Skip to main content

Recalling Lena's win with Satellite in 2010

29 May 2014 at 03:11 CEST

Background

As winners of the 2009 event, with the song Fairytale sung by Alexander Rybak, Norwegian broadcaster NRK had the task of organising the 2010 contest. They selected the Fornebu Arena in  Bærum just outside the nation's capital city Oslo as the venue.

39 countries registered to participate in the contest, including Georgia, which had missed the 2009 edition, though several countries withdrew that had been in the 2009 contest, mainly due to the budgetary constraints, namely Andorra, Czech Republic, Hungary and Montenegro.

On the 7th of February a draw was determined as to which countries were to participate in which Semi-Final, and as to which Semi-Final the five automatically countries would vote in. 

The draw to determine the precise running order was made on the 23rd of March, with four countries drawn in the Semi-Finals able to choose their start position from within their respective half of the draw. In Semi-Final One this was Serbia and Belarus who could choose and in Semi-Final Two it was Switzerland and Bulgaria. In the Final, just one of the automatic finalists could choose their position, and it was Germany who chose position 22.

On the 10th of March it was revealed that there would be three presenters in total, with Nadia Hasnaoui presenting the voting sequence, and Erik Solbakken and Haddy Jatou N’jie introducing the artists and providing coverage from the Green Room.

Rehearsals started on Sunday 16 May with each country having a first rehearsal of 40 minutes on stage. Later on in the week the second rehearsals would be of 30 minutes duration.

The Semi-Finals

The Semi-Finals took place on Tuesday the 25th May and Thursday the 27th May, with 17 countries participating in each Semi-Final, with ten countries from each Semi-Final qualifying for the Grand Final to join the Big Four countries (Germany, Spain, France and the United Kingdom) and host nation Norway. You can find full details of Semi-Final One and Semi-Final Two on our history pages, along with a full breakdown of the voting.

The Final Participants

  1. Azerbaijan: Drip Drop sung by Safura
  2. Spain: Algo Pequeñito (Something Tiny) sung by Daniel Diges
  3. Norway: My Heart Is Yours sung by Didrik Solli-Tangen
  4. Moldova: Run Away sung by Sunstroke Project & Olia Tira
  5. Cyprus: Life Looks Better In Spring sung by Jon Lilygreen & The Islanders
  6. Bosnia & Herzegovina: Thunder And Lightning sung by Vukašin Brajić
  7. Belgium: Me And My Guitar sung by Tom Dice
  8. Serbia: Ovo Je Balkan sung by Milan Stanković
  9. Belarus: Butterflies sung by 3+2
  10. Ireland: It's For You sung by Niamh Kavanagh
  11. Greece: OPA sung by Giorgos Alkaios & Friends
  12. United Kingdom: That Sounds Good To Me sung by Josh
  13. Georgia: Shine sung by Sofia Nizharadze
  14. Turkey: We Could Be The Same sung by maNga
  15. Albania: It's All About You sung by Juliana Pasha
  16. Iceland: Je Ne Sais Quoi sung by Hera Björk
  17. Ukraine: Sweet People sung by Alyosha
  18. France: Allez Olla Olé sung by Jessy Matador
  19. Romania: Playing With Fire sung by Paula Seling & Ovi
  20. Russia: Lost And Forgotten sung by Peter Nalitch & Friends
  21. Armenia: Apricot Stone sung by Eva Rivas
  22. Germany: Satellite sung by Lena
  23. Portugal: Há Dias Assim sung by Filipa Azevedo
  24. Israel: Milim sung by Harel Skaat
  25. Denmark: In A Moment Like This sung by Chanée & N'evergreen

Amongst the participants was Niamh Kavanagh, who had previously won the contest for Ireland in 1993 with the song In Your Eyes. Representing  Romania, and gaining a respectable third place, were Paula Seling & Ovi who returned to the contest this year for their country with the song Miracle.

Watch Paula Seling & Ovi perform Playing With Fire

The Spanish entrant Daniel Diges had to perform his entry again at the conclusion of the 25 songs thanks to the unwanted stage invasion by the prankster known as Jimmy Jump during his first performance. See the first performance below;

Watch Daniel Diges perform Algo Pequeñito (Something Tiny) 

The Voting

Viewers in each country could vote by telephone or SMS, and professional juries in all 39 participating countries also judged the songs. The country's 10 favourites weree awarded 12, 10, then 8 through 1 points based on votes. Juries and televoters each had a 50% say in the outcome of every country's points.

Denmark made an impressive start in the voting by securing the 12 points from the first two juries of the evening, but it wasn't to be their victory in 2010. There was also a good early showing from Belgium, Turkey and Greece, but it was Germany who took the lead in the seventh round of voting and never lost the lead after that. A full breakdown of the voting can be found on our 2010 history page.

Watch Lena perform Satellite

About the winner

Lena Meyer-Landrut had already created history in the German record charts, when all three of her songs from the German national final. debuted in the top five singles, including Satellite at the number one position.

Satellite  topped the charts in half a dozen countries, and reached the top ten of several more countries all across Europe. It also became the first Eurovision winner to top the European Hot 100 singles, which combines the charts of 15 European countries. Outside of Europe it also reached the top 40 in Australia. Her first album My Cassette Player also topped the German and Austrian album charts.

Lena became the first singer since Corry Brokken defended her title in 1958, to try and win back to back victories in the contest. However her entry in 2011 Taken By A Stranger could only achieve a respectable tenth place when the contest was staged in Düsseldorf.

She has continued her career by performing in concerts across Germany, and has won several awards including two MTV Europe Music Awards for Best German Act and Best European Act.

Watch the winner's interview with Lena