Eurovision Song Contest 2004

The Eurovision Song Contest 2004 was the forty-ninth Eurovision Song Contest and took place on May 12, 2004 and May 15, 2004, in Istanbul, Turkey. Meltem Cumbul and Korhan Abay were the presenters.

Related Topics:
Eurovision Song Contest - May 12 - 2004 - May 15 - Istanbul - Turkey - Meltem Cumbul - Korhan Abay

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It was the first Eurovision Song Contest to be a two-day event, with one qualifying round held on a Wednesday and the grand finale held on the following Saturday. Under this new format, byes into the final were given to the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain (as the largest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union) and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2003 contest. It was also the first contest to be broadcast in high definition format. Andorra, Albania and Belarus participated in the Contest for the first time, Serbia and Montenegro returned after a 12-year hiatus and Monaco returned after an absence of 25 years.

Related Topics:
United Kingdom - France - Germany - Spain - European Broadcasting Union - Andorra - Albania - Belarus - Serbia and Montenegro - Monaco

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All participating countries had the right to vote in both the qualifying round and the grand finale. This was the first year in which all 36 participating countries voted based on a public phone vote.

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On March 23, 2004, two draws were held to determine the running-order for the Semi-Final and Final events. A third draw took place, immediately following the Semi-Final on May 12, 2004, to determine the running order of the ten qualifying songs in the Final.

Related Topics:
March 23 - 2004 - May 12

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An hour after the Semi-Final had been aired, the European Broadcasting Union discovered that there had been problems with the vote counting in Monaco and Croatia. Digame, an affiliate of Deutsche Telekom, who had been responsible for processing the votes from Monaco, reported that they had encountered problems with their calculation software, and there was a problem with text message voting in Croatia. Consequently, some votes were not counted in the results announced at the end of the Semi-Final broadcast. When the results were corrected, to include these additional votes, they were found not to have affected which countries had qualified for the Final.

Related Topics:
Monaco - Croatia - Digame - Deutsche Telekom - Text message

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The contest was won by the Ukrainian entrant, Ruslana Lyzhichko, with the song Wild Dances, which won 280 points. Some commentators suggested that, true to Eurovision tradition, her victory could be attributed more to her dance routine and revealing attire than to the quality of the song. Allegations have been made by some, such as Terry Wogan, that bloc voting from Balkan and eastern European countries distorted the results. It is also notable that this was only the second participation for Ukraine.

Related Topics:
Ukrainian - Ruslana Lyzhichko - Terry Wogan - Balkan

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