Eurovision Song Contest 2005

The Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was won by Greece. It was the 50th Eurovision competition and was held in Kiev, Ukraine on May 21, 2005. The semi-finals took place on May 19, 2005. 10 out of 25 countries with the highest scores in the semi-final joined 14 already pre-qualified countries in the final. Both events were televised across Europe. The event took place at the Palace of Sports in downtown Kiev in front of over 6000 spectators. Organisers hope that this event will boost Ukraine's image abroad and increase tourism, while the country's new government hopes it will also give a modest boost to the long-term goal of acquiring European Union membership. Bulgaria and Moldova took part for the first time while Hungary returned after a hiatus since 1998. Lebanon was also expected to make a debut appearance but was forced to withdraw after announcing they would show commercials over the Israeli entry. The hosts for the event were television presenter Maria "Masha" Efrosinina and DJ Pavlo "Pasha" Shylko, along with the previous winner Ruslana and the famous Ukrainian boxers Vitali Klitschko & Wladimir Klitschko. A special trophy was presented to the winner by Ukraine's president, Viktor Yushchenko.

See also

• Eurovision Song Contest 2005, Kiev - The album