Eurovision Song Contest 2003
Encyclopedia
The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 was the forty-eighth Eurovision Song Contest
, held at the Skonto Hall
in Riga
, Latvia
on 24 May 2003. The hosts were Marie N and Renārs Kaupers
. Sertab Erener
, the Turkish
entrant, won the contest with "Everyway That I Can
", scoring 167 points. The winning songwriters were Erener and Demir Demirkan
. Belgium and Russia were second and third respectively, within three points of Turkey's score.
The 2003 contest was the last to take place over one evening; in 2004 a semi-final system was introduced. Twenty-six countries competed, at the time the biggest field in the contest's history. Six countries that sat out the 2002 contest returned from relegation, and were joined by Ukraine
, making its debut, with Ukrainian heartthrob Oleksandr Ponomaryov
singing "Hasta La Vista
", co-written by Israel's Svika Pick
, who composed the 1998 Eurovision winner, "Diva
". The 2003 contest's start-list was the last to be influenced by the relegation rule.
The pre-contest favourites, Russia's t.A.T.u, attracted much media attention. Among the other noteworthy contestants were Alf Poier
, an outspoken comedian representing Austria; Ich Troje
, who attempted to represent two countries; and F.L.Y.
, a trio of musical veterans representing the host country. Jemini
, representing the United Kingdom, finished the contest without a point, the first British entrants to do so.
This was also the fifth time in the history of the contest (including 1956) that no returning artists or acts were featured. All artists taking part in the contest this year did it for the first time.
". It was Latvia's first victory, and meant that LTV
would host the 2003 contest. Arvids Babris, head of the Latvian delegation at the 2002 contest, said that although LTV's funds were limited, the broadcaster would host the 2003 event; later, the Latvian government pledged €
2.3 million for the event. The Skonto Hall
in Riga
, which seats 5,000 spectators, was chosen to host the contest. Babris was appointed as its producer. In December 2002, LTV announced that the contest would be hosted by Marie N, alongside Renars Kaupers
, the lead singer of Brainstorm
, the Latvian representatives at the 2000 contest. In March 2003, Danish newspaper B.T.
reported that the contest could be moved as it was running behind schedule; the general director of LTV, Uldis Grava, replied, saying: "We [Grava, Bjorn Erichsen of Danmarks Radio
and Werner Rumphorst of the EBU
] talked about co-operation and about programme exchanges, and neither of them said a single word that would indicate any doubts, lack of trust or accusation." Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Television
produced the contest for the second year running (with Sven Stojanovic
as director), and Swedish lighting company Spectra+, having supplied the 2000 and 2002 contests, were involved for the third time. The contest's tagline was "Magical Rendez-vous". An official CD of the contest was released, on the EMI
/CMC
label.
; of these, fourteen were expected to compete in 2003. The bottom ten in Tallinn would be relegated, to allow countries to compete for the first time. In reality, only five countries were relegated—nineteen countries that entered in 2002 competed in Riga. Macedonia
, Finland
, Switzerland
, Lithuania
and Denmark
were forced to sit out the contest. The nineteen qualifiers were joined by the six countries that had sat out the 2002 contest: Iceland
, Ireland
, the Netherlands
, Norway
, Poland
and Portugal
. The twenty-sixth contestant was Ukraine
, making its debut at the contest. Originally, Serbia and Montenegro
, Albania
and Belarus
had planned 2003 debuts, but the EBU's late changes to the relegation procedure meant that they could not compete. All three nations made their debuts in 2004. RTBF
was the Belgian broadcaster at the forty-eighth contest, marking the first Walloon
entry since 2000. Twenty-six entries was the highest number in the contest's history at that point; it remains the most to have competed in a Eurovision final. The draw for the running order took place in December 2002 in Riga: Iceland would open the contest and Slovenia would complete it.
to represent them in a televised national final on 14 March 2003. Poier beat former Eurovision contestant Petra Frey
into second place. He described his song, "Weil der Mensch zählt
" ("Because people matter"), as "a hymn to individualism and against collectivism". Ireland, back from relegation, used a reality series, You're A Star
, to select their entry. The winner was Mickey Harte
; his Eurovision song reached number one on the Irish Singles Chart
. Spain also used a reality series; Beth
, a runner-up of Operación Triunfo
was chosen. Ich Troje
tried to represent Poland and Germany with different songs: they won the Polish final on 27 January with "Keine Grenzen-Żadnych granic
" ("No borders"; performed in Polish
, German
and Russian
), but lost in Germany. The German contestant was Lou
. A member of the Belgian group, Urban Trad
, was expelled from the group after it was reported that she had been a member of a far-right political group—this was later denied by the group as the reason for her absence.
In Latvia, three former Eirodziesma
contestants won the right to represent the host country as F.L.Y.
, performing "Hello From Mars
". Sweden's Melodifestivalen
took place on 15 March at the Globen in Stockholm; Fame
won the right to represent the country in Riga. Estonia chose Claire's Birthday as their representative—the band later changed their name to Ruffus
. Among the contestants to be chosen internally (without a televised selection) were t.A.T.u from Russia: the self-styled "lesbian" duo had already scored a chart-topper throughout Europe with "All the Things She Said
", and quickly became favourites to win the contest.
Twelve languages were represented at the contest: eleven real and one constructed
. Belgium's "Sanomi
" was described by its composer as "a danceable folk pearl sung in an imaginary and thus universal language". Most of the entries included lyrics in English.
from Iceland, on 19 May; she was also first at the Press Centre and on the web chat. t. A.T.u.'s first rehearsal dominated proceedings on 20 May—the band were supposed to rehearse the day before, but had turned up a day late, claiming that Yulia Volkova was suffering from a sore throat. The group were booed by journalists at the Press Centre. Sarah Yuen from the EBU said "They are the bad girls of pop…we shouldn’t have expected them to come here and be nice and pleasant." With the entrants' press conferences and web chats completed, two dress rehearsals were held on 23 May, in front of an estimated 12,000 people. The organisers of the contest held a press conference; one of the issues complained about was the lack of invitations for the after-party. The final dress rehearsal was held on 24 May, the day of the contest. A simulation of the voting procedure was also held, in which the presenters linked up with all twenty-six countries by satellite for the first time.
On the day of the contest, bookmaker William Hill
's odds placed Russia as joint favourites to win the contest with Spain. Ireland, Slovenia, Estonia, Norway and Iceland were behind in third, fourth and joint fifth respectively. Austria, at 100-1, were favourites to finish last.
(19:00 UTC) on Saturday 24 May 2003. Among the 6,000 spectators were several Latvian government ministers. In between the entries, "touristy" film clips of the contestants were shown. Elton John
spoke to the presenters from Vienna and one astronaut and one cosmonaut—Ed Lu
and Yuri Malenchenko
—gave their greetings from the International Space Station. Alf Poier performed "Weil der Mensch zählt" flanked by stuffed farmyard animals. The Turkish entry, "Everyway That I Can
" performed by Sertab Erener
, featured a "mix of rhythm and belly dance". Romania's Nicola
was joined by dancers holding cardboard records. By contrast, Jostein Hasselgård
performed the Norwegian entry at a piano, without any movement from his backing singers. Malta's performer, Lynn Chircop
, threw a flower into the audience during her performance of "To Dream Again
". Before the voting began, short clips of the songs were played, in reverse order, beginning with the final song. The interval act featured Renars Kaupers' band, Brainstorm, and Marie N performing in a filmed sequence.
Among the spokespeople were three former Eurovision contestants: Marlayne
for the Netherlands in 1999, Ines
for Estonia in 2000, and Sandrine François
for France in 2002. Kattis Ahlström
, co-host of the 2000 contest, announced the Swedish results.
Iceland were first to vote: they awarded their twelve points to Norway, giving Jostein Hasselgård an early lead. Austria were next, awarding one point to Germany and twelve points to Turkey. The jury in Sarajevo
also awarded their twelve points to Turkey. As Bosnian spokesperson Ana Vilincia announced the votes, she mistakenly awarded five points to Croatia, rather than Austria. As a result, she had to announce the results again from the beginning. Terry Wogan
, meanwhile, jokingly remarked "That's OK, you're fired!" For the first time, Cyprus managed to award points to Turkey (eight, in fact) and, as usual, awarded twelve points to Greece, amidst booing in the hall—Greece reciprocated. The Russian jury awarded twelve points to Romania. Ukraine, making their debut, gave their twelve points to Russia. The host country's top score also went to t.A.T.u.
; Russia picked up five twelve-point scores in total.
