Eurovision Song Contest 1999

Eurovision Song Contest 1999
Dates
Final date 29 May 1999
Host
Venue Ussishkin Auditorium at the International Convention Center, Jerusalem, Israel
Presenter(s) Dafna Dekel
Yigal Ravid
Sigal Shahamon
Executive supervisor Christine Marchal-Ortiz
Host broadcaster Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA)
Interval act Dana International performing "Free"
Participants
Number of entries 23
Debuting countries None
Returning countries  Austria
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
 Denmark
 Iceland
 Lithuania
Withdrawing countries  Finland
 Greece
 Hungary
 Macedonia
 Romania
 Slovakia
  Switzerland
Participation map
  • Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest Morocco in the Eurovision Song Contest Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Slovakia in the Eurovision Song Contest Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest Macedonia in the Eurovision Song ContestA coloured map of the countries of Europe
         Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1999
Vote
Voting system Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 points to their 10 favourite songs
Nul points None
Winning song  Sweden
"Take Me to Your Heaven"
Eurovision Song Contest
◄1998 • 1999 • 2000►

The Eurovision Song Contest 1999 was the 44th Eurovision Song Contest, held on 29 May 1999 in Jerusalem, Israel after Dana International won the contest the previous year in the United Kingdom. The venue for the contest was the Ussishkin Auditorium at the International Convention Center,the same place that hosted the 1979 contest. Television news anchor Yigal Ravid, singer and 1992 contestant Dafna Dekel and model/actress Sigal Shahamon were the show's hosts, and it was the first time that three presenters were used to host the Contest. Israel's two previous winners, Izhar Cohen, who won in 1978 with "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" and Milk and Honey's Gali Atari who won it the next year with "Hallelujah" attended as spectators. The winner of the Contest was Charlotte Nilsson, representing Sweden with "Take Me to Your Heaven", which scored 163 points. This was Sweden's fourth win in the Contest and the second in the 1990s (after Carola's win for Sweden in 1991).

Location

The venue of the contest, International Convention Center in Jerusalem

In the run-up to the Contest, many speculated that it would not be held in Israel, but would be moved to either Malta or the United Kingdom (the countries that completed the top 3 of the 1998 Contest). This came about after major concerns over funding for the event from the Israeli government arose, alongside the opposition from Orthodox Jews that they would attempt to stop the Contest from coming to Israel after Dana International won the previous year's Contest. This, however, provided no hindrance for IBA or to the organising team of the event, and the International Convention Center in Jerusalem was selected as the venue for the 44th Contest.[1]

Format

Long-standing rules in place for decades were abolished during this Contest: rules that each country had to sing in one of their national languages was abolished for the first time since 1977. A majority of the participating countries, fourteen out of twenty-three, chose to sing entirely or partly in English and only eight entirely in their respective national languages; Lithuania, Spain, Croatia, Poland, France, Cyprus, Portugal and Turkey. Furthermore, live music became optional for the first time in the Contest's history. IBA took advantage of this and decided to drop the orchestra from the Contest as a way to conserve money for the show. This meant that for the first time all entries used backing track during their performances.[2] This caused controversy for Eurovision traditionalists, with three-time winner Johnny Logan criticising the move, describing the event now as "karaoke".[1]

It was announced in 1999 that, as of the 2000 Contest, the four biggest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) – Germany, Spain, France and the United Kingdom – would all be given automatic entry into the Contest, regardless of their average scores over the past five years.[1][2]

Latvia had attempted to participate in the Contest for the first time, but withdrew at a late stage. This gave Hungary a chance to enter the Contest; however, Magyar Televízió decided not to take part. This allowed Portugal to compete as the 23rd country.[2]

Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark and Iceland returned to the Contest after being relegated from competing in 1998. Lithuania also returned to the Contest for the first time in five years. The Lithuanian delegation had had budget problems to contend with, and so the EBU allowed the Lithuanians to arrive in Israel a day later than everyone else. The first delegation on the other hand to walk the Holy Land were Estonia.[2]

After being relegated from the 1998 Contest, Russia's Channel One had decided not to broadcast that year's contest, in order to allow for a strong comeback in Israel. However, as only countries which had broadcast the previous year's contest were allowed to enter the next year's contest, Russia was forced to miss another year. They were joined by Finland, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia and Switzerland; the countries with the lowest average scores over the previous five years.

