were widely used, they used none. The 2010 was also produced on a considerably lower budget than the year before.^[10]

A total of 39 countries confirmed their participation for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, including Georgia, which returned to the contest after its absence in 2009.^[11]

Lithuania's broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) initially announced its non-participation after failing to achieve the necessary funds of 300,000 litas (€90,000) for participation.^[5] It was later confirmed by the EBU that Lithuania would indeed participate in Oslo.^[4] Funding was eventually given by Lithuanian company Teo LT, which allowed Lithuania to participate in the contest.^[12]

Thirty-four countries participated in the semi-finals of the contest. The semi-final allocation draw took place on 7 February 2010, while the draw for the running order was held on 23 March 2010.

To keep tension high, the qualifiers were announced in random order, and scores were published online only after the final took place.^[13]

Bold indicates a previous winner.

The EBU announced that they would work harder to bring back Austria, Italy, and Monaco to the 2010 contest.^[17] In September 2009 the EBU's director Bjørn Erichsen stated during an EBU press conference that "Austria [would] be back", and that the EBU "[had] reasons to believe that Luxembourg and Monaco" were also to participate; "now we are only missing Italy".^[18][19][20] In late October 2009, the 2010 contest project manager Jon Ola Sand stated that "countries such as Monaco and Luxembourg [had] indicated that they [wished] to participate in next year's competition in Norway".^[18][21] However, the representatives of broadcasters of Austria, Monaco and Luxembourg denied participation in the 2010 contest. Wolfgang Lorenz, the programme director of the Austrian broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), informed that Austria would not take part stating that the contest had been "ruined by the regulations".^[22] Télé Monte Carlo (TMC) has also declared that Monaco would not be returning for the 2010 edition, mainly due to a lack of finances to send a Monegasque entry.^[23] The RTL Group had announced that they were having serious discussions regarding a possible comeback for Luxembourg for the first time since 1993, but later confirmed that the country would not be present for the 2010 contest either.^[24] San Marino also considered returning in 2010; however, after deliberations with Italian artists, including Italian sister duo Paola & Chiara, Sammarinnese broadcaster Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) was informed to withhold returning after failing to receive funding from the Sammarinnese parliament or sponsors.^[25]

EBU had talks to Liechtenstein's only broadcaster 1FLTV for them to join the EBU, and become a part of the Eurovision Song Contest. 1FLTV's programme director Peter Kölbel had confirmed interest in Liechtenstein's participation as soon as full EBU membership is granted, which may have happened in December 2009. Thus they were getting ready to debut in 2010, considering a national final concept similar to the German version of the Idol series – Deutschland sucht den Superstar (DSDS).^[18][26] In November 1FLTV decided against applying for EBU membership in December for financial reasons, ruling out a debut at the 2010 contest.^[27][28]

In 2009, Jillian Evans, a representative of the European Parliament from Wales, stated her interest in securing Wales a place in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Norway, but in the end it was decided they would not participate. Their debut was rejected because Wales is not a sovereign state and the BBC has the exclusive right to represent the United Kingdom. Wales could be represented by either BBC Cymru Wales, ITV Cymru WalesorS4C.

From July to December 2009, four countries who participated in the 2009 contest announced their non-participation in 2010: Andorra, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Montenegro.^{[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]}

NRK announced the theme art, slogan and design for the contest on 4 December 2009, during the Host City Insignia Exchange between the Mayors of Moscow, Oslo and Bærum, marking the official kick-off of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 season.^[38] The theme art, a series of intersecting circles, was selected to "represent gathering people and the diversity of emotions surrounding the Eurovision Song Contest."^[39] In addition to the base colour of white, the logo was created in black, gold, and pink.^[40] A preview of the stage design was released on 6 May 2010, featuring no LED screens, opting instead for various other lighting techniques.^[41]

Unlike the 2009 and the 2008 postcards, the 2010 postcards were based in simplicity but also included an innovative idea, they are shown like they could be seen right in the venue, over the crowd's heads.

The basic synopsis of the postcards is a numerous group of little golden balls (the theme of the ESC 2010) forms the shape of each country. Then, they move and form a screen where we can see a pre-recorded video of a little crowd from in a city of the country (usually the capital) about to perform supporting and cheering their act. After that, a few seconds of the performer of the country getting ready in the stage are shown; and then, the balls form the flag of the country supported.

In the part of the shape of the country, there were little discrepancies: some countries' shapes, such as those for Serbia, Israel, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, were not completely shown, due to territorial or border disputes in those areas.