With just Slovenia left to vote, Belgium's Urban Trad
led the contest with 162 points with their song "Sanomi
" sung in an imaginary language, with Turkey second with 157 and Russia third with 152. Three points were awarded to Belgium, putting them on 165 and leaving Russia out of the running. Turkey won ten points, giving them a nail-biting victory with 167 points. The final twelve points went to Russia, leaving them on 164. Norway were fourth and Sweden fifth, with the United Kingdom last, without a point.
. During the week of the contest, the EBU unveiled a two-night system for the contest in 2004: a semi-final would be held before a grand final. The "Big Four", along with the top ten from the 2003 contest, would automatically qualify for the 2004 final. The fourteen eventual qualifiers were Turkey, Belgium, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Poland, Spain, Iceland, Romania, Ireland, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. All the other countries would compete in the semi.
After the contest, Russia's Channel One
complained that Irish broadcaster RTÉ
had used a back-up jury, and that it had cost them victory. A statement by Channel One said "Considering [the] insignificant difference in points between the first and third places, there are grounds to believe that the contest results could be much different for Russia." RTÉ responded by publishing the unused results of the Irish televote, which showed that had the jury not been used, Turkey would still have won, and Ireland's voting "partners", the United Kingdom, would still have no points.
The United Kingdom's last-place finish was greeted with much consternation in the British media. Terry Wogan
, long-time commentator on the contest for the BBC
, said that the UK was suffering from "post-Iraq
backlash". Chris Cromby from Jemini said "The monitors were off. Maybe it was sabotage, but we couldn't hear anything...we used the floor monitors, the others used their own." The UK's result was their worst-ever at Eurovision; by contrast, Turkey's win was their first. Alf Poier's sixth place was Austria's best result for fourteen years, Poland's seventh place was their best in nine, and Romania's tenth place was one place behind their best-ever. Belgium's second place was their first top-five finish in seventeen years, but Latvia's third-from-bottom finish was their worst result in four attempts; it was also the worst placing for a host country since 1992.
Serbia and Montenegro: After the breakup of Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was last participated in 1992
. Radio Television of Serbia
broadcast the show. Originally, first time as Serbia and Montenegro had planned debuts, but the EBU's late changes to the relegation procedure meant that they could not compete. They made their debut next year
(ORF1) - Marty Whelan
(RTÉ One
), Gerry Ryan
(RTÉ Radio 1
) - Bülend Özveren
(TRT 1
) - John Bundy
- Dejan Kukrić (BHTV1) - Margarida Mercês de Mello (RTP1) - Danijela Trbović (HRT 2) - Evi Papamichail (RIK 1
) - Peter Urban
(Das Erste
), Ina Müller & Steffi Neu (NDR Radio 2
/WDR 1LIVE
)
- Yuri Aksyuta & Yelena Batinova (Channel One
) - José Luis Uribarri
(TVE1) - No commentator (First National Channel of Israel
) - Willem van Beusekom
(Nederland 2
), Wessel van Diepen
(Radio 3FM
) - Terry Wogan
(BBC One
), Ken Bruce
(BBC Radio 2
) - Pavlo Shylko (DJ Pasha) (First National TV Channel) - Dafni Bokota
(ET1) - Jostein Pedersen
(NRK1
) - Laurent Ruquier
, Isabelle Mergault (France 3
) & André Torrent (France Bleu
) - Artur Orzech (TVP1) - Kārlis Streips (Latvijas Televīzija
) - Jean-Pierre Hautier
(RTBF La Une
), André Vermeulen
& Anja Daems (VRT TV1
) - Marko Reikop (Eesti Televisioon
)
- Andreea Demirgian(TVR1) - Pekka Heino (SVT1
) - Andrea F (SLO1
) (Non-participating) - Meri Picart & Albert Roig (La Tele
) (Non-participating) - Jørgen de Mylius
(DR2
) (Non-participating) - Maria Guzenina
& Asko Murtomäki (YLE TV2
) (Non-participating) - Darius Užkuraitis (LTV2
) (Non-participating) - Milanka Rašik (MTV 3
) (Non-participating) - Mladen Popović & Duška Vučinić-Lučić (RTS2
) (Non-participating) - Roman Kilchsperger (SF2) / Jean-Marc Richard (TSR2
) / Daniele Rauseo (TSI 1)
- Meltem Ersan Yazgan - Sharon Borg - Ana Vilenica - Helena Ramos - Davor Meštrović - Loukas Hamatsos
- Axel Bulthaupt
- Yana Churikova
- Anne Igartiburu
- Michal Zoharetz - Marlayne
(Dutch representative in the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest) - Lorraine Kelly
- Lyudmyla Hariv - Alexis Kostalas - Roald Øyen
(Norwegian commentator for the 1968, 1972
and 1984 Eurovision Song Contest)
- Sandrine François
(French representative in the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest) - Maciej Orłoś - Ģirts Līcis
- Corinne Boulangier - Ines
(Estonian representative in the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest) - Leonard Miron
- Kattis Ahlström
(Hostess of the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest) - Peter Poles
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
, held at the Skonto Hall
Skonto Hall
Skonto Hall is an arena in Riga, Latvia. It is primarily used for different exhibitions. Skonto Hall holds 6,500 people and was renovated in 2006, so that it could be used as one of the venues for the 2006 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships. The hall also played host to the 2003 Eurovision...
in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
on 24 May 2003. The hosts were Marie N and Renārs Kaupers
Renars Kaupers
Renārs Kaupers, artistic name Reynard Cowper is a Latvian pop singer and songwriter.He is the lead singer of the Latvian pop/rock band Brainstorm, which came third at the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with their song "My Star"...
. Sertab Erener
Sertab Erener
Sertab Erener is a Turkish pop music singer and also a cross-over soprano with a vocal range that extends to high F. She is one of the most successful female Turkish pop singers in her homeland, and is considered one of the divas of Turkish pop music...
, the Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
entrant, won the contest with "Everyway That I Can
Everyway That I Can
"Everyway That I Can" is the winning song of the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest sung in English by Sertab Erener.-Everyway That I Can:"Everyway That I Can" was written by Demir Demirkan in early 2003 and produced and arranged by Ozan Çolakoğlu, famous for his works with pop idol Tarkan...
", scoring 167 points. The winning songwriters were Erener and Demir Demirkan
Demir Demirkan
Demir Demirkan is a Turkish musician, Eurovision Song Contest winning composer, formerly guitarist for thrash metal band Mezarkabul. Demir Demirkan started his music life when he was 13 and played guitar with various groups in college...
. Belgium and Russia were second and third respectively, within three points of Turkey's score.
The 2003 contest was the last to take place over one evening; in 2004 a semi-final system was introduced. Twenty-six countries competed, at the time the biggest field in the contest's history. Six countries that sat out the 2002 contest returned from relegation, and were joined by Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, making its debut, with Ukrainian heartthrob Oleksandr Ponomaryov
Oleksandr Ponomaryov
Oleksandr Ponomaryov born, August 9, 1973, Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine) is one of the most famous singers of Ukraine. He has been awarded the country’s "Singer of the Year" seven times.One of Oleksandr's early passions was boxing...
singing "Hasta La Vista
Hasta La Vista
"Hasta la Vista" is an English language song , by Belarusian Ruslan Alekhno. The song was performed as the Belarusian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008...
", co-written by Israel's Svika Pick
Svika Pick
Svika Pick is an Israeli pop singer and composer.-Biography:Henrik Zvi Pick was born in Wrocław, Poland. He studied music at the Conservatory of Ramat Gan and started to perform at the age of 15.Pick was married to Israeli songwriter Mirit Shem-Or...
, who composed the 1998 Eurovision winner, "Diva
Diva (song)
"Diva" was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 performed in Hebrew by Dana International representing Israel. The music was composed by Tzvika Pick, and the lyrics by Yoav Ginai. It totalled 172 points in the polling.The song became the last entry entirely in a language other than...
". The 2003 contest's start-list was the last to be influenced by the relegation rule.
The pre-contest favourites, Russia's t.A.T.u, attracted much media attention. Among the other noteworthy contestants were Alf Poier
Alf Poier
Alf Poier is an Austrian artist and stand-up comedian.Born in Judenburg in Styria, he started doing cabaret in 1995 in Graz, and has won several prizes for his work, including the Salzburger Stier in 1998, the Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis, Prix Phanteon and RTL Comedy Award in 2000 and the Austrian...
, an outspoken comedian representing Austria; Ich Troje
Ich Troje
Ich Troje is a Polish pop band.Former members are Magdalena Pokora , Justyna Majkowska , Elli Mücke and Ania Wisniewska ....
, who attempted to represent two countries; and F.L.Y.
F.L.Y.
