HOW IT WORKS

Rating Points
Place	Points
1	25
2	24
3	23
4	22
5	21
6	20
7	19
8	18
9	17
10	16
11	15
12	14
13	13
14	12
15	11
16	10
17	9
18	8
19	7
20	6
21	5
22	4
23	3
24	2

ESCrating.com shows the countries with the best contest results over the past five years. 

In this system, each country automatically earns 0.5 points as a participation bonus. 

All 25 countries that reached the Final earn from 1 to 25 points, depending on their final result. For instance, the country that wins the contest in a given year receives 25 points, the runner-up is awarded 24, the third place – 23, and so on.

In order to underscore the importance of the top three places in the Final, the system adds 12.5 points for 1st place, 7.5 points for 2nd place, and 5 for 3rd place. The bonus points in total make 25.

Bonus Points for Final Top 3
Points	25
1st place	12,5
2nd place	7,5
3rd place	5

If a country has not participated in the ESC in any of the past five years (2004–2008), it is given 0 points in that year. 

Some countries, such as Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, have joined the ESC family only recently. They are included in the rating but receive zero points for the years when they did not take part in Eurovision.

Example: Montenegro

#	COUNTRY	RANKING	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	POINTS
13	Montenegro	place	2	7	0	0	0	52,5
		points	32	19,5	0	0,5	0,5

Explanation:

YEAR	POINTS	EXPLANATION
2004	32	0,5 points for participation + 24 points for 2nd place + 7,5 bonus points
2005	19,5	0,5 points for participation + 19 points for 7th place
2006	0	did not participate in ESC this year
2007	0,5	did not qualify to the Final (Semi-Final)
2008	0,5	did not qualify to the Final (Semi-Final)
	52,5	total score for five years