June 2017

Final date
 Venue
 Interval act
 Entries
 Debuting
 Returning
 System
 Winner
 ◄ April 2017  August 2017 ►

**Europe Song Contest 09**, was the ninth edition of Europe Song Contest. It took place in Finland, following Emma's victory in the eighth edition. It was the first time that Finland was hosted the contest.

Twenty-six countries indicated that wants to participate. Armenia and Iceland are returned to the contest, both having been absent from the third edition. Malta, Norway and Slovakia returned after 2 omission editions. All of them participated last in the seventh edition. Azerbaijan returned after 7 omission editions. While Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and San Marino have withdrawn from the contest.

Australia and Spain were disqualified because they didn't send their entries for the contest.

Jenni Vartiainen, a Finnish singer hosted the show. She sang her brand new song "Turvasana" as one of the interval act during the show. This was the second time that just one woman will host the event.

The winner of the ninth edition was Slovakia with the song "I'm Not Sorry" performed by Celeste Buckingham, which scored 155 points and brought the trophy to Slovakia. It was the first time that Slovakia won the contest. With 128 points the runner-up was Denmark.

## **Location**

*For further information see Turku*
**Turku**, a city on the south-west coast of Finland, straddles the Aura River. Dating from the 13th century, it's known for Turku Castle, a medieval fortress with a history museum, perched at the river mouth. Restaurants line the cobbled riverside streets. On the eastern bank lies the Old Great Square, a former trade hub, surrounded by grand buildings. The nearby Turku Cathedral houses a royal tomb and a museum.

     **Gatorade Center** is an arena in Turku, Finland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of TPS, but it is also frequently used to host concerts and other events.

YLE announced on 30 April 2017 that one of the candidate city will be Helsinki with Hartwall Arena. On May 8 YLE has announced that Turku is the second candidate city with Gatorade Center. The last candidate city was announced on 14 May. On 22 May YLE has announced, that Turku will be the host city of the ninth contest.

 Turku | Gatorade Center | 11,820

## **Grand Final**

On 29 May 2017, it was confirmed that twenty-six countries would take part in the contest. Armenia and Iceland are returned to the contest, both having been absent from the third edition. Malta, Norway and Slovakia returned after 2 omission editions. All of them participated last in the seventh edition. Azerbaijan returned after 7 omission editions. While Latvia, Lithuania, Spain and Turkey have withdrawn from the contest. Australia and Spain were disqualified because they didn't send their entries for the contest.

## **Scoreboard**

### **12 points**

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

### **Voting and spokespersons**

The spokespersons announced the 12-point score from their respective country's national jury in the following order:

1. Sweden – Isabelle Gulldén
2. Armenia – Iveta Mukuchyan
3. Iceland – Yohanna (Icelandic representative in April 2016)
4. Turkey – Tuba Büyüküstün
5. France – Nabilla Benattia
6. Belgium – Laura Tesoro
7. Ireland – Una Healy (Irish representative in April 2017)
8. Austria – Natalia Kelly
9. Malta – Jessika (Maltese representative in January 2016)
10. United Kingdom – Olivia Garcia
11. Italy – Marco Mengoni
12. Azerbaijan – Dihaj
13. Albania – Arilena Ara
14. Slovakia – Miroslav Šmajda
15. The Netherlands – Pleun Bierbooms
16. Poland – Lanberry (Polish representative in April 2017)
17. Germany – Barbara Schönerberg
18. Greece – Demy (Greek representative in February 2017)
19. Bulgaria – Poli Genova
20. Hungary – Chase
21. Ukraine – Verka Serduchka
22. Norway – Alexander Rybak
23. Estonia – Elina Born
24. Romania – Alex Florea
25. Denmark – Nicklas Bendtner
26. Finland – Jannika B

## **Participation map**

      Participating countries
 Countries that participated in the past but not in June 2017

## **Active members**

* Australia – On 29 May 2017, Australia was disqualified because they didn't send their entry for the contest.
* Latvia – On 19 April 2017, the broadcaster of Latvia announced that they would not participate in Finland due to bad results
* Lithuania – On 12 May 2017, Lithuania announced that they would not participate in the next edition due to bad results
* San Marino – On 21 May 2017, the national broadcaster of San Marino revealed that they would not participate in the ninth edition due to bad results
* Spain – On 29 May 2017, Spain was disqualified because they didn't send their entry for the contest.

## **External links**

* Facebook
* Instagram
* YouTube
* Dailymotion
* Official page