Eurovision Song Contest 2010
The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway, following Alexander Rybak's win at the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia with the song "Fairytale". It was the third time Norway had hosted the contest, having previously done so in 1986 and 1996. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union and host broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting, the contest was held at the Telenor Arena, and consisted of two semi-finals on 25 and 27 May, and the final on 29 May 2010. The three live shows were hosted by Erik Solbakken, Haddy N'jie and Nadia Hasnaoui.
Thirty-nine countries took part in the contest, with Georgia returning after its one-year absence. Meanwhile, Andorra, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Montenegro all decided against participation, mainly for financial reasons related to the global financial crisis. Lithuania originally announced its non-participation, but was later among the participants confirmed by the EBU.
The winner was Germany with the song "Satellite", performed by Lena and written by Julie Frost and John Gordon. This was Germany's second victory in the contest, following their win in, and their first win as a unified country. It was also the first win for one of the "Big Four" countries, since the rule's introduction in. Turkey, Romania, Denmark and Azerbaijan rounded out the top five. Romania, finishing third, equalled their best result from, while Georgia achieved their best result to date, finishing ninth. It was also the first time since the introduction of the semi-finals in that Sweden failed to qualify for the final. The last time Sweden was absent from the Eurovision final was in.
The global financial crisis at the time, affected how the event was run; the host broadcaster NRK was forced to sell its broadcast rights for the 2010 FIFA World Cup to TV 2 and Viasat in order to finance the event.
The EBU announced prior to the contest, that the voting system used in the semi-finals would change from previous years to balance jury voting with televoting. A return of accompaniment by orchestra was also proposed, but did not happen.
Venue
r was originally the venue budget agreed upon by Trond Giske and Hans-Tore Bjerkaas, respectively the Norwegian Minister for Culture and the head of Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. This represents a larger budget than that allotted in the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, but is not as much as the budget in Moscow for 2009. The revised estimated cost for the concert now stands at kroner. At a press conference in Oslo on 27 May 2009, it was announced that the show was to be held in the Oslo metropolitan area. NRK argued that Oslo was the only city with the required capacity, venues, and infrastructure to hold the show. On 3 July 2009, it was decided that the venue would be the newly constructed Telenor Arena, in the municipality of Bærum neighbouring Oslo. The Oslo Spektrum was ruled out to host the contest due to its smaller size and capacity as was Valhall in Oslo and the Hamar Vikingskipet.Visual design
NRK announced the theme art, slogan and design for the contest on 4 December 2009, during the Host City Insignia Exchange between the Mayors of Moscow, Oslo and Bærum, marking the official kick-off of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 season. The theme art, a series of intersecting circles, was selected to "represent gathering people and the diversity of emotions surrounding the Eurovision Song Contest." In addition to the base colour of white, the logo was created in black, gold, and pink. A preview of the stage design was released on 6 May 2010, featuring no LED screens, opting instead for various other lighting techniques.Postcards
Unlike the 2009 and the 2008 postcards, the 2010 postcards were based in simplicity but also included an innovative idea, they are shown like they could be seen right in the venue, over the crowd's heads.The basic synopsis of the postcards is a numerous group of little golden balls forms the shape of each country. Then, they move and form a screen where we can see a pre-recorded video of a little crowd from in a city of the country about to perform supporting and cheering their act. After that, a few seconds of the performer of the country getting ready in the stage are shown; and then, the balls form the flag of the country supported.
In the part of the shape of the country, there were little discrepancies: some countries' shapes, such as those for Serbia, Israel, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, were not completely shown, due to territorial or border disputes in those areas.