NRK announced the hosts of the contest on 10 March 2010. Those chosen were Erik Solbakken, Haddy Jatou N'jie, and Nadia Hasnaoui. Solbakken and N'jie opened the three shows, introduced the artists, and reported from the green room during the voting, with Hasnaoui presenting the voting section and scoreboard announcements.^[2][42] This was the second Eurovision Family of Events that Hasnaoui had co-hosted, after doing so at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004, in Lillehammer. The trio guided the audience and viewers through the night in English, French, and Norwegian.^[43] This was the second time that more than two hosts were presenting the shows, after the 1999 contest.

On 11 October 2009, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that the format of the semi-finals was to be changed so that the results would be determined by a combination of 50% national jury and 50% televoting, making it more consistent with the final. Each country's votes were determined by combining the jury votes and the televoting results; the countries with the top ten highest points in each semi-final then qualify to participate in the final of the contest.^[44] This replaces the semi-final format used in the 2008 and 2009 contests in which the countries with the top nine highest points from the televoting results in each semi-final qualified for the final. The tenth semi-final place was then given to the country with the highest number of points from the jury's votes which had not already qualified for the final from the televoting results.^[45] On 26 October 2009, the EBU announced that the voting would be open throughout the competition and would conclude 15 minutes after the end of the very last song.^[46]

A number of fans began a campaign on social networking site Facebook for the return of an orchestra to the contest in Oslo, for the first time since 1998. An orchestra, which had been used since the first contest in 1956, was dropped after the 1998 contest due to rapid developments in music technology, which made backing tracks more useful.^[47][48] Jan Fredrik Heyerdahl of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra said that they were interested in participating in the 2010 contest if the EBU and NRK approved the return of an orchestra.^[47][48] However, no such change to the contest had been approved.

On Sunday 7 February 2010, the draw to decide which countries were to appear in either the first or second semi-final took place. The participating countries excluding the automatic finalists (France, Germany, Norway, Spain & the United Kingdom) were split into six pots, based upon how those countries had been voting. From these pots, half (or as close to half as is possible) competed in the first Semi Final on 25 May 2010. The other half in that particular pot will compete in the second Semi Final on 27 May 2010. This draw also doubled up as an approximate running order, in order for the delegations from the countries to know when their rehearsals commenced. The draw also determined in which Semi Final the automatic finalists voted in.^[49][50] The draw for the running order of the semi-finals, finals, and the order of voting, took place on 23 March 2010.^[4]

The first semi-final took place in Oslo on 25 May 2010. The ten countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to a combination of televotes and jury votes from each voting country, qualified for the final. France, Germany and Spain voted in this semi-final.^{[51][52][53][54]}

The second semi-final took place in Oslo on 27 May 2010. The ten countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to a combination of televotes and jury votes from each voting country, qualified for the final. Norway and the United Kingdom voted in this semi-final.^[53][54]

The final took place on 29 May 2010 at 21:00 CEST in Telenor Arena, Bærum, Akershus, Greater Oslo, Norway. The "Big Four" and the host country, Norway, qualified directly for the final. From the two semi-finals on 25 and 27 May 2010, twenty countries qualified for the final. A total of twenty-five countries competed in the final. The voting system used was similar to that used in the 2009 contest (with a combination of televotes and jury votes), but viewers were able to vote during the performances; the voting window ended 15 minutes after the conclusion of the songs.

Spain was given a second chance to perform after Denmark, following a stage invasion by Jimmy Jump, during their performance.^{[57][58][59][60]}

The interval act involved a number of live public outdoor dance events from across Europe, which were planned for promotional purposes, but done in the style of a series of spontaneous flashmobs. The outdoor footage was intercut with webcam footage from individual private households. Peter Svaar, Head of Press for the contest on behalf of broadcaster NRK, said: "We want to share the Eurovision Song Contest, rather than just broadcast it."^[61] The seven and a half minute long song, called "Glow", was produced and co-written by the Element team and performed and co-written by Madcon.^{[62][better source needed]}

Countries revealed their votes in the following order:^[64]

The split jury/televoting results were announced by the EBU in June 2010. Only the split totals received by each country were given, not the full breakdown.^[75]

In the first semifinal, one unknown country had only a jury because the votes of the country did not meet the EBU threshold.^[76]

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded to another in the 1st semi-final:

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded to another in the 2nd semi-final: