Eurovision Song Contest 1999

The Eurovision Song Contest 1999 was the 44th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Jerusalem, following Dana International's win at the 1998 contest in Birmingham, United Kingdom with the song "Diva". This was Israel's third victory in the contest (after 1978 and 1979), and the second time hosting the event (after 1979).

Eurovision Song Contest 1999
Dates
Grand final29 May 1999 (1999-05-29)
Host
VenueUssishkin Auditorium at the
International Convention Center
Jerusalem
Presenter(s)
Directed byHagai Mautner
Executive supervisorChristine Marchal-Ortiz
Executive producerAmnon Barkai
Host broadcasterIsrael Broadcasting Authority (IBA)
Opening actDigital animation "From Birmingham to Jerusalem" transitioning into a film about Jerusalem
Interval act"Freedom Calling", with the song "Free" performed in a medley with a version of a traditional prayer for freedom, "Dror Yikra" by Dana International
Reprise actAll acts performed the English version of "Hallelujah" as a tribute to the victims of the Balkan War
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/jerusalem-1999
Participants
Number of entries23
Debuting countriesNone
Returning countries
Non-returning countries
Vote
Voting systemEach country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs
Nul pointsNone
Winning song

It was held on 29 May 1999 at the International Convention Center, the same venue that hosted it 20 years earlier. Television news anchor Yigal Ravid, singer and 1992 contestant Dafna Dekel and model/actress Sigal Shachmon 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.

After a tense voting,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

International Convention Center, Jerusalem – host venue of the 1999 contest.

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 stay at 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 organizing team of the event, and the Ussishkin Auditorium at 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, not counting the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta, whose national language is English. 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 two-time winner Johnny Logan criticising the move, describing the event now as "karaoke".[1]

A compilation CD was released in Israel by the host broadcaster and IMP Records. Due to licensing problems, the CD omitted the songs from Poland, Cyprus, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom.[3] Since then, all compilation CDs have featured all the songs.

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 later withdrew. This gave Hungary a chance to enter the contest, however, Magyar Televízió decided not to take part, allowing Portugal to compete as the 23rd country.[2]

Draw for the order of performances took place on 17 November 1998.[4]

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 has 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 arrive 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, Hungary, 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][5] Both artists would eventually represent their countries in Eurovision, in 2006 and 2002 respectively.

Croatia's entry, Marija Magdalena, 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 although was a smash hit in Israel at the time, caused some controversy there 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] After the encore of the winning entry coming from Sweden, the three presenters re-appeared 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 Kosovo War (particularly then-Yugoslavia, which was banned from participation as penalty due this conflict), who were unable to view the contest after bombings destroyed television transmitters.[1]

Returning artists

Lead Artists

Artist Country Previous Year(s)
Doris Dragović  Croatia 1986 (for  Yugoslavia)
Evelin Samuel  Estonia 1997 (as a backing singer for Maarja-Liis Ilus)
Darja Švajger  Slovenia 1995

Backing Performers[6]

Artist Country Previous Year(s)
Chris and Moira  Malta 1994
Gabriel Forss  Sweden 1997 (as a member of Blond)
Stefán Hilmarsson  Iceland 1988 (as a member of Beathoven) and 1991 (with Eyjólfur Kristjánsson)
Kenny Lübcke  Denmark 1992 (with Lotte Nilsson)
Linda Williams  Belgium 1981 (for the  Netherlands).

Results

Draw Country Artist Song Language[7][8] Place Points
01  Lithuania Aistė "Strazdas" Samogitian 20 13
02  Belgium Vanessa Chinitor "Like the Wind" English 12 38
03  Spain Lydia "No quiero escuchar" Spanish 23 1
04  Croatia Doris Dragović "Marija Magdalena" Croatian 4 118
05  United Kingdom Precious "Say It Again" English 12 38
06  Slovenia Darja Švajger "For a Thousand Years" English 11 50
07  Turkey Tuğba Önal & Grup Mistik "Dön Artık" Turkish 16 21
08  Norway Stig Van Eijk "Living My Life Without You" English 14 35
09  Denmark Trine Jepsen & Michael Teschl "This Time I Mean It" English 8 71
10  France Nayah "Je veux donner ma voix" French 19 14
11  Netherlands Marlayne "One Good Reason" English 8 71
12  Poland Mietek Szcześniak "Przytul mnie mocno" Polish 18 17
13  Iceland Selma "All Out of Luck" English 2 146
14  Cyprus Marlain "Tha'nai Erotas" (Θα'ναι έρωτας) Greek 22 2
15  Sweden Charlotte Nilsson "Take Me to Your Heaven" English 1 163
16  Portugal Rui Bandeira "Como tudo começou" Portuguese 21 12
17  Ireland The Mullans "When You Need Me" English 17 18
18  Austria Bobbie Singer "Reflection" English 10 65
19  Israel Eden "Yom Huledet (Happy Birthday)" (יום הולדת) English, Hebrew 5 93
20  Malta Times Three "Believe 'n Peace" English 15 32
21  Germany Sürpriz "Reise nach Jerusalem – Kudüs'e seyahat" German, Turkish,
English, Hebrew
3 140
22  Bosnia and Herzegovina Dino & Béatrice "Putnici" Bosnian, French 7 86
23  Estonia Evelin Samuel & Camille "Diamond of Night" English 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 and Herzegovina who used juries.

