Counting from the first Bulgarian heat on 1st October, this was already the 17th week in the national final season for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. Starting on Monday and ending on Saturday, a total of seven shows was held, among them one national final, five semi finals and a quarter final. Furthermore, one country revealed its internal selection.

Belarus

Once again, the Belarusian entry for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest was selected on a Monday. From the five remaining acts after the semi final, Petr Elfimov won the ticket to Moscow ahead of Gunesh. With his song Eyes that never lie, written by him and V. Prokhozhy, he will be the third male soloist representing the country in a row and the sixth Belarusian contestant overall.

• You can find the live report and videos of the performanceshere.
• You can find the complete results here.

Montenegro

On Friday, Montenegro has revealed that the country will be represented by Andrea Demirovic at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. The singer, who had already taken part in the Serbia & Montenegro national final in 2005 and the Montenegrin artist selection in 2008, is the first female soloist representing the country in the competition and her song Just get outof my life will be the first entry performed in English. The entry was written by Gunvor Johansen, José Juan Santana Rodriguez and Peter Match.

• You can read more about the entry and listen to the song here.
• You can read an interview with Andrea here.

Finland

The remaining four acts in the Finnish national selection for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest presented their songs on Friday night. Signmark feat. Osmo Ikonen and 2004 Finnish representative Jari Sillanpää have qualified for the national final next Saturday. The third and fourth placed entries enter the second chance round, which will be held directly before the national final. Therefore, we will hear all twelve songs in the contest again on Saturday – another two will qualify for the final round.

• You can find the live report and videos of the performanceshere.
• You can find the complete results here.

United Kingdom

The third elimination show and hence semi final of the United Kingdom's artist selection Eurovision: Your country needs you was held on Saturday. Four acts competed and Emperors of Soul were eliminated from the competition while Jade (who was in the bottom two), Mark and the Twins will try next Saturday to become the country's 52nd representativein the Eurovision Song Contest. Meanwhile, it was announced that the song, which was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Diane Warren, will be called My time.

• You can find the live report and videos of the performanceshere.
• You can find the complete results here.
• You can read more about the song here.

Bulgaria

After nine heats and three quarter finals, the Bulgarian semi final was held on Saturday. The nine songs that qualified directly through the quarter finals competed against the nine jury wildcards. Eventually, only one of the nine winners originally qualified through the heats and quarter finals. The other eight entries were all wildcards, six of them were new to the competition after the quarter finals, the other two were got a second chance after the quarter finals. The nine qualifiers will take part in the national final on 21st February along with another three wildcards.

• You can find the live reporthere.
• You can find the complete results here.

Norway

Norway kicked off its MGP 2009 on Saturday. The first seven acts presented their songs and the televoters decided that they want to see Thomas Brøndbo and Velvet in the national final on 21st February. Espen Hana and Surferosa will enter the 'last chance' round Siste sjansen. Another two semi finals will be held the next two Saturdays.

• You can find the live report and videos of the performanceshere.
• You can find the complete results here.
• You can find our backstage report here.

Lithuania

The third and last quarter final of the Lithuanian national selection was held on Saturday. Another twelve acts presented their songs and televoting sent six of them to the quarter final stage kicking off next Saturday. The second jury wildcard will be announced during the week. The 20 semi final entries are yet to be drawn into two semi finals.

• You can find the complete results and the videos of the performances here.

Iceland

The third of four Icelandic semi finals was held on Saturday. The televoters decided that among the four acts competing Arnar, Edgar, Sverrir & Ólafur and Kaja Halldórsdóttir and sent them to the national final on 14th February. The other two acts were eliminated from the competition.

• You can find the live report and videos of the performanceshere.
• You can find the complete results here.

Week 18: A preview

The following shows will be held next week:

Tuesday, 27th January	Romania	first semi final
Thursday, 29th January	Romania	second semi final
Saturday, 31st January	Romania	national final
	Lithuania	first semi final
	Norway	second semi final
	Finland	second chance & nationalfinal
	Denmark	national final
	United Kingdom	national final
	Iceland	fourth semi final
	Slovenia	semi final
Sunday, 1st February	Netherlands	national final
	Slovenia	national final

Furthermore, the third presentation show will be aired in Andorra on Wednesday and on Sunday, the online voting will close in Portugal.

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The two latest songs chosen for the Eurovision Song Contest:

Belarus: Petr Elfimov – Eyes that never lie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-rERg_DBC4

Montenegro: Andrea – Just get out of my life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks4EoFjQHjg