F.L.Y. was a Latvian band, created with purpose to participate in Eurovision Song Contest.At a party following the national finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2002, Mārtiņš Freimanis came up with an idea for the following year’s contest....
, a trio of musical veterans representing the host country. Jemini
Jemini
Jemini were a British pop group from Liverpool, best known for scoring "nul points" and finishing in last place with their song "Cry Baby" at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest in Latvia.-Early career:...
, representing the United Kingdom, finished the contest without a point, the first British entrants to do so.
This was also the fifth time in the history of the contest (including 1956) that no returning artists or acts were featured. All artists taking part in the contest this year did it for the first time.
Hosting
Latvia won the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest on 25 May 2002, represented by Marie N performing "I WannaI Wanna
"I Wanna" is the opening track from The All-American Rejects' 2008 album, When the World Comes Down. It was released as their second single in international markets, and was released as their third single in the United States on July 27, 2009...
". It was Latvia's first victory, and meant that LTV
Latvijas Televizija
Latvijas Televīzija is the state-owned public service broadcasting television company in Latvia.The company is funded by grant-in-aid from the Latvian government , and gaining the rest from showing television commercials . Although moving LTV to licence fee funding has long been debated, this has...
would host the 2003 contest. Arvids Babris, head of the Latvian delegation at the 2002 contest, said that although LTV's funds were limited, the broadcaster would host the 2003 event; later, the Latvian government pledged €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
2.3 million for the event. The Skonto Hall
Skonto Hall
Skonto Hall is an arena in Riga, Latvia. It is primarily used for different exhibitions. Skonto Hall holds 6,500 people and was renovated in 2006, so that it could be used as one of the venues for the 2006 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships. The hall also played host to the 2003 Eurovision...
in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, which seats 5,000 spectators, was chosen to host the contest. Babris was appointed as its producer. In December 2002, LTV announced that the contest would be hosted by Marie N, alongside Renars Kaupers
Renars Kaupers
Renārs Kaupers, artistic name Reynard Cowper is a Latvian pop singer and songwriter.He is the lead singer of the Latvian pop/rock band Brainstorm, which came third at the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with their song "My Star"...
, the lead singer of Brainstorm
Brainstorm (Latvian band)
Brainstorm is a Latvian pop/rock band. The band became popular internationally in 2000, when they finished third in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with the song "My Star"....
, the Latvian representatives at the 2000 contest. In March 2003, Danish newspaper B.T.
B.T. (tabloid)
B.T. is a Danish tabloid newspaper which offers general news about various subjects such as sports, politics and current affairs.A large, red neon sign displays the B.T. logo at the square Trianglen in Østerbro, a part of Copenhagen....
reported that the contest could be moved as it was running behind schedule; the general director of LTV, Uldis Grava, replied, saying: "We [Grava, Bjorn Erichsen of Danmarks Radio
Danmarks Radio
DR – officially rendered into English as the Danish Broadcasting Corporation – is Denmark's national broadcasting corporation. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is today Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enterprise...
and Werner Rumphorst of the EBU
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 74 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 49 associate broadcasters from a further 25...
] talked about co-operation and about programme exchanges, and neither of them said a single word that would indicate any doubts, lack of trust or accusation." Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Television
Sveriges Television
Sveriges Television AB , Sweden's Television, is a national television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by a compulsory fee to be paid by all television owners...
produced the contest for the second year running (with Sven Stojanovic
Sven Stojanovic
Sven Nikola Stojanović is a Swedish director of Serbian origin mostly involved with Swedish TV productions, notably Melodifestivalen....
as director), and Swedish lighting company Spectra+, having supplied the 2000 and 2002 contests, were involved for the third time. The contest's tagline was "Magical Rendez-vous". An official CD of the contest was released, on the EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
/CMC
CMC International
CMC International was an American independent record label founded by Tom Lipsky in 1991, focused mainly on classic rock, and classic heavy metal. The label was the haven of many hard rock, arena rock, glam metal and AOR artists in the period when all the majors were investing all their financial...
label.
Participation
Twenty-four countries participated in the 2002 contest in TallinnTallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
; of these, fourteen were expected to compete in 2003. The bottom ten in Tallinn would be relegated, to allow countries to compete for the first time. In reality, only five countries were relegated—nineteen countries that entered in 2002 competed in Riga. Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
were forced to sit out the contest. The nineteen qualifiers were joined by the six countries that had sat out the 2002 contest: Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. The twenty-sixth contestant was Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, making its debut at the contest. Originally, Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro was a country in southeastern Europe, formed from two former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia : Serbia and Montenegro. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was established in 1992 as a federation called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
, Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
and Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
had planned 2003 debuts, but the EBU's late changes to the relegation procedure meant that they could not compete. All three nations made their debuts in 2004. RTBF
RTBF
Radio Télévision Belge Francophone is the public broadcasting organization of the French Community of Belgium, the southern, French-speaking part of Belgium...
was the Belgian broadcaster at the forty-eighth contest, marking the first Walloon
Walloon Region
The Walloon Region, commonly called Wallonia, is one of the three federal Regions of Belgium, and its capital is Namur. It comprises, as defined by Article 5 of the Constitution of Belgium, the provinces of Walloon Brabant, Hainaut, Liège, Luxembourg and Namur...
entry since 2000. Twenty-six entries was the highest number in the contest's history at that point; it remains the most to have competed in a Eurovision final. The draw for the running order took place in December 2002 in Riga: Iceland would open the contest and Slovenia would complete it.
National selections
Austria, having failed to finish in the top five at Eurovision since 1989, selected comedian Alf PoierAlf Poier
Alf Poier is an Austrian artist and stand-up comedian.Born in Judenburg in Styria, he started doing cabaret in 1995 in Graz, and has won several prizes for his work, including the Salzburger Stier in 1998, the Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis, Prix Phanteon and RTL Comedy Award in 2000 and the Austrian...
to represent them in a televised national final on 14 March 2003. Poier beat former Eurovision contestant Petra Frey
Petra Frey
Petra Frey is an Austrian singer, born on 27 June 1978 in Wattens. She has released twelve studio albums and five compilation albums and participated in the Eurovision Song Contest.-Biography:Frey released her debut album, Bloss Träume im Kopf in 1993...
into second place. He described his song, "Weil der Mensch zählt
Weil Der Mensch Zählt
"Weil der Mensch zählt" was the Austrian representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed in German as well as Steiermarkish by Alf Poier....
" ("Because people matter"), as "a hymn to individualism and against collectivism". Ireland, back from relegation, used a reality series, You're A Star
You're A Star
You're a Star was a singing contest in Ireland,similar to th X Factor in the United Kingdom and American Idol in the USA created by Screentime ShinAwiL and Radio Telefís Éireann. It was shown weekly on RTÉ One over the winter months of each year...
, to select their entry. The winner was Mickey Harte
Mickey Joe Harte
Michael Joseph Harte or now simply known as Mickey Harte is a professional singer-songwriter from Lifford, County Donegal, Ireland. He was chosen to represent Ireland in the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest with "We've Got the World"...
; his Eurovision song reached number one on the Irish Singles Chart
Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...
. Spain also used a reality series; Beth
Beth (musician)
Elisabeth Rodergas Cols, better known as Beth, is a popular singer in Spain. In 2003 she competed in the musical talent show Operación Triunfo. She finished third, but in a separate vote was selected by the audience to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003...
, a runner-up of Operación Triunfo
Operación Triunfo
Operación Triunfo is a reality-show talent contest which first aired on Spain's TVE network in 2001. A kind of cross between Pop Idol, Voces en Función, Star Search, and Big Brother, the show aimed to find the country's next solo singing sensation, putting a selection of hopefuls through their...
was chosen. Ich Troje
Ich Troje
Ich Troje is a Polish pop band.Former members are Magdalena Pokora , Justyna Majkowska , Elli Mücke and Ania Wisniewska ....
tried to represent Poland and Germany with different songs: they won the Polish final on 27 January with "Keine Grenzen-Żadnych granic
Keine Grenzen-Zadnych granic
"Keine Grenzen-Żadnych granic" was the Polish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed in German, Polish and Russian by Ich Troje....
" ("No borders"; performed in Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
), but lost in Germany. The German contestant was Lou
Lou (singer)
Lou is the stage name of Louise Hoffner , a German pop singer. She was the sixth child of her parents and was immediately surrounded by her elder brothers and sisters...
. A member of the Belgian group, Urban Trad
Urban Trad
Urban Trad is a Belgian folk music group, consisting of both Flemish and French speaking people and a close connection with Galicia.-Members:*Yves Barbieux: flutes and Galician bagpipe*Veronica Codesal: vocals*Soetkin Collier: vocals...
, was expelled from the group after it was reported that she had been a member of a far-right political group—this was later denied by the group as the reason for her absence.
In Latvia, three former Eirodziesma
Eirodziesma
Eirodziesma is Latvia's national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. The show is produced by Latvijas Televīzija.-Eirodziesma Top 3:-See also:*Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest*2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004...
contestants won the right to represent the host country as F.L.Y.
F.L.Y.
F.L.Y. was a Latvian band, created with purpose to participate in Eurovision Song Contest.At a party following the national finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2002, Mārtiņš Freimanis came up with an idea for the following year’s contest....
, performing "Hello From Mars
Hello From Mars
"Hello From Mars" was the Latvian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed in English by F.L.Y.The lyrics are notably obscure, however the song appears to be a love song in which a pair of lovers reminisce about the way in which they met...
". Sweden's Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen is an annual music competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio . It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1959...
took place on 15 March at the Globen in Stockholm; Fame
Fame (duo)
Fame is a Swedish duo consisting of Jessica Andersson and Magnus Bäcklund . They met each other at the televised arts school and contest Fame Factory, which aired in autumn 2002. Bäcklund was the overall winner, while Andersson dropped out to give birth to her son Liam...
won the right to represent the country in Riga. Estonia chose Claire's Birthday as their representative—the band later changed their name to Ruffus
Ruffus
Ruffus was a britpop band from Estonia that was originally known as Claire's Birthday. They represented their country in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003.-Members:...
. Among the contestants to be chosen internally (without a televised selection) were t.A.T.u from Russia: the self-styled "lesbian" duo had already scored a chart-topper throughout Europe with "All the Things She Said
All the Things She Said
"All the Things She Said" is a song by Russian recording duo t.A.T.u., which was for their first English-language studio album 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane . The song was written by Sergio Galoyan, Trevor Horn, Martin Kierszenbaum, Elena Kiper and Valeriy Polienko, while produced by Horn...
", and quickly became favourites to win the contest.
Twelve languages were represented at the contest: eleven real and one constructed
Constructed language
A planned or constructed language—known colloquially as a conlang—is a language whose phonology, grammar, and/or vocabulary has been consciously devised by an individual or group, instead of having evolved naturally...
. Belgium's "Sanomi
Sanomi
"Sanomi" was the Belgian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, which ranked second in the Contest, performed in a constructed language by the six-piece band Urban Trad....
" was described by its composer as "a danceable folk pearl sung in an imaginary and thus universal language". Most of the entries included lyrics in English.
"Eurovision Week"
Full preparations for the 2003 contest began on 18 May 2003 at the Skonto Hall. There were rehearsals, press conferences and participants were also involved in an Internet chat. The first performer to rehearse was Birgitta HaukdalBirgitta Haukdal
Birgitta Haukdal Brynjarsdóttir , also known by her mononym Birgitta, is an Icelandic singer. She rose to domestic media prominence as the lead singer of pop band Írafár...
from Iceland, on 19 May; she was also first at the Press Centre and on the web chat. t. A.T.u.'s first rehearsal dominated proceedings on 20 May—the band were supposed to rehearse the day before, but had turned up a day late, claiming that Yulia Volkova was suffering from a sore throat. The group were booed by journalists at the Press Centre. Sarah Yuen from the EBU said "They are the bad girls of pop…we shouldn’t have expected them to come here and be nice and pleasant." With the entrants' press conferences and web chats completed, two dress rehearsals were held on 23 May, in front of an estimated 12,000 people. The organisers of the contest held a press conference; one of the issues complained about was the lack of invitations for the after-party. The final dress rehearsal was held on 24 May, the day of the contest. A simulation of the voting procedure was also held, in which the presenters linked up with all twenty-six countries by satellite for the first time.
On the day of the contest, bookmaker William Hill
William Hill (bookmaker)
William Hill plc is one of the largest bookmakers in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters is in the north London suburb of Wood Green and in Leeds, West Yorkshire. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...
's odds placed Russia as joint favourites to win the contest with Spain. Ireland, Slovenia, Estonia, Norway and Iceland were behind in third, fourth and joint fifth respectively. Austria, at 100-1, were favourites to finish last.
Show
The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 began at 22:00 EESTEastern European Summer Time
Eastern European Summer Time is one of the names of UTC+3 time zone, 3 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a summer daylight saving time in some European, North African, and Middle Eastern countries...
(19:00 UTC) on Saturday 24 May 2003. Among the 6,000 spectators were several Latvian government ministers. In between the entries, "touristy" film clips of the contestants were shown. Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
spoke to the presenters from Vienna and one astronaut and one cosmonaut—Ed Lu
Ed Lu
Edward Tsang "Ed" Lu , is an American physicist and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions and an extended stay aboard the International Space Station.-Education:...
and Yuri Malenchenko
Yuri Malenchenko
Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko is a Ukrainian-Russian cosmonaut. Malenchenko became the first person to marry in space, on 10 August 2003, when he married Ekaterina Dmitrieva, who was in Texas, while he was 240 miles over New Zealand, on the International Space Station...
—gave their greetings from the International Space Station. Alf Poier performed "Weil der Mensch zählt" flanked by stuffed farmyard animals. The Turkish entry, "Everyway That I Can
Everyway That I Can
"Everyway That I Can" is the winning song of the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest sung in English by Sertab Erener.-Everyway That I Can:"Everyway That I Can" was written by Demir Demirkan in early 2003 and produced and arranged by Ozan Çolakoğlu, famous for his works with pop idol Tarkan...
" performed by Sertab Erener
Sertab Erener
Sertab Erener is a Turkish pop music singer and also a cross-over soprano with a vocal range that extends to high F. She is one of the most successful female Turkish pop singers in her homeland, and is considered one of the divas of Turkish pop music...
, featured a "mix of rhythm and belly dance". Romania's Nicola
Nicoleta Alexandru
Nicoleta Alexandru , whose stage name is Nicola, is a Romanian singer, best known for representing her country at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest.-Biography:...
was joined by dancers holding cardboard records. By contrast, Jostein Hasselgård
Jostein Hasselgård
Jostein Hasselgård was the winner of Norway's national pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest and he won Norway a fourth place in the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the ballad "I'm Not Afraid To Move On"....
performed the Norwegian entry at a piano, without any movement from his backing singers. Malta's performer, Lynn Chircop
Lynn Chircop
Lynn Chircop is a Maltese singer and television presenter, who won the Maltese national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song To Dream Again. An unfortunate outing at the contest saw her placing 25th in the Eurovision contest, finishing second from last.She started as a...
, threw a flower into the audience during her performance of "To Dream Again
To Dream Again
"To Dream Again" was the Maltese entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed in English by Lynn.The song is a moderately up-tempo number, with Lynn telling her lover that he "made me dream again" and begging him not to let her "fall apart" by breaking her heart.Somewhat unusually among...
". Before the voting began, short clips of the songs were played, in reverse order, beginning with the final song. The interval act featured Renars Kaupers' band, Brainstorm, and Marie N performing in a filmed sequence.
Voting
The EBU reintroduced televoting as an obligatory voting mode in all participating countries, which awarded 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 points to their ten favourite songs, in ascending order. Countries voted in the same order as they had performed. Bosnia & Herzegovina and Russia used juries, due to the countries' poor telecommunications. Poland's voting was done entirely by text message; all other countries planned to use a televote. This contest was also the first to introduce a computer-generated scoreboard which rearranged itself in order as the points were awarded.Among the spokespeople were three former Eurovision contestants: Marlayne
Marlayne
Marlayne is a Dutch singer and presenter, best known for her participation in the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest.- Eurovision Song Contest :...
for the Netherlands in 1999, Ines
Eda-Ines Etti
Eda-Ines Etti is a singer and celebrity in Estonia, also known for her participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000. Under her abbreviated stage name Ines, she was Estonia's representative for the contest in Sweden. Her song "Once in a Lifetime" received fourth place in the contest...
for Estonia in 2000, and Sandrine François
Sandrine François
Sandrine François is a French singer who represented France at the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest.-Biography:Whitney Houston, Tracy Chapman and Aretha Franklin were her early inspirations. She was discovered singing in a pub and invited to sing on the television show of Mireille Dumas...
for France in 2002. Kattis Ahlström
Kattis Ahlström
Kattis Ahlström , born 9 June 1966 in Göteborg, is a Swedish journalist, and TV-presenter. She is a sister of Gabriella Ahlström....
, co-host of the 2000 contest, announced the Swedish results.
