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The Eurovision Song Contest 1999 was the 44th in the series, and the final contest of the 20th century. Held on 29 May 1999 in Jerusalem, Israel after Dana International won the contest the previous year in Birmingham, the venue for the contest was the Ussishkin Auditorium at the International Convention Center (formerly the Binyanei Ha'ouma), the same venue that hosted the 1979 contest.

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 (presenter trios would later become frequent beginning in 2010). 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 year after with Hallelujah, attended as guests of honor.

Two rule changes were added to this year's contest. The first was the relaxation of the language rule, meaning countries could perform in any language that they wanted. The second was that with the abolition of the orchestra, live music was no longer required and backing tracks became standard.

The winner of the Contest was Charlotte Nilsson, representing Sweden with Take Me To Your Heaven (Tusen Och En Natt in the Melodifestivalen), 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).

At the end of the contest, the hosts invited all of the artists on stage and together they performed a group rendition of "Hallelujah" as a tribute to the victims of the Balkan War.

Format[]

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 again. 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, didn't stop the IBA or the organising team of the event, and the International Convention Center in Jerusalem was selected as the venue for the 44th Eurovision Song Contest.

Stage[]

Zodiacsymbols99

Symbols of Cancer and Leo

What's interesting about the actual stage, is that it has signs of the Zodiac around the centre, which moves around like a ship's wheel. No other stage has had this as far as what is known. The stage design was said to reflect the passage of time with the coming of the new millennium.

Incidents[]

The Croatian entry, Marija Magdalena, used electronic backing vocals in its live performance which was in violation of the contest rules (all vocals, lead and backing, must be performed live). A third of the entry's total points was deducted as a result.

Gallery[]

Participants[]

Draw Country Artist Song Language Translation Place Points
01 Flag of Lithuania Lithuania Aistė Smilgevičiūtė Strazdas Samogitian The songthrush 20 13
02 Flag of Belgium Belgium Vanessa Chinitor Like the Wind English -- 12 38
03 Flag of Spain Spain Lydia No quiero escuchar Spanish I don't want to listen 23 1
04 Flag of Croatia Croatia Doris Dragović Marija Magdalena Croatian Mary Magdalene 4 118
05 Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom Precious Say It Again English -- 12 38
06 Flag of Slovenia Slovenia Darja Švajger For a Thousand Years 11 50
07 Flag of Turkey Türkiye Tuğba Önal & Grup Mistik Dön Artık Turkish Come back 16 21
08 Flag of Norway Norway Stig Van Eijk Living My Life Without You English -- 14 35
09 Flag of Denmark Denmark Trine Jepsen & Michael Teschl This time I mean it 8 71
10 Flag of France France Nayah Je Veux Donner Ma Voix French I want to give my voice 19 14
11 Flag of The Netherlands The Netherlands Marleen van den Broek One Good Reason English -- 8 71
12 Flag of Poland Poland Mietek Szcześniak Przytul mnie mocno Polish Hold me tight 18 17
13 Flag of Iceland Iceland Selma Björnsdóttir All Out of Luck English -- 2 146
14 Flag of Cyprus Cyprus Marlain Angelidou Tha 'ne erotas Greek It will be love 22 2
15 Flag of Sweden Sweden Charlotte Nilsson Take Me To Your Heaven English -- 1 163
16 Flag of Portugal Portugal Rui Bandeira Como tudo começou Portuguese How everything began 21 12
17 Flag of Ireland Ireland The Mullans When You Need Me English -- 17 18
18 Flag of Austria Austria Bobbie Singer Reflection 10 65
19 Flag of Israel Israel Eden Happy Birthday (Yom Huledet) English, Hebrew Happy Birthday 5 93
20 Flag of Malta Malta Times Three Believe 'n Peace English -- 15 32
21 Flag of Germany Germany Sürpriz Reise nach Jerusalem - Kudüs'e seyahat German, Turkish, English, Hebrew Journey to Jerusalem 3 140
22 Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Dino & Béatrice Putnici Bosnian, French Travellers 7 86
23 Flag of Estonia Estonia Evelin Samuel & Camille Diamond of Night English -- 6 90
Eurovision Song Contest
Editions
195619571958195919601961196219631964196519661967196819691970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Countries
AlbaniaAndorraArmeniaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBelarusBelgiumBosnia and HerzegovinaBulgariaCroatiaCyprusCzechiaDenmarkEstoniaFinlandFranceGeorgiaGermanyGreeceHungaryIcelandIrelandIsraelItalyLatviaLithuaniaLuxembourgMaltaMoldovaMonacoMontenegroMoroccoThe NetherlandsNorth MacedoniaNorwayPolandPortugalRomaniaRussiaSan MarinoSerbiaSerbia and MontenegroSlovakiaSloveniaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTurkeyUnited KingdomUkraineYugoslavia
Winning Songs
RefrainNet Als ToenDors, mon amourEen beetjeTom PillibiNous les amoureuxUn premier amourDanseviseNon ho l'etàPoupée de Cire, Poupée de SonMerci, ChériePuppet on a StringLa, La, LaBoom Bang-a-BangVivo CantandoUn jour, un enfantDe TroubadourAll Kinds of EverythingUn banc, un arbre, une rueAprès ToiTu Te ReconnaîtrasWaterlooDing-a-DongSave Your Kisses For MeL'Oiseau et l'enfantA-Ba-Ni-BiHallelujahWhat's Another YearMaking Your Mind UpEin bißchen FriedenSi la vie est cadeauDiggiloo DiggileyLa Det SwingeJ'aime La VieHold Me NowNe Partez Pas Sans MoiRock MeInsieme: 1992Fångad av en stormvindWhy Me?In Your EyesRock 'n' Roll KidsNocturneThe VoiceLove Shine a LightDivaTake Me To Your HeavenFly on the Wings of LoveEverybodyI WannaEveryway That I CanWild DancesMy Number OneHard Rock HallelujahMolitvaBelieveFairytaleSatelliteRunning ScaredEuphoriaOnly TeardropsRise Like a PhoenixHeroes1944Amar pelos doisToyArcadeZitti e buoniStefaniaTattoo
Specials
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song ContestEurovision's Greatest HitsEurope Shine a Light
Aspects of Eurovision
CommentatorEuroClubEurovision VillageExecutive SupervisorFlag ParadeGrand PrixGreen RoomHead of DelegationInterval ActNational FinalNational JuryOfficial RulesOpening CeremonyPre-PartiesPre-Song PostcardsReference GroupRest of the World VoteRunning Order DrawSemi-FinalsScoreboardSpokespersonTelevotingVoting Systems
Miscellaneous
Big FiveCurse of 43Curse of Number TwoCurse of GreenDouze Points!ESCRadio AwardsESC Top 250Eurovision AgainEurovision National BroadcastersEurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire SagaFounding SevenLGBT visibilityLynda WoodruffMarcel Bezençon AwardsNul PointsOGAERecordsStand-insThe Reorder BoardTie SituationTop Scoring SongsVoting DiasporaWinner's CurseWithdrawn SongsYou're a Vision Award

Trivia[]

  • 1999 was also the last year where the contest was held in a concert hall rather than an indoor arena.
  • No quiero escuchar was the 800th song performed at Eurovision.

Videos[]

-EurovisionAgain_-_Eurovision_Song_Contest_1999_-_Full_Show_-_No_Commentary_-_HD

-EurovisionAgain - Eurovision Song Contest 1999 - Full Show - No Commentary - HD

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