For the first time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, Latvia and its capital Riga were the hosts of the event which should feature one of the most exciting votings in recent history,
In 2003, another country entered the song contest: for the first time, the Ukraine participated and sent one of their biggest stars: Olexandr Ponomariov. In total, 26 countries took part in the Eurovision Song Contest in the Latvian capital of Riga which would mark a new Eurovision record. The famous Russian duo, t.A.T.u., decided to enter the contest and kept both the organisation and the press busy during the rehearsal week by not caring about rehearsal schedules and boycotting press conferences. Eventually, the alleged lesbian duo finished third after Turkey and Belgium.
Turkey won the contest for the first time after an exciting voting. The winner was not obvious before the last country, Slovenia, had delivered their votes which would give the victory to Sertab Erener, one of the biggest stars in Turkey.
Sertab had studied at Turkish conservatoriums and had previously released lots of award-winning albums and had recorded duets with the likes of Ricky Martin and José Carreras. Her song Every Way That I Can was a combination of oriental melodies and pop and was specially re-mixed for the Eurovision Song Contest to make it more appealing to televoters.
The United Kingdom entry Cry Baby performed by the duo Jemini came in at a disappointing last place, scoring no points at all. The group claimed that there had been severe problems with the monitor speakers and that this was the reason why they performed so badly. It was the first time ever that an entry from the United Kingdom got the dreaded nil points.
The Belgian song Sanomi by Urban Trad was one of the most interesting songs in recent Eurovision Song Contest history as it was sung in a made-up language. No-one had expected them to score that well though ending up in surprising second place.
The Participants
| # | Representing country | Performer(s) | Song title, writer(s) and composer(s) | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Iceland RÚV | Birgitta | Open Your Heart | 081 | 08 |
| 02 | Austria ORF | Alf Poier | Weil Der Mensch Zählt | 101 | 06 |
| 03 | Ireland RTÉ | Mickey Harte | Weve Got The World | 053 | 11 |
| 04 | Turkey TRT | Sertab Erener | Everyway That I Can | 167 | 01 |
| 05 | Malta PBS | Lynn Chirchop | To Dream Again | 004 | 25 |
| 06 | Bosnia & Herzegovina PBSBIH | Mija Martina | Ne Brini | 027 | 16 |
| 07 | Portugal RTP | Rita Guerra | Deixa-me Sonhar | 013 | 22 |
| 08 | Croatia HRT | Claudia Beni | Vise Nisam Tvoja | 029 | 15 |
| 09 | Cyprus CyBC | Stelios Constantas | Feeling Alive | 015 | 20 |
| 10 | Germany ARD | Lou | Lets Get Happy | 053 | 11 |
| 11 | Russia C1R | t.A.T.u. | Ne Ver, Ne Boisia | 164 | 03 |
| 12 | Spain TVE | Beth | Dime | 081 | 08 |
| 13 | Israel IBA | Lior Narkis | Words For Love | 017 | 19 |
| 14 | The Netherlands NOS | Esther Hart | One More Night | 045 | 13 |
| 15 | United Kingdom BBC | Jemini | Cry Baby | 000 | 26 |
| 16 | Ukraine NTU | Olexandr | Hasta La Vista | 030 | 14 |
| 17 | Greece ERT | Mando | Never Let You Go | 025 | 17 |
| 18 | Norway NRK | Jostein Hasselgård | I’m Not Afraid To Move On | 123 | 04 |
| 19 | France France 3 | Louisa Baileche | Monts Et Merveilles | 019 | 18 |
| 20 | Poland TVP | Ich Troje | Keine Grenzen – Zadnych Granic | 090 | 07 |
| 21 | Latvia LTV | F.L.Y. | Hello From Mars | 005 | 24 |
| 22 | Belgium RTBF | Urban Trad | Sanomi | 165 | 02 |
| 23 | Estonia ERR | Ruffus | Eighties Coming Back | 014 | 21 |
| 24 | Romania TVR | Nicola | Dont Break My Heart | 073 | 10 |
| 25 | Sweden SVT | Fame | Give Me Your Love | 107 | 05 |
| 26 | Slovenia RTVSLO | Karmen | Nanana | 007 | 23 |
Scoreboard
| Participant | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iceland | 3 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 81 | 8 | ||||||||||
| Austria | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 101 | 6 | |||||||||
| Ireland | 1 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 53 | 11 | ||||||||||||||
| Turkey | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 167 | 1 | |||||
| Malta | 3 | 1 | 4 | 25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | 7 | 8 | 12 | 27 | 16 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portugal | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 22 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Croatia | 5 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 29 | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Cyprus | 12 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Germany | 1 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 53 | 11 | |||||||||||||
| Russia | 8 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 12 | 164 | 3 | |||
| Spain | 10 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 81 | 8 | |||||||||||||
| Israel | 8 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 19 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Netherlands | 8 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 45 | 13 | |||||||||||||||||
| United Kingdom | – | 26 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ukraine | 3 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 30 | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Greece | 12 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 25 | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Norway | 2 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 123 | 4 | |||||||
| France | 8 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 19 | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Poland | 10 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 90 | 7 | |||||||||||
| Latvia | 5 | 5 | 24 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Belgium | 4 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 165 | 2 | ||||
| Estonia | 1 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Romania | 6 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 73 | 10 | |||||||||||
| Sweden | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 107 | 5 | |||||
| Slovenia | 4 | 3 | 7 | 23 |