Presenters
NRK announced the hosts of the contest on 10 March 2010. Those chosen were Erik Solbakken, Haddy Jatou N'jie, and Nadia Hasnaoui. Solbakken and N'jie opened the three shows, introduced the artists, and reported from the green room during the voting, with Hasnaoui presenting the voting section and scoreboard announcements. This was the second Eurovision Family of Events that Hasnaoui had co-hosted, after doing so at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004, in Lillehammer. The trio guided the audience and viewers through the night in English, French, and Norwegian. This was the second time that more than two hosts were presenting the shows, after the 1999 Contest.Format
Voting
On 11 October 2009 the European Broadcasting Union announced that the format of the semi-finals was to be changed so that the results would be determined by a combination of 50% national jury and 50% televoting, making it more consistent with the final. Each country's votes were determined by combining the jury votes and the televoting results; the countries with the top ten highest points in each semi-final then qualify to participate in the final of the contest. This replaces the semi-final format used in the 2008 and 2009 contests in which the countries with the top nine highest points from the televoting results in each semi-final qualified for the final. The tenth semi-final place was then given to the country with the highest number of points from the jury's votes which had not already qualified for the final from the televoting results. On 26 October 2009 the EBU announced that the voting would be open throughout the competition and would conclude 15 minutes after the end of the very last song.Possible return of the orchestra
A number of fans began a campaign on social networking site Facebook for the return of an orchestra to the contest in Oslo, for the first time since 1998, with more than 5,000 people joining An orchestra, which had been used since the first contest in 1956, was dropped after the 1998 contest due to rapid developments in music technology, which made backing tracks more useful. Jan Fredrik Heyerdahl of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra said that they were interested in participating in the 2010 Contest if the EBU and NRK approved the return of an orchestra. However, no such change to the contest had been approved.Interval
The interval act involved a number of live public outdoor dance events from across Europe, which were planned for promotional purposes, but done in the style of a series of spontaneous flashmobs. The outdoor footage was intercut with webcam footage from individual private households. Peter Svaar, Head of Press for the contest on behalf of broadcaster NRK, said: "We want to share the Eurovision Song Contest, rather than just broadcast it." The seven and a half minute long song, called "Glow", was produced and co-written by the Element team and performed and co-written by Madcon.Pot allocations
On Sunday 7 February 2010, the draw to decide which countries were to appear in either the first or second semi-final took place. The participating countries excluding the automatic finalists were split into six pots, based upon how those countries had been voting. From these pots, half competed in the first Semi Final on 25 May 2010. The other half in that particular pot will compete in the second Semi Final on 27 May 2010. This draw also doubled up as an approximate running order, in order for the delegations from the countries to know when their rehearsals commenced. The draw also determined in which Semi Final the automatic finalists voted in. The draw for the running order of the semi-finals, finals, and the order of voting, took place on 23 March 2010.| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 | Pot 5 |
Participating countries
A total of 39 countries confirmed their participation for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, including Georgia, which returned to the contest after its absence in 2009 when its entry, "We Don't Wanna Put In", was disallowed owing to political references to the newly elected Russian President Vladimir Putin, which violated contest rules.The EBU announced that they would work harder to bring back Austria, Italy, and Monaco to the 2010 Contest. In September 2009 the EBU's director Bjørn Erichsen stated during an EBU press conference that "Austria will be back", and that the EBU "has reasons to believe that Luxembourg and Monaco" were also to participate and that "now we are only missing Italy". In late October 2009, the 2010 Contest project manager Jon Ola Sand has stated that "countries such as Monaco and Luxembourg have indicated that they wish to participate in next year's competition in Norway".
However, the representatives of broadcasters of Austria, Monaco and Luxembourg denied participation in the 2010 contest. Wolfgang Lorenz, the programme director of the Austrian broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk, informed Austria would not take part in the competition stating that the contest has been "ruined by the regulations".
Télé Monte Carlo has also declared that Monaco would not be returning to the Eurovision Song Contest for the 2010 Edition, mainly due to a lack of finances to send a Monegasque entry. The RTL Group had announced that they were having serious discussions regarding a possible comeback for Luxembourg in the contest for the first time since 1993, but later confirmed that the country would not be present for the 2010 Contest either. San Marino also considered returning to the competition in 2010. However, after deliberations with Italian artists, including Italian sister duo Paola & Chiara, Sammarinnese broadcaster Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino was informed to withhold returning after failing to receive funding from the Sammarinnese parliament or sponsors.