Iceland were first to vote: they awarded their twelve points to Norway, giving Jostein Hasselgård an early lead. Austria were next, awarding one point to Germany and twelve points to Turkey. The jury in Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
also awarded their twelve points to Turkey. As Bosnian spokesperson Ana Vilincia announced the votes, she mistakenly awarded five points to Croatia, rather than Austria. As a result, she had to announce the results again from the beginning. Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
, meanwhile, jokingly remarked "That's OK, you're fired!" For the first time, Cyprus managed to award points to Turkey (eight, in fact) and, as usual, awarded twelve points to Greece, amidst booing in the hall—Greece reciprocated. The Russian jury awarded twelve points to Romania. Ukraine, making their debut, gave their twelve points to Russia. The host country's top score also went to t.A.T.u.
T.A.T.u.
t.A.T.u. was a duo formed in Moscow, Russia in 1999 by Ivan Shapovalov. The group consisted of Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova.Their debut single "Ya Soshla S Uma" was released in December 2000. The single had a huge success in Russia and Eastern Europe...
; Russia picked up five twelve-point scores in total.
With just Slovenia left to vote, Belgium's Urban Trad
Urban Trad
Urban Trad is a Belgian folk music group, consisting of both Flemish and French speaking people and a close connection with Galicia.-Members:*Yves Barbieux: flutes and Galician bagpipe*Veronica Codesal: vocals*Soetkin Collier: vocals...
led the contest with 162 points with their song "Sanomi
Sanomi
"Sanomi" was the Belgian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, which ranked second in the Contest, performed in a constructed language by the six-piece band Urban Trad....
" sung in an imaginary language, with Turkey second with 157 and Russia third with 152. Three points were awarded to Belgium, putting them on 165 and leaving Russia out of the running. Turkey won ten points, giving them a nail-biting victory with 167 points. The final twelve points went to Russia, leaving them on 164. Norway were fourth and Sweden fifth, with the United Kingdom last, without a point.
Implications
Turkey's victory meant that it would stage the 2004 contestEurovision Song Contest 2004
The Eurovision Song Contest 2004, was the 49th Contest and it was held in the Abdi İpekçi Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. This was the first occasion in which the contest was held in Turkey after they had won the competition in 2003 with Sertab Erener singing "Everyway That I Can"...
. During the week of the contest, the EBU unveiled a two-night system for the contest in 2004: a semi-final would be held before a grand final. The "Big Four", along with the top ten from the 2003 contest, would automatically qualify for the 2004 final. The fourteen eventual qualifiers were Turkey, Belgium, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Poland, Spain, Iceland, Romania, Ireland, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. All the other countries would compete in the semi.
After the contest, Russia's Channel One
Channel One (Russia)
Channel One is the first television channel to broadcast in the Soviet Union. The channel was renamed Ostankino Channel 1 in 1991, after the Soviet Union broke up and the Russian SFSR became the Russian Federation. According to a recent government publication, the Russian government controls 51%...
complained that Irish broadcaster RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
had used a back-up jury, and that it had cost them victory. A statement by Channel One said "Considering [the] insignificant difference in points between the first and third places, there are grounds to believe that the contest results could be much different for Russia." RTÉ responded by publishing the unused results of the Irish televote, which showed that had the jury not been used, Turkey would still have won, and Ireland's voting "partners", the United Kingdom, would still have no points.
The United Kingdom's last-place finish was greeted with much consternation in the British media. Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
, long-time commentator on the contest for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, said that the UK was suffering from "post-Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
backlash". Chris Cromby from Jemini said "The monitors were off. Maybe it was sabotage, but we couldn't hear anything...we used the floor monitors, the others used their own." The UK's result was their worst-ever at Eurovision; by contrast, Turkey's win was their first. Alf Poier's sixth place was Austria's best result for fourteen years, Poland's seventh place was their best in nine, and Romania's tenth place was one place behind their best-ever. Belgium's second place was their first top-five finish in seventeen years, but Latvia's third-from-bottom finish was their worst result in four attempts; it was also the worst placing for a host country since 1992.
Results
| Draw | Country | Language | Artist | Song | English translation | Place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Birgitta Haukdal Birgitta Haukdal Birgitta Haukdal Brynjarsdóttir , also known by her mononym Birgitta, is an Icelandic singer. She rose to domestic media prominence as the lead singer of pop band Írafár... |
"Open Your Heart" | – | 8 | 81 | |
| 02 | German German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.... , Styrian |
Alf Poier Alf Poier Alf Poier is an Austrian artist and stand-up comedian.Born in Judenburg in Styria, he started doing cabaret in 1995 in Graz, and has won several prizes for his work, including the Salzburger Stier in 1998, the Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis, Prix Phanteon and RTL Comedy Award in 2000 and the Austrian... |
"Weil der Mensch zählt Weil Der Mensch Zählt "Weil der Mensch zählt" was the Austrian representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed in German as well as Steiermarkish by Alf Poier.... " |
Because the human matters | 6 | 101 | |
| 03 | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Mickey Joe Harte Mickey Joe Harte Michael Joseph Harte or now simply known as Mickey Harte is a professional singer-songwriter from Lifford, County Donegal, Ireland. He was chosen to represent Ireland in the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest with "We've Got the World"... |
"We've Got the World We've Got The World "We've Got the World" was the Irish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed in English by Mickey Harte.The song is a moderately up-tempo number, with Harte singing to his lover. He tells her that "We've got the world tonight/Let's hold on together", and explains that she is the reason... " |
– | 11 | 53 | |
| 04 | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Sertab Erener Sertab Erener Sertab Erener is a Turkish pop music singer and also a cross-over soprano with a vocal range that extends to high F. She is one of the most successful female Turkish pop singers in her homeland, and is considered one of the divas of Turkish pop music... |
"Everyway That I Can Everyway That I Can "Everyway That I Can" is the winning song of the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest sung in English by Sertab Erener.-Everyway That I Can:"Everyway That I Can" was written by Demir Demirkan in early 2003 and produced and arranged by Ozan Çolakoğlu, famous for his works with pop idol Tarkan... " |
- | 1 | 167 | |
| 05 | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Lynn Chircop Lynn Chircop Lynn Chircop is a Maltese singer and television presenter, who won the Maltese national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song To Dream Again. An unfortunate outing at the contest saw her placing 25th in the Eurovision contest, finishing second from last.She started as a... |
"To Dream Again To Dream Again "To Dream Again" was the Maltese entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed in English by Lynn.The song is a moderately up-tempo number, with Lynn telling her lover that he "made me dream again" and begging him not to let her "fall apart" by breaking her heart.Somewhat unusually among... " |
– | 25 | 4 | |
| 06 | Bosnian Bosnian language Bosnian is a South Slavic language, spoken by Bosniaks. As a standardized form of the Shtokavian dialect, it is one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina.... , English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Mija Martina Mija Martina Mija Martina is a singer from Bosnia and Herzegovina. She represented Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "Ne brini". She also provided the results of the Bosnia and Herzegovina televote in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004.She was born to Bosnian Croat... |
"Ne brini Ne Brini "Ne brini" was the Bosnian and Herzegovinian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed in Croatian and English by Mija Martina.... " |
Don't worry | 16 | 27 | |
| 07 | Portuguese Portuguese language Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095... , English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Rita Guerra Rita Guerra Rita Guerra is a Portuguese singer.-Biography: Born and raised in Lisbon, she has been very successful in her home country of Portugal. She has long competed in the Portuguese national pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. She first participated in 1992, making it to the national final... |
"Deixa-me sonhar Deixa-me sonhar (só mais uma vez) "Deixa-me sonhar " was the Portuguese entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 in Riga, Latvia, performed in Portuguese and English by Rita Guerra. The song was composed by Paulo Martins... " |
Let me dream | 22 | 13 | |
| 08 | Croatian Croatian language Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries... , English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Claudia Beni Claudia Beni Claudia Beni is a pop music singer from Croatia.At the time when she first participated in Dora, the national finals for the Eurovision Song Contest, Claudia was only 12, but she was already an experienced band singer having performed all over Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and... |
"Više nisam tvoja Više nisam tvoja "Više nisam tvoja" was the Croatian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed bilingually in Croatian and English by Claudia Beni although there is not a bilingual version on record... " |
I'm not yours anymore | 15 | 29 | |
| 09 | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Stelios Konstantas Stelios Konstantas Stylianos Konstantas is a Cypriot-born singer. He participated in two Cypriot national finals for the Eurovision Song Contest, coming second in 1997 with I grammitis ntropi, and fourth in 1999 with Methysmeno feggari. In 2003, he performed the song "Feeling Alive" as the Cypriot entry for the... |
"Feeling Alive Feeling Alive "Feeling Alive" was the Cypriot entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed in English by Stelios Konstantas.The song was performed ninth on the night . At the close of voting, it had received 15 points, placing 20th in a field of 26... " |
– | 20 | 15 | |
| 10 | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Lou Lou (singer) Lou is the stage name of Louise Hoffner , a German pop singer. She was the sixth child of her parents and was immediately surrounded by her elder brothers and sisters... |
"Let's Get Happy Let's Get Happy "Let's Get Happy" was the German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed in English by Lou.The song was performed tenth on the night, following Cyprus' Stelios Konstantas with "Feeling Alive" and preceding Russia's t.A.T.u... " |
– | 11 | 53 | |
| 11 | Russian Russian language Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics... |
t.A.T.u. T.A.T.u. t.A.T.u. was a duo formed in Moscow, Russia in 1999 by Ivan Shapovalov. The group consisted of Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova.Their debut single "Ya Soshla S Uma" was released in December 2000. The single had a huge success in Russia and Eastern Europe... |
"Ne ver', ne boysia" (Не верь, не бойся) |
Don't believe, don't be afraid | 3 | 164 | |
| 12 | Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the... |
Beth Beth (musician) Elisabeth Rodergas Cols, better known as Beth, is a popular singer in Spain. In 2003 she competed in the musical talent show Operación Triunfo. She finished third, but in a separate vote was selected by the audience to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003... |
"Dime Dime (song) "Dime" was the Spanish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed in Spanish by Beth.The song was performed twelfth on the night, following Russia's t.A.T.u... " |
Tell me | 8 | 81 | |
| 13 | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... , Hebrew Hebrew language Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such... |
