Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 therefore withdrew from the contest. Confirmation of the withdrawal given, when the running order was announced on 16 March, and Georgia was not included. Georgia was to compete in the first semi-final on 12 May 2009. Following that dispute, GPB did not even broadcast the 2009 contest, but Georgia returned to the 2010 contest, which was won by Germany. Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 Georgia, and its broadcaster Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB), announced in August 2008 that it would be withdrawing from the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia. The country later returned to the contest in
Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 songs bringing the total number of songs in the semi-final up to 18. The top nine songs of the semi-final advanced to the grand final and BNT added three further wildcards to these, making a final of 12 songs. 100% televoting selected the winning entry which then represented Bulgaria in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. In previous years, if a country placed in the top 10 countries in the final they automatically qualified to the final of the next contest. Had this rule remained for the 2008 contest, Bulgaria would have directly qualified for the final. However, a change in