EBU had talks to Liechtenstein's only broadcaster 1FLTV for them to join the EBU, and become a part of the Eurovision Song Contest. 1FLTV's programme director Peter Kolbel had confirmed interest in Liechtenstein's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest as soon as full EBU membership is granted, which may have happened in December 2009. Thus they were getting ready to debut in 2010, considering a national final concept similar to the German version of the Idol series – Deutschland sucht den Superstar. In November 1FLTV decided against applying for EBU membership in December for financial reasons, ruling out a debut in at the 2010 contest. The broadcaster will now look at other options for funding EBU membership in the future.
In 2009, Jillian Evans, a representative of the European Parliament from Wales, stated her interest in securing Wales a place in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Norway. but in the end it was decided they would not to participate in the competition. Because their debut was rejected because Wales is not a sovereign state and the BBC has the exclusive right to represent the United Kingdom. Wales could be represented by either BBC Cymru Wales, ITV Cymru Wales or S4C.
From July to December 2009, five countries who participated in the 2009 contest announced their non-participation in the 2010 contest. The Czech Republic declared that it would not participate due to a lack of interest from Czech viewers after three successive semi-final failures since their debut in 2007.
Andorra's broadcaster Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra announced a 10% reduction in its spending budget for 2010. RTVA had submitted a preliminary application to take part in the contest. However, being unable to secure extra funds by 11 December 2009, it decided to withdraw from the 2010 Contest. Following this announcement, many former Andorran Eurovision Song Contest contestants expressed their disappointment in RTVA's decision, and the lack of publicity the country will now receive by not being contestants in the contest. Hungary did not enter into the 2010 Contest, due to financial difficulties of the national broadcaster Magyar Televízió. Montenegro and Montenegrin broadcaster Radiotelevizija Crne Gore also refused participation because of financial problems, in a way to reach financial consolidation after three years as an independent state.
Lithuania's broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television initially announced its non-participation after failing to achieve the necessary funds of 300,000 litas for participation. It was later confirmed by the EBU that Lithuania would indeed participate in Oslo. Funding was eventually given by Lithuanian company Teo LT, which allowed Lithuania to participate in the contest.
Thirty-four countries participated in the semi-finals of the contest. The semi-final allocation draw took place on 7 February 2010, while the draw for the running order was held on 23 March 2010.
To keep tension high, the qualifiers were announced in random order, and scores were published online only after the final took place.
Returning artists
Semi-final 1
- The first semi-final took place in Oslo on 25 May 2010.
- The ten countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to a combination of televotes and jury votes from each voting country, qualified for the final. The Wildcard option from the previous contests was dropped.
- France, Germany and Spain voted in this semi-final.
| Draw | Country | Artist | Song | Language | Place | Points |
| 01 | SunStroke Project and Olia Tira | "Run Away" | English | 10 | 52 | |
| 02 | Peter Nalitch and Friends | "Lost and Forgotten" | English | 7 | 74 | |
| 03 | Malcolm Lincoln and Manpower 4 | "Siren" | English | 14 | 39 | |
| 04 | Kristina | "Horehronie" | Slovak | 16 | 24 | |
| 05 | Kuunkuiskaajat | "Työlki ellää" | Finnish | 11 | 49 | |
| 06 | Aisha | "What For?" | English | 17 | 11 | |
| 07 | Milan Stanković | "Ovo je Balkan" | Serbian | 5 | 79 | |
| 08 | Vukašin Brajić | "Thunder and Lightning" | English | 8 | 59 | |
| 09 | Marcin Mroziński | "Legenda" | English, Polish | 13 | 44 | |
| 10 | Tom Dice | "Me and My Guitar" | English | 1 | 167 | |
| 11 | Thea Garrett | "My Dream" | English | 12 | 45 | |
| 12 | Juliana Pasha | "It's All About You" | English | 6 | 76 | |
| 13 | Giorgos Alkaios and Friends | "OPA" | Greek | 2 | 133 | |
| 14 | Filipa Azevedo | "Há dias assim" | Portuguese | 4 | 89 | |
| 15 | Gjoko Taneski | "Jas ja imam silata" | Macedonian | 15 | 37 | |
| 16 | 3+2 feat Robert Wells | "Butterflies" | English | 9 | 59 | |
| 17 | Hera Björk | "Je ne sais quoi" | English | 3 | 123 |
Notes
Semi-final 2
- The second semi-final took place in Oslo on 27 May 2010.