Score sheet

Voting procedure used:
  100% Televoting
  100% Jury vote
Voters
Total score
Lithuania
Belgium
Spain
Croatia
United Kingdom
Slovenia
Turkey
Norway
Denmark
France
Netherlands
Poland
Iceland
Cyprus
Sweden
Portugal
Ireland
Austria
Israel
Malta
Germany
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Estonia
Contestants
Lithuania 1325312
Belgium 38421021055
Spain 11
Croatia 1186512128717421668751083
United Kingdom 385452414481
Slovenia 5010221216125
Turkey 214512
Norway 35767753
Denmark 7155511288375246
France 142282
Netherlands 714123835764214624
Poland 17746
Iceland 1468810101010127412124421010310
Cyprus 22
Sweden 16337612761210386106105681221212
Portugal 1212
Ireland 1812411
Austria 656746323817558
Israel 933881322104101103816724
Malta 3266317171
Germany 140107316123581212521210123107
Bosnia and Herzegovina 861101077863536128
Estonia 9014138544582107831763

12 points

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

N.ContestantVoting 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

Qualification for the 2000 contest

In addition to the Big Four and the host country of the 2000 contest, Sweden, the 13 countries with the highest average scores between 1995 and 1999 were allowed to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000.

Key:
  Automatically qualified
  Qualified

Rank Country Average Score
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
 United Kingdom 116.80 76 77 227 166 38
1  Israel 115.33 81 172 93
 Sweden 90.40 100 100 36 53 163
2  Ireland 89.00 44 162 157 64 18
3  Croatia 84.60 91 98 24 131 79[lower-alpha 1]
4  Malta 81.40 76 68 66 165 32
5  Netherlands 76.00 78 5 150 71
6  Estonia 75.50 94 82 36 90
7  Norway 75.20 148 114 0 79 35
8  Denmark 62.67 92 25 71
 Germany 62.25 1 22 86 140
9  Iceland 61.50 31 51 18 146
10  Cyprus 57.60 79 72 98 37 2
11  Austria 53.00 67 68 12 65
 Spain 50.80 119 17 96 21 1
12  Turkey 49.00 21 57 121 25 21
13  Belgium 47.50 8 22 122 38
14  Slovenia 45.40 84 16 60 17 50
 France 44.80 94 18 95 3 14
15  Bosnia and Herzegovina 33.75 14 13 22 86
16  Portugal 29.00 5 92 0 36 12
17  Poland 27.20 15 31 54 19 17
18  Lithuania 13.00 13

International broadcasts and voting

Voting and spokespersons

The spokespersons announced the score from their respective country's televote (or, in some cases, national jury) in running order.

  1.  LithuaniaAndrius Tapinas
  2.  Belgium – Sabine De Vos[9]
  3.  Spain – Hugo de Campos
  4.  Croatia – Marko Rašica[10]
  5.  United KingdomColin Berry
  6.  Slovenia – Mira Berginc
  7.  Turkey – Osman Erkan
  8.  Norway – Ragnhild Sælthun Fjørtoft
  9.  Denmark – Kirsten Siggaard (Danish representative in 1984, 1985 and 1988 as member of Hot Eyes)[11]
  10.  FranceMarie Myriam (Winner of the 1977 contest)[12]
  11.  NetherlandsEdsilia Rombley (Dutch representative in 1998 and 2007; host in 2020)
  12.  Poland – Jan Chojnacki
  13.  Iceland – Áslaug Dóra Eyjólfsdóttir
  14.  Cyprus – Marina Maleni[13]
  15.  SwedenPontus Gårdinger[14]
  16.  PortugalManuel Luís Goucha[15]
  17.  Ireland – Clare McNamara
  18.  Austria – Dodo Roščić
  19.  Israel – Yoav Ginai (Winner of the 1998 contest, as lyricist)[16]
  20.  Malta – Nirvana Azzopardi
  21.  GermanyRenan Demirkan
  22.  Bosnia and Herzegovina – Segmedina Srna
  23.  EstoniaMart Sander[17]

Commentators

Most countries sent commentators to Jerusalem or commented from their own country, in order to add insight to the participants and, if necessary, the provision of voting information.

Participating countries

Non-participating countries

Radio commentators

The participating countries that provided radio broadcasts for the event are listed below.

Notes and references

Notes

  1. Croatia scored 118 points in the 1999 contest, however due to controversy surrounding its usage of pre-recorded vocals in the live performance, its score was reduced by a third for the purpose of calculating the five-year average to determine participation in future contests.

References

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  3. "Various - Eurovision Song Contest Israel 1999". Discogs. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  4. http://www.eurosong.net/archive/esc1999.pdf
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  13. Savvidis, Christos (OGAE Cyprus)
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  16. "פורום אירוויזיון". Sf.tapuz.co.il. 1999-09-13. Archived from the original on October 8, 2011. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  17. Archived August 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  18. Archived February 20, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  19. "Bart Peeters co-commentator op songfestival : showbizz". Mijnnieuws.skynetblogs.be. Archived from the original on 2012-04-02. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
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  26. "Alt du trenger å vite om MGP – Melodi Grand Prix – Melodi Grand Prix – NRK". Nrk.no. 2003-05-27. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
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  31. "Η Δάφνη Μπόκοτα και η EUROVISION (1987–2004)". Retromaniax.gr. Archived from the original on 2012-09-12. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  32. "Diva.lv - Eirovīzijas Dziesmu konkursa Nacionālā atlase". www.diva.lv. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  33. "NRK P1 1999.05.29 : programrapport". urn.nb.no 14 (29. mai 1999). Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  34. "Swedes stay at home with Eurovision fever". The Local. 2009-05-16. Archived from the original on 2013-05-15. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
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