The favourites to win the Contest came from Iceland's Selma with "All Out of Luck", and Cyprus's Marlain with "Tha 'Ne Erotas", after an internet poll by fans. But, while Iceland finished second to Sweden (the country's best showing in the contest), Cyprus failed to inspire televotes, finishing second last with only two points, both from the United Kingdom.[1][2]

Incidents

A number of controversies occurred before the Contest. Two songs selected to compete in Israel were found to be ineligible: Bosnia and Herzegovina's Hari Mata Hari were disqualified after their entry was discovered to have been released in Finland some years previously; Germany's Corinna May was also disqualified after her song was revealed to have been released in 1997 by a different singer.[1][3] Both artists would eventually represent their countries in Eurovision, in 2006 and 2002 respectively.

Croatia's entry attracted objections from the Norwegian delegation, due to synthesised male vocals being used on the backing track of Doris Dragović's entry. The EBU decided to reduce the country's score by a third for the purpose of calculating its five-year average to determine participation in future contests, though it was decided to leave its placement in the 1999 result unaffected.[1][2]

The interval act was provided by Dana International, who performed a cover of the Stevie Wonder song "Free", which caused some controversy in Israel due to the song's lyrics. Dana International also appeared at the end of the show, handing the winning trophy to Nilsson. After pretending that the trophy was too heavy to lift, she fell to the stage, bringing down the winning composers with her.[1][2] The show finished with the three presenters inviting everyone on stage to sing a rendition of the English version of "Hallelujah", the Israeli winner from the 1979 Contest, as a tribute to the victims of the Balkan War, who were unable to view the contest after bombings destroyed television transmitters.[1]

Returning artists

Artist Country Previous Year(s)
Doris Dragović  Croatia 1986 (for Yugoslavia)
Darja Švajger  Slovenia 1995

Results

Draw Country Language[4] Artist Song English translation Place Points
01  Lithuania Samogitian Aistė "Strazdas" The song thrush 20 13
02  Belgium English Vanessa Chinitor "Like the Wind" — 12 38
03  Spain Spanish Lydia "No quiero escuchar" I don't want to listen 23 1
04  Croatia Croatian Doris Dragović "Marija Magdalena" Mary Magdalene 4 118
05  United Kingdom English Precious "Say It Again" — 12 38
06  Slovenia English Darja Švajger "For a Thousand Years" — 11 50
07  Turkey Turkish Tuğba Önal & Grup Mistik "Dön Artık" Come back 16 21
08  Norway English Stig Van Eijk "Living My Life Without You" — 14 35
09  Denmark English Trine Jepsen & Michael Teschl "This Time I Mean It" — 8 71
10  France French Nayah "Je veux donner ma voix" I want to give my voice 19 14
11  Netherlands English Marlayne "One Good Reason" — 8 71
12  Poland Polish Mietek Szcześniak "Przytul mnie mocno" Hug me tight 18 17
13  Iceland English Selma "All Out of Luck" — 2 146
14  Cyprus Greek Marlain "Tha 'ne erotas" (Θα 'ναι έρωτας) It will be love 22 2
15  Sweden English Charlotte Nilsson "Take Me to Your Heaven" — 1 163
16  Portugal Portuguese Rui Bandeira "Como tudo começou" How everything began 21 12
17  Ireland English The Mullans "When You Need Me" — 17 18
18  Austria English Bobbie Singer "Reflection" — 10 65
19  Israel English, Hebrew Eden "Yom Huledet (Happy Birthday)"
(יום "הולדת) 		Birthday 5 93
20  Malta English Times Three "Believe 'n Peace" — 15 32
21  Germany German, Turkish,
English, Hebrew 		Sürpriz "Reise nach Jerusalem –
Kudüs'e seyahat" 		Journey to Jerusalem 3 140
22  Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnian, French Dino & Béatrice "Putnici" Travelers 7 86
23  Estonia English Evelin Samuel & Camille "Diamond of Night" — 6 90

Voting structure

Each country had a televote, where the top ten most voted-for songs were awarded the 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points, with the exceptions of Turkey, Lithuania, Ireland and Bosnia & Herzegovina who used juries.

Score sheet

Voting procedure used:
Red: Televote.
Blue: Jury.		 Voters
Lithuania 13 2 5 3 1 2
Belgium 38 4 2 10 2 10 5 5
Spain 1 1
Croatia 118 6 5 12 12 8 7 1 7 4 2 1 6 6 8 7 5 10 8 3
United Kingdom 38 5 4 5 2 4 1 4 4 8 1
Slovenia 50 10 2 2 12 1 6 12 5
Turkey 21 4 5 12
Norway 35 7 6 7 7 5 3
Denmark 71 5 5 5 1 12 8 8 3 7 5 2 4 6
France 14 2 2 8 2
Netherlands 71 4 12 3 8 3 5 7 6 4 2 1 4 6 2 4
Poland 17 7 4 6
Iceland 146 8 8 10 10 10 10 12 7 4 12 12 4 4 2 10 10 3 10
Cyprus 2 2
Sweden 163 3 7 6 12 7 6 12 10 3 8 6 10 6 10 5 6 8 12 2 12 12
Portugal 12 12
Ireland 18 12 4 1 1
Austria 65 6 7 4 6 3 2 3 8 1 7 5 5 8
Israel 93 3 8 8 1 3 2 2 10 4 10 1 10 3 8 1 6 7 2 4
Malta 32 6 6 3 1 7 1 7 1
Germany 140 10 7 3 1 6 12 3 5 8 12 12 5 2 12 10 12 3 10 7
Bosnia and Herzegovina 86 1 10 10 7 7 8 6 3 5 3 6 12 8
Estonia 90 1 4 1 3 8 5 4 4 5 8 2 10 7 8 3 1 7 6 3

