Czech Republic

The results of both semifinals have now been released by the EBU. They make interesting reading. The jury overturned the telephone vote to save countries in each of the semifinals. Quite annoying if your country finished 10th in the phone vote.

After months of finals, gossip and rumours, the time fans had been waiting for had finally arrived. The first semifinal was held tonight hosted by Andrey Malakhov and Natalia Vodianova. Eighteen songs were competing for ten places in the final, one of which would be decided by juries around Europe.

The Eurovision Party season continued unabated with a party hosted by the Greek and Cypriot delegations and the huge Eurodom.  More than half of this year's contestants performed on the stage to a packed house.

The party for FYR Macedonia has become a tradition over the years.  We always get treated to good food and drink, and some decent performances. This year's proved to be no exception.

Today saw the start of the second round of rehearsals. Thirteen countries from the first semifinal rehearsed again, and also gave press conferences.

Finally, here we are. The National Final season started in Bulgaria last October and the next two weeks will see the 2009 Eurovision season reach a climax in Moscow. After each delegation has rehearsed, they will give a Press Conference to the media. Eurovisionary will bring you a summary at the end of each day.

Having previously announced that the public televote will be combined by a jury vote, the EBU have now announced details of how this new system will work.

It’s almost here! Very soon, the delegations will arrive in Moscow and rehearsals will begin for the 54th Eurovision Song Contest. The question on everyone’s lips is who will be celebrating participation in the final, and who will stomp off in a huff?