The winner was Serbia with the song "Molitva", performed by Marija Šerifović and written by Vladimir Graić and Saša Milošević Mare. This was Serbia's first victory in the contest, and indeed, the first year they competed as an independent nation. Also, this was the first victory for one of the former Yugoslav republics. It was also the first winning song entirely performed in a country's native language since 's "Diva" in . Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and Bulgaria rounded out the top five. Further down the table, Belarus achieved their best placing to date, finishing sixth. Meanwhile, Ireland achieved their worst placing in the contest, finishing twenty-fourth (last place). Of the "Big Four" countries Germany placed the highest, finishing nineteenth.