Lior Narkis Lior Narkis Lior Narkis is a male Israeli singer. He was born to a mixed Iraqi and Serbian Jewish family.-Music career:... |
"Words for Love" | – | 19 | 17 | |
| 14 | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Esther Hart Esther Hart Esther Hart is a Dutch singer. She entered BBC TV's A Song for Europe contest in 2003 with the song "Wait For Moment". She withdrew from that contest as participating for two countries would not have been acceptable for both BBC and NOS... |
"One More Night" | – | 13 | 45 | |
| 15 | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Jemini Jemini Jemini were a British pop group from Liverpool, best known for scoring "nul points" and finishing in last place with their song "Cry Baby" at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest in Latvia.-Early career:... |
"Cry Baby Cry Baby (Jemini song) "Cry Baby", written and composed by Martin Isherwood, was the United Kingdom's entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, and was performed by the duo Jemini... " |
– | 26 | 0 | |
| 16 | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Oleksandr Ponomaryov Oleksandr Ponomaryov Oleksandr Ponomaryov born, August 9, 1973, Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine) is one of the most famous singers of Ukraine. He has been awarded the country’s "Singer of the Year" seven times.One of Oleksandr's early passions was boxing... |
"Hasta la Vista Hasta la Vista (Oleksandr Ponomaryov song) "Hasta la Vista" was the Ukrainian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, their debut entry, composed by Svika Pick and Mirit Shem Or and sung by Oleksandr Ponomaryov in English.... " |
– | 14 | 30 | |
| 17 | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Mando Mando (singer) Mando , born Adamantia Stamatopoulou , is a popular Greek singer. She was born in Piraeus on April 13 and raised in Athens by her jazz pianist father, Nikos Stamatopoulos and a classic soprano opera mother Mary Apergi. From a young age she began to develop her talent and interest in music, and was... |
"Never Let You Go Never Let You Go (Mando song) "Never Let You Go" was the Greek entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed by Mando entirely in English, the first time the Greek entry had not had any lyrics in Greek. The song was certified gold in Greece... " |
– | 17 | 25 | |
| 18 | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Jostein Hasselgård Jostein Hasselgård Jostein Hasselgård was the winner of Norway's national pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest and he won Norway a fourth place in the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the ballad "I'm Not Afraid To Move On".... |
"I'm Not Afraid To Move On I'm Not Afraid To Move On "I'm Not Afraid To Move On" was the Norwegian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed in English by Jostein Hasselgård.The song is a dramatic, piano-led ballad, with Hasselgård singing that he is "in love with a beautiful girl" and that that is all that matters - regardless of the... " |
– | 4 | 123 | |
| 19 | French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts... |
Louisa Baïleche Louisa Baileche Louisa Baileche is a singer, dancer and performer and has achieved success in a variety of artistic genres. She was born near Paris to an Italian mother and a Kabyle father.... |
"Monts et merveilles Monts Et Merveilles "Monts et merveilles" was the French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed in French by Louisa Baïleche.... " |
Mountains and wonders | 18 | 19 | |
| 20 | German German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.... , Polish Polish language Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries... , Russian Russian language Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics... |
Ich Troje Ich Troje Ich Troje is a Polish pop band.Former members are Magdalena Pokora , Justyna Majkowska , Elli Mücke and Ania Wisniewska .... |
"Keine Grenzen-Żadnych granic Keine Grenzen-Zadnych granic "Keine Grenzen-Żadnych granic" was the Polish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed in German, Polish and Russian by Ich Troje.... " |
No borders | 7 | 90 | |
| 21 | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
F.L.Y. F.L.Y. F.L.Y. was a Latvian band, created with purpose to participate in Eurovision Song Contest.At a party following the national finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2002, Mārtiņš Freimanis came up with an idea for the following year’s contest.... |
"Hello From Mars Hello From Mars "Hello From Mars" was the Latvian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed in English by F.L.Y.The lyrics are notably obscure, however the song appears to be a love song in which a pair of lovers reminisce about the way in which they met... " |
– | 24 | 5 | |
| 22 | Imaginary Constructed language A planned or constructed language—known colloquially as a conlang—is a language whose phonology, grammar, and/or vocabulary has been consciously devised by an individual or group, instead of having evolved naturally... |
Urban Trad Urban Trad Urban Trad is a Belgian folk music group, consisting of both Flemish and French speaking people and a close connection with Galicia.-Members:*Yves Barbieux: flutes and Galician bagpipe*Veronica Codesal: vocals*Soetkin Collier: vocals... |
"Sanomi Sanomi "Sanomi" was the Belgian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, which ranked second in the Contest, performed in a constructed language by the six-piece band Urban Trad.... " |
– | 2 | 165 | |
| 23 | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Ruffus Ruffus Ruffus was a britpop band from Estonia that was originally known as Claire's Birthday. They represented their country in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003.-Members:... |
"Eighties Coming Back Eighties Coming Back "Eighties Coming Back" was the Estonian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed in English by Ruffus.The song was performed twenty-third on the night... " |
– | 21 | 14 | |
| 24 | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Nicola Nicoleta Alexandru Nicoleta Alexandru , whose stage name is Nicola, is a Romanian singer, best known for representing her country at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest.-Biography:... |
"Don't Break My Heart" | – | 10 | 73 | |
| 25 | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Fame Fame (duo) Fame is a Swedish duo consisting of Jessica Andersson and Magnus Bäcklund . They met each other at the televised arts school and contest Fame Factory, which aired in autumn 2002. Bäcklund was the overall winner, while Andersson dropped out to give birth to her son Liam... |
"Give Me Your Love Give Me Your Love "Give Me Your Love" was the Swedish entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2003. The song was performed by Jessica Andersson and Magnus Bäcklund as 'Fame' and was composed by Carl Lösnitz and Calle Kindbom.... " |
– | 5 | 107 | |
| 26 | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Karmen Stavec Karmen Stavec Karmen Stavec is a Slovene musician and pop singer.-Early years:Karmen was born in West Berlin, at that time part of West Germany, to Slovene parents. After graduation she came to Domžale, Slovenia, where she joined the dance duo "4 Fun". She also began to study Germanic studies at the... |
"Nanana Nanana "Nanana" was the Slovene entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, sung by Karmen Stavec and performed in English.The song performed 26th on the night, following Sweden's Fame with "Give Me Your Love".At the close of voting had received 7 points, placing twenty-third in a field of twenty six... " |
– | 23 | 7 |
Score sheet
| Voting procedure used: Red: Televote. Blue: Jury. |
Televoting Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Iceland | 81 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Austria | 101 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 7 | ||||||||||
| Ireland | 53 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Turkey | 167 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 10 | ||||||
| Malta | 4 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 27 | 7 | 12 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portugal | 13 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Croatia | 29 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Cyprus | 15 | 2 | 1 | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Germany | 53 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||||||||||||||
| Russia | 164 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 12 | ||||
| Spain | 81 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Israel | 17 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Netherlands | 45 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United Kingdom | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ukraine | 30 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Greece | 25 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Norway | 123 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 12 | 5 | ||||||||
| France | 19 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Poland | 90 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Latvia | 5 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Belgium | 165 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 3 | |||||
| Estonia | 14 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Romania | 73 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Sweden | 107 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 6 | ||||||
| Slovenia | 7 | 4 | 3 |
12 points
Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:| N. | Recipient nation | Voting nation |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... |
Croatia Croatia Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ... , Estonia Estonia Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies... , Latvia Latvia Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden... , Slovenia Slovenia Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of... , Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia... |
| 4 | Turkey Turkey Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe... |
Austria Austria Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the... , Belgium Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... , Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the... , Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... |
| 3 | Belgium Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... |
France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... , Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... , Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... |
| Norway Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million... |
Iceland Iceland Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population... , Ireland Republic of Ireland Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,... , Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... |
|
| 2 | Iceland Iceland Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population... |
Malta Malta Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in... , Norway Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million... |
| Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... |
Israel Israel The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea... , Portugal Portugal Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the... |
|
| 1 | Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the... |
Turkey Turkey Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe... |
| Cyprus Cyprus Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the... |
Greece Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe.... |
|
| Greece Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe.... |
Cyprus Cyprus Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the... |
|
| Ireland Republic of Ireland Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,... |
United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
|
| Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... |
Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
|
| Romania Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea... |
Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... |
|
| Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... |
Romania Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea... |
Other involved countries
Serbia and Montenegro: After the breakup of Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was last participated in 1992Eurovision Song Contest 1992
The Eurovision Song Contest 1992 was the 37th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 9 May 1992 in Malmö, Sweden. The presenters were Lydia Cappolicchio and Harald Treutiger. Linda Martin, representing Ireland, was the winner of this Eurovision with the song Why Me?. The song was written by Johnny...