- The ten countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to a combination of televotes and jury votes from each voting country, qualified for the final.
- Norway and the United Kingdom voted in this semi-final.
| Draw | Country | Artist | Song | Language | Place | Points |
| 01 | InCulto | "Eastern European Funk" | English | 12 | 44 | |
| 02 | Eva Rivas | "Apricot Stone" | English | 6 | 83 | |
| 03 | Harel Skaat | "Milim" | Hebrew | 8 | 71 | |
| 04 | Chanée and N'evergreen | "In a Moment Like This" | English | 5 | 101 | |
| 05 | Michael von der Heide | "Il pleut de l'or" | French | 17 | 2 | |
| 06 | Anna Bergendahl | "This Is My Life" | English | 11 | 62 | |
| 07 | Safura | "Drip Drop" | English | 2 | 113 | |
| 08 | Alyosha | "Sweet People" | English | 7 | 77 | |
| 09 | Sieneke | "Ik ben verliefd " | Dutch | 14 | 29 | |
| 10 | Paula Seling and Ovi | "Playing with Fire" | English | 4 | 104 | |
| 11 | Ansambel Žlindra and Kalamari | "Narodnozabavni rock" | Slovene | 16 | 6 | |
| 12 | Niamh Kavanagh | "It's for You" | English | 9 | 67 | |
| 13 | Miro | "Angel si ti" | Bulgarian, English | 15 | 19 | |
| 14 | Jon Lilygreen and The Islanders | "Life Looks Better in Spring" | English | 10 | 67 | |
| 15 | Feminnem | "Lako je sve" | Croatian | 13 | 33 | |
| 16 | Sofia Nizharadze | "Shine" | English | 3 | 106 | |
| 17 | maNga | "We Could Be the Same" | English | 1 | 118 |
Final
- The final took place on 29 May 2010 at 21:00 CEST in Telenor Arena, Bærum, Akershus, Greater Oslo, Norway.
- 'The Big Four' and the host country, Norway, qualified directly for the final.
- From the two semi-finals on 25 and 27 May 2010, twenty countries qualified for the final. A total of twenty-five countries competed in the final.
- The voting system used was similar to that used in the 2009 contest, but viewers were able to vote during the performances; the voting window ended 15 minutes after the conclusion of the songs.
| Draw | Country | Artist | Song | Language | Place | Points |
| 01 | Safura | "Drip Drop" | English | 5 | 145 | |
| 02#endnote A| | Daniel Diges | "Algo pequeñito" | Spanish | 15 | 68 | |
| 03 | Didrik Solli-Tangen | "My Heart Is Yours" | English | 20 | 35 | |
| 04 | SunStroke Project and Olia Tira | "Run Away" | English | 22 | 27 | |
| 05 | Jon Lilygreen and The Islanders | "Life Looks Better in Spring" | English | 21 | 27 | |
| 06 | Vukašin Brajić | "Thunder and Lightning" | English | 17 | 51 | |
| 07 | Tom Dice | "Me and My Guitar" | English | 6 | 143 | |
| 08 | Milan Stanković | "Ovo je Balkan" | Serbian | 13 | 72 | |
| 09 | 3+2 feat Robert Wells | "Butterflies" | English | 24 | 18 | |
| 10 | Niamh Kavanagh | "It's for You" | English | 23 | 25 | |
| 11 | Giorgos Alkaios and Friends | "OPA!" | Greek | 8 | 140 | |
| 12 | Josh Dubovie | "That Sounds Good to Me" | English | 25 | 10 | |
| 13 | Sofia Nizharadze | "Shine" | English | 9 | 136 | |
| 14 | maNga | "We Could Be the Same" | English | 2 | 170 | |
| 15 | Juliana Pasha | "It's All About You" | English | 16 | 62 | |
| 16 | Hera Björk | "Je ne sais quoi" | English | 19 | 41 | |
| 17 | Alyosha | "Sweet People" | English | 10 | 108 | |
| 18 | Jessy Matador | "Allez Ola Olé" | French | 12 | 82 | |
| 19 | Paula Seling and Ovi | "Playing with Fire" | English | 3 | 162 | |
| 20 | Peter Nalitch and Friends | "Lost and Forgotten" | English | 11 | 90 | |
| 21 | Eva Rivas | "Apricot Stone" | English | 7 | 141 | |
| 22 | Lena | "Satellite" | English | 1 | 246 | |
| 23 | Filipa Azevedo | "Há dias assim" | Portuguese | 18 | 43 | |
| 24 | Harel Skaat | "Milim" | Hebrew | 14 | 71 | |
| 25 | Chanée and N'evergreen | "In a Moment Like This" | English | 4 | 149 |
- A ^ Spain was given a second chance to perform after Denmark, following a stage invasion by Jimmy Jump, during their performance.
