The ITV1 talent show was still well-watched, bringing in 9.8m viewers and earning a 40.8% share of the audience at 8.20pm-9.20pm on Saturday night.
Eurovision started 20 minutes before 'Britain's Got Talent' but came off second best. While Cowell and co were on air its audience hovered around the 6m mark.
However, it steadily added more viewers after 'Britain's Got Talent' finished and was helped by a creditable performance from the UK's entry Jade Ewen that secured fifth place.
It peaked in its final quarter hour with 9.8m seeing Norway awarded victory. The overall average audience for its 8pm-11.15pm run was 7.8m, enough for a 35.3% share of viewing.
ITV1 followed 'Britain's Got Talent' with 'ITV's Best Ever Ads 2', but managed an audience of just 2.9m and a share of 12.5%.
But ITV1 had the better of the early evening battle with 4.8m viewers (27%) for 'All Star Mr & Mrs' at 6.20pm-7.20pm and 4.6m (22.1%) for 'Primeval' at 7.20pm-8.20pm.
BBC One's 'Tonight's The Night', in which ordinary people get the chance to perform songs with celebrities, managed 3.7m (35.3%) at 6.50pm-7.20pm.
On Sunday night BBC One's detective drama 'Inspector George Gently', starring Martin Shaw, won the peak time slot with 5.6m viewers and a 22.1% share of the 8.30pm-10pm audience.
Last night's instalment saw Gently and Bacchus, played by Lee Ingleby, investigating a stolen passports scam, which took an unexpected turn when a woman who worked at the passport office was found dead.
The final part of ITV1's 'Martin Clunes: Islands of Britain' documentary, which saw the actor visiting St Michael's Mount and the Isles of Scilly, came in a close second with 5m viewers and a 19.7% share of the 9pm-10pm audience.
BBC Two's 'South Pacific' documentary series, this week focusing on how animals and plants have managed to colonise impossibly isolated islands, attracted 2.4m viewers and a 9.5% share of the audience.
'The Unloved', a drama about a girl's experience of a children's home directed by actress Samantha Morton and starring Robert Carlyle, pulled in 1.9m viewers and a 9.4% share of the 9pm-11.15pm audience on Channel 4. Including Channel 4+1 figures it reached 2m viewers.
Five's airing of 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves', starring Kevin Costner, Alan Rickman and Christian Slater, netted 1.4m viewers and a 6.3% share of the 8pm-10.45pm audience.
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