Sir Terry, who has commentated on the competition since the 1970s for the United Kingdom, said: "Russia were going to be the political winners from the beginning."

You can watch the second semi-final on eurovision.tv or watch it through the eyes of Norway on broadcaster NRK's site.

Soon after the results of the Eurovision Song Contest were in, many people started to ask how the results would have been if only the countries that took part in the final had voted. The top two would still have

Quick stats

Ed. note: This is the twentith in a series of personal essays by the @U2 staff about songs and/or albums that have had great meaning or impact in our lives.]Good Friday, 2003. I woke up like I normally would and

Over the coming months, esctoday.com will be bringing you in-depth coverage of Russia's celebrations and preparations for the 2009 contest; news is expected soon, and it starts with the Russian delegations post-win press conference. Stay tuned to the site for

Dima was asked first about his plans for the future and he spoke about his new albums in Spanish and English. Dima decided to speak in Russian as he wanted to be able to say everything he felt. He thanked

Please note : as eurovision.tv does, we DO take into account the tie-break rule for positions other than the winning. The use of this rule is disputed but generally does not affect the results too much.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 is over and as always after the final, the complete semi final results are available. LetÂ’s take a closer look at the outcome of the second semi final. (http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12000)