Scoreboards
Semi-final 1
In the first semifinal, one unknown country had only a jury because the votes of the country did not meet the EBU threshold.- The split jury/televoting results were announced by the EBU in June 2010. Only the split totals received by each country were given, not the full breakdown
12 points
| N. | Contestant | Nation giving 12 points |
| 5 | Belgium | Germany, Iceland, Malta, Poland, Portugal |
| 3 | Russia | Belarus, Estonia, Moldova |
| 2 | Albania | Greece, Macedonia |
| 2 | Estonia | Finland, Latvia |
| 2 | Serbia | Bosnia and Herzegovina, France |
| 1 | Belarus | Russia |
| 1 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Serbia |
| 1 | Iceland | Belgium |
| 1 | Macedonia | Albania |
| 1 | Malta | Slovakia |
| 1 | Portugal | Spain |
Semi-final 2
- The jury/televoting results were announced by the EBU in June 2010. Only the split totals received by each country were given, not the full breakdown
12 points
| N. | Contestant | Nation giving 12 points |
| 3 | Azerbaijan | Georgia, Turkey, Ukraine |
| 2 | Armenia | Cyprus, Israel |
| 2 | Denmark | Romania, Sweden |
| 2 | Georgia | Armenia, Lithuania |
| 2 | Sweden | Denmark, Norway |
| 2 | Turkey | Azerbaijan, Bulgaria |
| 1 | Croatia | Slovenia |
| 1 | Cyprus | Croatia |
| 1 | Ireland | Switzerland |
| 1 | Israel | Netherlands |
| 1 | Lithuania | Ireland |
| 1 | Romania | United Kingdom |
Final
- The split jury/televoting results were announced by the EBU in June 2010. Unlike in 2009, only the split totals received by each country were given, not the full breakdown.
12 points
| N. | Contestant | Nation giving 12 points |
| 9 | Germany | Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland |
| 5 | Denmark | Iceland, Ireland, Poland, Romania, Slovenia |
| 4 | Azerbaijan | Bulgaria, Malta, Turkey, Ukraine |
| 4 | Greece | Albania, Belgium, Cyprus, United Kingdom |
| 3 | Armenia | Israel, Netherlands, Russia |
| 3 | Turkey | Azerbaijan, Croatia, France |
| 2 | Georgia | Armenia, Lithuania |
| 1 | Albania | Macedonia |
| 1 | Belarus | Georgia |
| 1 | Belgium | Germany |
| 1 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Serbia |
| 1 | Cyprus | Greece |
| 1 | Romania | Moldova |
| 1 | Russia | Belarus |
| 1 | Serbia | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 1 | Spain | Portugal |
Other awards
Marcel Bezençon Awards
The Marcel Bezençon Awards were first handed out during the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 in Tallinn, Estonia honoringthe best competing songs in the final. Founded by Christer Björkman and Richard Herrey, the awards are named after the creator of the annual competition, Marcel Bezençon. The awards are divided into 3 categories; Press Award; Artistic Award; and Composer Award.