. Radio Television of Serbia
Radio Television of Serbia
Radio Television of Serbia or Serbian Broadcasting Corporation is the public broadcaster in Serbia. It broadcasts and produces a variety of news, drama, and sports programming through radio, television and the Internet. RTS is, since July 2001, a member of the European Broadcasting Union. RTS is...
broadcast the show. Originally, first time as Serbia and Montenegro had planned debuts, but the EBU's late changes to the relegation procedure meant that they could not compete. They made their debut next year
Commentators
- Gísli Marteinn Baldursson (Sjónvarpið) - Andi KnollAndi Knoll
Andreas Knoll is a Austrian Radio and television presenter.Since the 1999 Contest, Knoll following Ernst Grissemann has been the Austrian commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest and since 2002 Knoll has hosted the Austrian Heat for the Eurovision...
(ORF1) - Marty Whelan
Marty Whelan
Martin 'Marty' Whelan is a Jacob's Award-winning Irish radio and television personality currently working for Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Frequently seen and heard on RTÉ radio and television, he has presented a variety of shows...
(RTÉ One
RTÉ One
RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...
), Gerry Ryan
Gerry Ryan
Gerard "Gerry" Ryan was an Irish presenter of radio and television employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann...
(RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1 is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926...
) - Bülend Özveren
Bülend Özveren
Bülend Özveren is a Turkish television presenter and sport speaker. He completed his secondary education from Lycée Saint-Benoît and higher education from Galatasaray High School. He graduated from Istanbul University, faculty of Law. He started to work at TRT on 31 July 1965. For a long time he...
(TRT 1
TRT 1
TRT 1 is the first Turkish national television station. It launched on January 31 , 1968.-Introduction:TRT 1, the first television channel in Turkey, started their test transmissions on January 31, 1968, and commenced full national broadcasts in December 1971. It was the only channel in Turkey...
) - John Bundy
John Bundy
John Bundy is an American magician and magic consultant based in South Plainfield, New Jersey. He is owner of John Bundy Productions, a company that produces shows for theme parks and corporate events and provides technical advice for television, movies and stage shows. As a performer, Bundy...
- Dejan Kukrić (BHTV1) - Margarida Mercês de Mello (RTP1) - Danijela Trbović (HRT 2) - Evi Papamichail (RIK 1
Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation
The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation ) or CyBC is Cyprus's public broadcasting service, transmitting island-wide on four radio and two television channels. CyBC is a non-profit organization that utilises its entire income for the promotion of its main mission, which is the objective provision of...
) - Peter Urban
Peter Urban
Peter Urban is a German musician and radio host.Since the 1997 Contest, Urban following Jan Hofer has been the German commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest. Due to illness in 2009, Urban was unable to commentate on the 2009 Contest, with Tim Frühling filling in, however returning to...
(Das Erste
Das Erste
Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen , marketed as Das Erste , is the principal publicly owned television channel in Germany...
), Ina Müller & Steffi Neu (NDR Radio 2
Norddeutscher Rundfunk
Norddeutscher Rundfunk is a public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR transmits for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein...
/WDR 1LIVE
1LIVE
1LIVE is a radio network by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk public broadcasting corporation in Germany. It specialises in popular music aimed at the 14-39 age bracket. The average age of listeners is 34.- History :...
)
- Yuri Aksyuta & Yelena Batinova (Channel One
Channel One (Russia)
Channel One is the first television channel to broadcast in the Soviet Union. The channel was renamed Ostankino Channel 1 in 1991, after the Soviet Union broke up and the Russian SFSR became the Russian Federation. According to a recent government publication, the Russian government controls 51%...
) - José Luis Uribarri
José Luis Uribarri
José Luis Uribarri is a Spanish television presenter and director for TVE.Uribarri was born in Avila, after finishing school at Marist school in Palencia he went on to study law but left to work for Spanish television as a television announcer.He debut as a television presenter in 1958 and has...
(TVE1) - No commentator (First National Channel of Israel
Channel 1 (Israel)
Channel 1 is one of the oldest television channels in Israel and one of five terrestrial channels in the country...
) - Willem van Beusekom
Willem van Beusekom
Willem Jacobus Marius van Beusekom was a Dutch broadcaster and television presenter. He was also active as a radio DJ and especially enjoyed fame as a Dutch television commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest, which he did from 1987 to 2005. His last position until his death was that of NPS...
(Nederland 2
Nederland 2
Nederland 2 is a Dutch television channel, one of three alongside Nederland 1 and Nederland 3. It was established in October 1964 and tends to broadcast sports, light entertainment, news and current affairs programming....
), Wessel van Diepen
Wessel van Diepen
Wessel van Diepen , was a Dutch radio host for Radio 538 and is the most successful dance-pop music producer in Dutch history....
(Radio 3FM
3FM
3FM is a Dutch radio station on the NPO which broadcasts popular music. It can be compared with BBC Radio 1.-History:3FM was created as Hilversum 3 by minister Maarten Vrolijk on 11 October 1965, to counterbalance the popular offshore station Radio Veronica...
) - Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
(BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
), Ken Bruce
Ken Bruce
Kenneth Robertson Bruce is a British broadcaster known for his programme on BBC Radio 2, which is broadcast on weekdays from 9:30am until 12 noon.-Early life and career:...
(BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
) - Pavlo Shylko (DJ Pasha) (First National TV Channel) - Dafni Bokota
Dafni Bokota
Dafni Bokota was born in Koukaki, Athens, Greece in 1960. She is a singer, presenter and former spokesperson for the Greek national broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation ....
(ET1) - Jostein Pedersen
Jostein Pedersen
Jostein Pedersen is a Norwegian musical journalist and reporter, television commentator and "music intelligencia". He was the Norwegian commentator to the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994, and from 1996 to 2005. Since then he has covered the Song Contest on VG's web TV channel...
(NRK1
NRK1
NRK1 is the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation's main television channel. Test broadcasts started on 12 January 1954, regular test broadcasts started on 13 April 1958 and regular broadcasts started in 20 August 1960. It is Norway's oldest and largest television channel...
) - Laurent Ruquier
Laurent Ruquier
Laurent Ruquier, born February 24, 1963 in Le Havre , Normandy, France is a popular French journalist, satirical comedian, and TV and radio host. He is also a columnist, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and impresario.-Biography:...
, Isabelle Mergault (France 3
France 3
France 3 is the second largest French public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5, and France Ô....
) & André Torrent (France Bleu
France Bleu
France Bleu is a network of 43 local and regional radio stations in France. National programming from Paris is relayed by local and regional stations supplemented with local news and content. It is part of the public broadcaster Radio France...
) - Artur Orzech (TVP1) - Kārlis Streips (Latvijas Televīzija
Latvijas Televizija
Latvijas Televīzija is the state-owned public service broadcasting television company in Latvia.The company is funded by grant-in-aid from the Latvian government , and gaining the rest from showing television commercials . Although moving LTV to licence fee funding has long been debated, this has...
