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United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Country  United Kingdom
National selection
Selection process Eurovision: Your Country
Needs You
Selection date(s) Introduction show
3 January 2009
Heats
10 January 2009
17 January 2009
24 January 2009
Final
31 January 2009
Selected entrant Jade Ewen
Selected song "It's My Time"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Final result 5th, 173 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2008 2009 2010►

The United Kingdom and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) confirmed their participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, despite their last place finish in 2008.Jade Ewen was selected on 31 January 2009, to represent the UK at Eurovision with "It's My Time", a song composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics written by Diane Warren. Coming fifth out of the forty-two countries participating, the United Kingdom achieved their highest placing since 2002, when they placed third.

The United Kingdom sent its fifty-second entry to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009. It automatically qualified to the final as one of the "Big Four" countries that pays the most money to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for the organisation of the event.

The United Kingdom's result history has varied. The country is one of the most successful at the contest, having won on five occasions (in 1967, 1969, 1976, 1981 and 1997), however, it has only made the Top 10 on two occasions since the turn of the millennium, as well as coming last three times during that period (in 2003, 2008 and 2010). The leader of the Conservative Party, David Cameron, had called for the UK to withdraw from the 2009 contest due to the 2008 South Ossetia war, but to no avail.


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