| Category | Country | Song | Performer | Composer | Final result | Points |
| Artists Award | "Milim" | Harel Skaat | Tomer Hadadi and Noam Horev | 14th | 71 | |
| Composer Award | "Milim" | Harel Skaat | Tomer Hadadi and Noam Horev | 14th | 71 | |
| Press Award | "Milim" | Harel Skaat | Tomer Hadadi and Noam Horev | 14th | 71 |
OGAE
Organisation Générale des Amateurs de l'Eurovision is an international organisation that was founded in 1984 in Savonlinna, Finland by Jari-Pekka Koikkalainen. The organisation consists of a network of 40 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs across Europe and beyond, and is a non-governmental, non-political, and non-profitable company. In what has become an annual tradition for the OGAE fan clubs, a voting poll was opened allowing members from different clubs around the world to vote for their favourite songs of the 2010 contest. Below is the top five overall results, after all the votes had been cast.| Country | Song | Performer | Composer | OGAE result |
| "In a Moment Like This" | Chanée & N'evergreen | , Henrik Sethsson, Erik Bernholm | 220 | |
| "Milim" | Harel Skaat | Tomer Adaddi, Noam Horev | 177 | |
| "Satellite" | Lena | Julie Frost, John Gordon | 172 | |
| "My Heart Is Yours" | Didrik Solli-Tangen | Hanne Sørvaag, Fredrik Kempe | 146 | |
| "Je ne sais quoi" | Hera Björk | Örlygur Smári, Hera Björk | 130 |
Barbara Dex Award
The Barbara Dex Award has been annually awarded by the fan website House of Eurovision since 1997, and is a humorous award given to the worst dressed artist each year in the contest. It is named after the Belgian artist, Barbara Dex, who came last in the 1993 contest, in which she wore her own self designed dress.| Place | Country | Performer | Votes |
| 1 | Milan Stanković | 138 | |
| 2 | SunStroke Project & Olia Tira | 110 | |
| 3 | Peter Nalitch and Friends | 109 | |
| 4 | Aisha | 99 | |
| 5 | Eva Rivas | 79 |
Incidents
The performance of Daniel Diges representing Spain was disrupted by Catalan pitch invader Jaume Marquet Cot, also known as Jimmy Jump. The performance continued as Marquet, wearing a barretina, joined in with the carefully choreographed routine, but he ran off when security personnel appeared on the stage. Spain was subsequently allowed to perform their song a second time after Denmark's entry - the 25th and final song - had been performed.Commentators and spokespersons
Spokespersons
Countries revealed their votes in the following order:- – Malvina Cservenschi
- – Derek Mooney
- – Hape Kerkeling
- – Maja Nikolić
- – Leon Menkshi
- – Meltem Ersan Yazgan
- – Mila Horvat
- – Aleksandra Rosiak
- – Ivana Vidmar
- – Johanna Pirttilahti
- – Andrea F
- – Rolf Junior
- – Oxana Fedorova
- – Ana Galvão
- - Tamilla Shirinova
- – Alexis Kostalas
- – Yohanna
- – Bryan Rice
- – Audrey Chauveau
- – Ainhoa Arbizu
- – Ľubomír Bajaník
- – Desislava Dobreva
- – Iryna Zhuravska
- – Kārlis Būmeisters
- – Chiara Siracusa
- – Anne Rimmen
- – Christina Metaxa
- – Giedrius Masalskis
- – Aleksei Grishin
- - Christa Rigozzi
- – Katja Retsin
- – Scott Mills
- – Yolanthe Cabau van Kasbergen
- – Ofer Nachshon
- – Maja Daniels
- – Tanya Cerga
- – Mariam Vashadze
- – Eric Saade
- – Nazeni Hovhannisyan
Commentators
;Participating countries
The commentators of the 39 participating countries are as follows:
| Country | SF1 / SF2 / Final | Commentator |
| All | Leon Menkshi | |
| All | Hrachuhi Utmazyan | |
| All | Khoren Levonyan | |
| All | Hüsniyyə Məhərrəmova | |
| All | Denis Kurian | |
| All | Jean-Pierre Hautier | |
| All | Jean-Louis Lahaye | |
| All | Patrick Duhamel | |
| All | Corinne Boulangier | |
| All | André Vermeulen | |
| All | Bart Peeters | |
| All | Sven Pichal | |
| All | Michel Follet | |
| All | Dejan Kukrić | |
| All | Elena Rosberg | |
| All | Georgi Kushvaliev | |
