The 54th Eurovision Song Contest (Russia)
This year there are 42 entries to the Eurovision Song Contest, with San Marino withdrawing due to financial difficulties and Georgia being forced out of the contest as their song breached the rules of the contest, while Slovakia makes a return to the contest after an 11 year absence. The 54th Eurovision Song Contest is being hosted by Moscow, Russia, following Dima Bilan's win for Russia in the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest. The Contest will take place in Moscow's Olympic Indoor Arena. Following the complaints of many broadcasters, the voting system for the contest has been greatly changed. Instead of the general public having the only say, a jury will also cast their votes, counting for 50% of the overall votes. This has been done to crack down on countries simply voting for their neighbours. There will be 25 countries competing in the final, comprising the top ten from the first semi-final, the top ten from the second semi-final, the Big Four (the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain) and the host nation and last year's winner, Russia. The order is as follows:- 1. Lithuania 2. Israel 3. France 4. Sweden 5. Croatia 6. Portugal 7. Iceland 8. Greece 9. Armenia 10. Russia 11. Azerbaijan 12. Bosnia and Herzegovina 13. Moldova 14. Malta 15. Estonia 16. Denmark 17. Germany 18. Turkey 19. Albania 20. Norway 21. Ukraine 22. Romania 23. The United Kingdom 24. Finland 25. Spain