BoNF 2009

Best of National Finals 2009

2009′s edition was the fifth I did; it was held the spring of 2009, between April and May, as explained in the rules here. I was getting in a good rhythm with BoNF now with this fifth edition in a row and the fourth on the regular basis since 2006. However, many of my original friends did not want to be part of the juries again and I was myself meeting new people thanks to my new student French life so the editions from then on will change taste wise. 42 countries took part in the 2009 Eurovisiong Song Contest. 34 of them used some sort of national finals in which 650 songs (the record between 2005 and 2013) were performed. I wrote down a list of 125 songs (BoNF’s record to this date) I liked and then came up with these top 30:

Albania | “Nje jetë” Juliana Pasha & Luiz Ejlli
Albania | “S’jam baladë” Rovena Dilo & Gent Bushpepa
Bosnia & Herzegovina | “Bistra voda” Regina
Croatia | “Srce moram seliti” Denis Dumancić
Denmark | “Alice in the wonderland” Jimmy Jorgensen
Denmark | “Big bang baby” Claus Christensen
Estonia | “Rändajad” Urban Symphony
Estonia | “See päev” Traffic
Finland | “Kirkas kipinä” Jari Sillanpää
Finland | “Meren” Riikka
Finland | “Planeetta” Remu
France | “Et s’il fallait le faire” Patricia Kaas
Iceland | “Lygin ein” Kaja Halldórsdóttir
Israel | “Second chance” Noa & Mira Awad
Lithuania | “Ar lauksi manes” Biplan
Lithuania | “Dainu daina” Rosita Civilyte & Donatas Montvydas
FYR Macedonia | “Nesto sto ke ostane” Next Time
Malta | “Rock & rise” Klinsmann Coleiro
Moldova | “O fata cu parul de aur” Slavici
Norway | “Fairytale” Alexander Rybak
Norway | “Ride” Tine Wulff
Norway | “Te stein” Publiners
Portugal | “Todas as ruas do amor” Flor-de-Lis
Russia | “Never ending story” Plazma
Slovakia | “7 nocí” Komajota
Slovakia | “To co chceš” Samo Tomecek
Sweden | “Du är älskad där du går” Susanne Alfvengren
Sweden | “Snälla snälla” Caroline af Ugglas
Sweden | “You’re not alone” Bodies Without Organs
Switzerland | “The highest heights” Lovebugs

Semifinal

My friends recieved the mp3 of these 30 songs and they have graded each of them with a 1 (awful) through 5 (great) system. Unlike the 2008 edition, I forgot to save the full results of the semifinal. And so we have from 30th to 16th:

30  Denmark | “Alice in the wonderland” Jimmy Jorgensen
29 Israel | “Second chance” Noa & Mira Awad
28 Finland | “Kirkas kipinä” Jari Sillanpää
27 Norway | “Te stein” Publiners
26 Sweden | “Du är älskad där du går” Susanne Alfvengren
25 Finland | “Planeetta” Remu
24  Estonia | “See päev” Traffic
23 Albania | “Nje jetë” Juliana Pasha & Luiz Ejlli
22  Malta | “Rock & rise” Klinsmann Coleiro
21 Moldova | “O fata cu parul de aur” Slavici
20 FYR Macedonia | “Nesto sto ke ostane” Next Time
19 Norway | “Fairytale” Alexander Rybak
18 Iceland | “Lygin ein” Kaja Halldórsdóttir
17 Croatia | “Srce moram seliti” Denis Dumancić
16  Portugal | “Todas as ruas do amor” Flor-de-Lis

Final

So now that I had all 15 finalists, I used a computer “random playlist” to get the running order for the final:

01
Estonia
“Rändajad”
Urban Symphony

02
Bosnia & Herzegovina
“Bistra voda”
Regina

03
Russia
“Never ending story”
Plazma

04
Switzerland
“The highest heights”
Lovebugs

05
Denmark
“Big bang baby”
Claus Christensen

06
France
“Et s’il fallait le faire”
Patricia Kaas

07
Sweden
“Snälla snälla”
Caroline af Ugglas

08
Slovakia
“To co chceš”
Samo Tomecek

09
Lithuania
“Ar lauksi manes”
Biplan

10
Sweden
“You’re not alone”
Bodies Without Organs

11
Albania
“S’jam baladë”
Rovena Dilo & Gent Bushpepa

12
Finland
“Meren”
Riikka

13
Slovakia
“7 nocí”
Komajota

14
Norway
“Ride”
Tine Wulff

15
Lithuania
“Dainu daina”
Rosita Civilyte & Donatas Montvydas

Results

If you don’t remember those songs, you can check BoNF’s youtube page or this recap video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5QsvHbS6YM