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 point in the final:

N. Contestant Voting nation
5 Germany Israel, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Turkey
Sweden Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Malta, Norway, United Kingdom
3 Iceland Cyprus, Denmark, Sweden
2 Croatia Slovenia, Spain
Slovenia Croatia, Ireland
1 Bosnia and Herzegovina Austria
Denmark Iceland
Ireland Lithuania
Netherlands Belgium
Portugal France
Turkey Germany

Commentators

Television

Radio

Spokespersons

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 O'Connor, John Kennedy (2007). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History. UK: Carlton Books. pp. 156–159. ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "History – Eurovision Song Contest 1999". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
  3. ↑ "GERMAN NATIONAL FINAL 1999". 50webs.com.
  4. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 1999". The Diggiloo Thrush. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  5. ↑ "Bart Peeters co-commentator op songfestival : showbizz". Mijnnieuws.skynetblogs.be. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  6. 1 2 Christian Masson. "1999 – Jerusalem". Songcontest.free.fr. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  7. ↑ "FORO FESTIVAL DE EUROVISIÓN • Ver Tema – Uribarri comentarista Eurovision 2010". Eurosongcontest.phpbb3.es. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  8. ↑ "Pogledaj temu – POVIJEST EUROSONGA: 1956–1999 (samo tekstovi)". Forum.hrt.hr. 2009-05-15. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  9. ↑ Eurovision Song Contest 1999 BBC Archives
  10. ↑ "Alt du trenger å vite om MGP – Melodi Grand Prix – Melodi Grand Prix – NRK". Nrk.no. 2003-05-27. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  11. 1 2 "Forside". esconnet.dk. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  12. ↑ www.eurovisionartists.nl. "Welkom op de site van Eurovision Artists". Eurovisionartists.nl. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  13. ↑ "Zobacz temat – Eurowizyjna gra". Eurowizja.Com.Pl. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  14. ↑ "Morgunblaðið, 29 May 1999". Timarit.is. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  15. 1 2 Savvidis, Christos (OGAE Cyprus)
  16. 1 2 "Infosajten.com". Infosajten.com. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  17. 1 2 "Comentadores Do ESC – escportugalforum.pt.vu | o forum eurovisivo português". 21595.activeboard.com. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  18. ↑ betelgeuseIE (2010-02-08). "Eurovision Song Contest 1999 opening sequence". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  19. ↑ Archived February 20, 2005, at the Wayback Machine.
  20. ↑ "Dr. Peter Urban kommentiert – Düsseldorf 2011". Duesseldorf2011.de. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  21. ↑ "Selostajat ja taustalaulajat läpi vuosien? • Viisukuppila". Viisukuppila.fi. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  22. ↑ "Η Δάφνη Μπόκοτα και η EUROVISION (1987–2004)". Retromaniax.gr. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  23. ↑ Bruce, Ken. "Gin for lunch, whiskey for tea: Radio 2's Ken Bruce reveals his midlife crisis and the days when one drink was not enough". Daily Mail.
  24. ↑ "Swedes stay at home with Eurovision fever". The Local. 2009-05-16. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
  25. ↑ "Song Contest mit Stermann & Grissemann". wien ORF.at. 2012-05-01. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
  26. ↑ "Thomas Mohr: Mit Dschinghis Khan im Garten". Eurovision.de. 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
  27. ↑ mathiasehv (2009-09-30). "Eurovision 1999 Belgian Voting VRT by Sabine De Vos". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  28. ↑ "Pogledaj temu – SPOKESPERSONS". Forum.hrt.hr. 2008-02-29. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  29. ↑ "Concours Eurovision de la Chanson • Consulter le sujet – Porte-paroles des jurys des pays francophones". Eurovision.vosforums.com. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  30. ↑ "פורום אירוויזיון". Sf.tapuz.co.il. 1999-09-13. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  31. ↑ Archived August 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
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