Norway was the runaway winner of the 54th Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, finishing more than 150 points ahead of its nearest rivals with a massive 387 points.

The winning song was Fairytale, fronted by 23-year-old singer and fiddler Alexander Rybak. The Norwegian song, a hot favourite from the beginning, featured Rybak accompanied by two female singers and backed by a group of violinists.

Iceland's Yohanna came second with Is It True? Azerbaijan's Aysel and Arash came third with Always. Turkey's Hadise came in fourth with Dum Dum Tek.

The UK's Jade Ewen came fifth with a song composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Rybak, a fresh-faced and boyish child prodigy, stormed to an early lead in the contest, winning 12 points from the first (Spanish)  jury and maintaining first place throughout the voting.

Although born in the former Soviet Union in Belarus, Rybak and his parents moved to Norway when he was four years old. Rybak has been playing instruments since the age of five, and he now plays both violin and piano. His parents are Natalia Valentinovna Rybak, a famous pianist, and Igor Alexandrovich Rybak, who is a well-known violinist in Norway. 

"Thank you very much Russia. It's simply wonderful. Thank you," declared a delighted Rybak, speaking in Russian and thanking the host country after his victory.

Bulgaria, which did not feature in the finals, awarded 12 points to Greece, 10 points to Turkey and then eight points to Azerbaijan.

The Bulgarian contender for the Eurovision 2009 Song Contest, Krassimir Avramov, proved to be a particularly controversial choice, criticised at home on allegations of vote-rigging and slammed abroad for his poor performance.