The winner was Greece with the song "My Number One", performed by Helena Paparizou and written by Manos Psaltakis, Christos Dantis and Natalia Germanou.

Unusually, all "Big Four" countries (France, Germany, Spain and United Kingdom) ended up as the "Last Four", all placing in the bottom four positions in the final.

[1] However, in order to host the contest, the facilities had been brought up to the standard required by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

The postcards (short clips shown between performances) for the 2005 show illustrated Ukraine's culture and heritage along with a more modern and industrial side to the country.

[13] The hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv were television presenter Maria "Masha" Efrosinina and DJ Pavlo "Pasha" Shylko.

Previous winner Ruslana returned to the stage in Kyiv to perform in the interval act and to interview the contestants backstage in the 'green room'.

Ruslana was also intended to be a presenter for the show, but was pulled out before the contest for numerous reasons, including her poor English skills.

The Ukrainian boxers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko opened the televoting, while a special trophy was presented to the winner by Ukraine's president, Viktor Yushchenko.

The Marcel Bezençon Awards, organised since 2002 by Sweden's then-Head of Delegation and 1992 representative Christer Björkman, and 1984 winner Richard Herrey, honours songs in the contest's final.

The album featured all 39 songs that entered in the 2005 contest, including the semi-finalists that failed to qualify into the grand final.

[114] The original cover designed for the album was changed after Lebanon's withdrawal from the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 after announcing they would show advertisements over the Israeli entry.