| All | Duško Čurlić | |
| All | Nathan Morley | |
| All | Melina Karageorgiou | |
| All | Nikolaj Molbech | |
| All | Marko Reikop | |
| All | Sven Lõhmus | |
| All | Jaana Pelkonen | |
| All | Asko Murtomäki | |
| All | Sanna Kojo | |
| All | Jorma Hietamäki | |
| All | Tobias Larsson | |
| Semi finals | Peggy Olmi | |
| Semi finals | Yann Renoard | |
| Final | Cyril Hanouna | |
| Final | Stéphane Bern | |
| All | Sopho Altunashvili | |
| All | Peter Urban | |
| Final | Tim Frühling | |
| Final | Thomas Mohr | |
| All | Rika Vagiani | |
| All | Sigmar Guðmundsson | |
| All | Marty Whelan | |
| All | Maxi | |
| All | No commentator | |
| All | Kārlis Streips | |
| All | Darius Užkuraitis | |
| All | Karolina Petkovska | |
| All | Valerie Vella | |
| All | Marcel Spătari | |
| All | Cornald Maas | |
| All | Daniël Dekker | |
| All | Olav Viksmo-Slettan | |
| All | Artur Orzech | |
| All | Sérgio Mateus | |
| All | Leonard Miron | |
| All | Gianina Corondan | |
| All | Olga Shelest | |
| All | Dmitry Guberniev | |
| SF2 | Dragan Ilić | |
| SF1 & Final | Duška Vučinić-Lučić | |
| All | Roman Bomboš | |
| All | Andrej Hofer | |
| SF1 & Final | José Luis Uribarri,, | |
| All | Christine Meltzer | |
| All | Edward af Sillén | |
| All | Carolina Norén | |
| All | Björn Kjellman | |
| German | Sven Epiney | |
| French | Jean-Marc Richard & Nicolas Tanner | |
| Italian | Sandy Altermatt | |
| All | Bülend Özveren | |
| All | Timur Miroshnychenko | |
| Semi-Finals | Paddy O'Connell | |
| Semi-Finals | Sarah Cawood | |
| Final | Graham Norton | |
| Final | Ken Bruce |
;Non-participating countries
The commentators of the non-participating countries are:
| Country | SF1/SF2/Final | Commentator |
 Australia | All | Julia Zemiro |
| Australia | All | Sam Pang |
| All | Zsolt Jeszenszky | |
| All | Dražen Bauković | |
| All | Tamara Ivanković |
Broadcasting
; ': Even though Australia was not eligible to enter, the contest was broadcast on Special Broadcasting Service, a free-to-air television station, as in previous years. As in 2009, the coverage featured local commentary and segments from Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang.; ': Although New Zealand is not eligible to enter the contest, the contest was broadcast on Triangle TV's satellite channel STRATOS. It broadcast both the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 semi finals as well as the final as a delayed broadcast.
; ': It was announced at the Reference Group meeting on 22 March 2010 that Hungary would be broadcasting the contest. Duna TV, currently an approved member of the EBU, has been confirmed as broadcasting the contest in Hungary after Magyar Televízió, the current Hungarian broadcaster, pulled out. They have also announced that they will attempt to send a Hungarian entry to the 2011 contest.
; ': It was announced at the Reference Group meeting on 22 March 2010 that Kazakhstan would be broadcasting the contest.
; ': It was announced at the Reference Group meeting on 22 March 2010 that Kosovo would be broadcasting the contest.
; ':Despite not participating in 2010's Eurovision Song Contest due to financial trouble, the national broadcaster of Montenegro, RTCG, aired both semi finals and the final live on its main channel RTCG2.
; Worldwide: The official Eurovision Song Contest website provided a live stream without commentary via the peer-to-peer medium Octoshape.
High-definition broadcasts
For the fourth time, the contest was broadcast in high-definition. Some countries, through their high-definition channel, allowed their country to watch the contest in HD:- – SBS HD
- – Eén HD
- – DR HD
- – Das Erste HD
- - Duna TV HD
- – Hot HD and Yes HD
- – Nederland 1 HD
- – NRK HD
- – TVP HD
- – RTP HD
- – TVR HD
- – RTS HD
- – TVE HD
- – SVT HD
- – TRT HD
- – BBC HD
Official album