) - Jean-Pierre Hautier
Jean-Pierre Hautier
Jean-Pierre Hautier is a Belgian television presenter and broadcaster for RTBFHautier is known for his long time commentary for RTBF viewers on the Eurovision Song Contest which he has done since the 1994 Contest after the regular commentator Claude Delacroix got promoted to the head of Belgian...
(RTBF La Une
La Une
La Une is a Belgian national television channel, owned and operated by RTBF.- INR :The Institut National de Radiodiffusion began experimental television in Belgium on 2 June 1953, with the crowning of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom...
), André Vermeulen
André Vermeulen
André Leopold Adiel Vermeulen is a Belgian/Flemish journalist and television personality for VRT.Since the 1991 Contest, Vermeulen following Luc Appermont has been the Flemish commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest...
& Anja Daems (VRT TV1
EEN
EEN may refer to:* Eastern Educational Television Network, the original name for American Public Television.* Elemental Energy, a Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game booster pack.* Emerald Energy, an oil company...
) - Marko Reikop (Eesti Televisioon
Eesti Televisioon
Eesti Televisioon is the national public television station of Estonia. It made its first broadcast on 19 July 1955.The bulk of ETV's funding comes from government grant-in-aid, around 15% of which is in turn funded by the fees paid by Estonian commercial broadcasters in return for their...
)
- Andreea Demirgian(TVR1) - Pekka Heino (SVT1
SVT1
SVT1 is the primary television station of the Swedish public service broadcaster Sveriges Television in Sweden.-History:The channel began broadcasting in 1956 and was known as Radiotjänst TV, A year later, it was renamed Sveriges Radio TV. In 1969, the second television station TV2 was launched and...
) - Andrea F (SLO1
Radiotelevizija Slovenija
Radiotelevizija Slovenija – usually abbreviated to RTV Slovenija – is Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization. Based in the country's capital, Ljubljana, it has regional broadcasting centres in Koper and Maribor and correspondents around Slovenia, Europe and the world...
) (Non-participating) - Meri Picart & Albert Roig (La Tele
TVA (Andorra)
ATV , occasionally known as La Tele is a television channel in the Principality of Andorra.It is owned by RTVA and the Andorran government....
) (Non-participating) - Jørgen de Mylius
Jørgen de Mylius
Jørgen de Mylius is a Danish radio and TV personality that is best known for his work in connection with the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix as a host and commentator...
(DR2
DR2
DR2 is a Danish television station. It is part of Danmarks Radio, the public service broadcasting company of Denmark.It was launched in 1996 as a satellite-/cable-only channel. This was highly controversial at the time, as it was considered close to a breach of public service principles that the...
) (Non-participating) - Maria Guzenina
Maria Guzenina
Maria Guzenina-Richardson is a Finnish politician who became a household name in Finland after working as a VJ for MTV Europe from 1994 until 1997. Guzenina-Richardson was elected to the Parliament of Finland in 2007 and in 2011. She was appointed Minister of Health and Social Services on 22 June...
& Asko Murtomäki (YLE TV2
YLE TV2
YLE TV2 is a Finnish television channel owned and operated by YLE.TV2 launched in 1964, and broadcasts public service programming, children's, youth, sport and music programmes.-Own Productions:* Ajankohtainen kakkonen* Akuutti* Jopet Show* Kummeli...
) (Non-participating) - Darius Užkuraitis (LTV2
LTV2 (Lithuania)
LTV2 is a Lithuanian television own and operated by LTV.On 2009 December 1 analog terrestrial broadcasting was shut.-External links:*...
) (Non-participating) - Milanka Rašik (MTV 3
MTV 3 (Macedonia)
MTV 3 is a Macedonian television channel owned and operated by Macedonian Radio-Television. The channel was formed in 1991 as an experimental channel, but now it broadcasts the activities from the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia....
) (Non-participating) - Mladen Popović & Duška Vučinić-Lučić (RTS2
Radio Television of Serbia
Radio Television of Serbia or Serbian Broadcasting Corporation is the public broadcaster in Serbia. It broadcasts and produces a variety of news, drama, and sports programming through radio, television and the Internet. RTS is, since July 2001, a member of the European Broadcasting Union. RTS is...
) (Non-participating) - Roman Kilchsperger (SF2) / Jean-Marc Richard (TSR2
TSR2
TSR2 may refer to:* the BAC TSR-2, British Aircraft Corporation Tactical Strike/Reconnaissance 2* TSR 2, Swiss public television channel owned by Télévision Suisse Romande...
) / Daniele Rauseo (TSI 1)
Spokespersons
- Eva María Jónsdóttir - Dodo Roščić - Pamela FloodPamela Flood
Pamela Ann Mary Flood is an Irish television presenter and former model from Tallaght, South Dublin. She received the Miss Ireland crown in 1993....
- Meltem Ersan Yazgan - Sharon Borg - Ana Vilenica - Helena Ramos - Davor Meštrović - Loukas Hamatsos
- Axel Bulthaupt
Axel Bulthaupt
Axel Bulthaupt is a German journalist, entertainer and television presenter.Bulthaupt studied history and literature in Osnabrück and Hamburg. He worked during his university studies for a newspaper. After Bulthaupt finished his studies he began at German TV-station NDR...
- Yana Churikova
Yana Churikova
Yana Churikova is a Russian journalist and television host who worked on MTV Russia before moving to Channel One, where she hosted seven seasons of the Star Factory show. She has also gained publicity across Europe and the world for presenting the results of the Russian televote at the Eurovision...
- Anne Igartiburu
Anne Igartiburu
Anne Igartiburu Verdes is a Spanish Basque television presenter and actress.She studied marketing and started working in the local television of Mondragón. She worked later in Euskal Telebista, Telecinco and TVE. She was married to the ballet dancer Igor Yebra, and she has a daughter.- External...
- Michal Zoharetz - Marlayne
Marlayne
Marlayne is a Dutch singer and presenter, best known for her participation in the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest.- Eurovision Song Contest :...
(Dutch representative in the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest) - Lorraine Kelly
Lorraine Kelly
Lorraine Kelly is a Scottish television presenter, journalist and actress, best known as a presenter for TV-am, and later GMTV and ITV Breakfast, on Lorraine.-Early life:...
- Lyudmyla Hariv - Alexis Kostalas - Roald Øyen
Roald Øyen
Roald Øyen is a Norwegian Television host and television personality for NRK. Øyen joined NRK in 1962 and hosted the programme Bit by bit, frame by frame and has commentated for Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1968, 1972 and 1984, in addition Øyen gave out the Norwegian Result in the...
(Norwegian commentator for the 1968, 1972
Eurovision Song Contest 1972
The Eurovision Song Contest 1972 was the 17th edition series. Monaco was unable to host this year's Eurovision as they were unable to provide the resources. They approached French TV, who agreed to produce the contest, but only if the contest was staged in France and not the planned Monte Carlo...
and 1984 Eurovision Song Contest)
- Sandrine François
Sandrine François
Sandrine François is a French singer who represented France at the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest.-Biography:Whitney Houston, Tracy Chapman and Aretha Franklin were her early inspirations. She was discovered singing in a pub and invited to sing on the television show of Mireille Dumas...
(French representative in the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest) - Maciej Orłoś - Ģirts Līcis
Ģirts Līcis
Ģirts Līcis is a Latvian entrepreneur mostly known as TV presenter of Gribi būt miljonārs?, the Latvian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? which he hosted from 2007 to 2008...
- Corinne Boulangier - Ines
Eda-Ines Etti
Eda-Ines Etti is a singer and celebrity in Estonia, also known for her participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000. Under her abbreviated stage name Ines, she was Estonia's representative for the contest in Sweden. Her song "Once in a Lifetime" received fourth place in the contest...
(Estonian representative in the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest) - Leonard Miron
Leonard Miron
Leonard Miron is a Romanian television and radio presenter and journalist and works for Romanian National Television . He was born in Galaţi, Romania but was brought up in Piteşti and graduated from the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy before starting a career in media...
- Kattis Ahlström
Kattis Ahlström
Kattis Ahlström , born 9 June 1966 in Göteborg, is a Swedish journalist, and TV-presenter. She is a sister of Gabriella Ahlström....
(Hostess of the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest) - Peter Poles
Peter Poles
Peter Poles is a Slovenian television personality, responsible for presenting the Slovenian televote results in various editions of Eurovision Song Contest. Poles first filled this role in 2003, returning in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009...