Eurovision Song Contest 2003

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From English Wikipedia @ Freddythechick
"Eurovision 2003" redirects here. For the junior contest, see Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003.

Eurovision Song Contest 2003
Magical Rendez-vous
File:Eurovision Song Contest 2003 logo.svg
Dates
Final24 May 2003 (2003-05-24)
Host
VenueSkonto Hall
Riga, Latvia
Presenter(s)
Directed bySven Stojanović
Executive supervisorSarah Yuen
Executive producerBrigita Rozenbrika
Host broadcasterLatvian Television (LTV)
Participants
Number of entries26
Debuting countries Ukraine
Returning countries
Non-returning countries
  • <imagemap> File:ESC 2003 Map 2.svg|299px|alt=A coloured map of the countries of Europe poly 244 323 245 319 252 316 261 316 269 318 267 322 270 325 272 330 266 333 266 338 261 338 261 331 257 334 258 329 252 324 247 323 Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 289 469 287 465 288 456 288 451 286 447 292 443 295 442 297 443 312 426 310 422 308 420 303 407 296 403 292 401 284 407 283 408 283 404 276 404 276 402 276 398 272 395 275 395 278 390 276 385 282 384 289 378 294 385 294 379 300 380 305 373 308 374 315 371 318 371 322 375 331 376 331 382 330 384 324 389 320 389 320 393 323 397 321 399 322 402 317 402 318 414 329 414 329 409 333 412 336 419 339 426 344 432 354 432 358 432 356 435 368 440 375 444 381 448 380 453 374 449 369 447 367 449 362 456 368 461 368 466 364 472 358 477 355 478 353 486 353 491 351 491 351 494 346 494 343 488 332 484 327 483 327 480 333 478 343 479 353 476 358 473 361 468 358 458 355 456 351 449 340 446 338 439 331 437 332 426 319 426 319 429 312 426 298 442 298 446 301 448 299 454 299 467 293 465 Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest poly 266 318 261 315 253 315 260 307 263 299 267 294 278 291 281 295 281 300 278 302 278 305 277 311 270 311 272 316 272 320 272 325 268 325 268 320 262 315 Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 276 385 274 377 272 377 267 380 268 375 272 371 276 366 277 363 285 363 289 361 293 361 293 363 292 363 292 374 304 374 304 372 306 372 303 377 298 379 294 379 294 384 290 381 287 378 284 381 Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest poly 282 363 282 358 285 350 288 346 277 343 276 339 275 336 272 331 274 328 271 322 272 315 272 310 275 310 279 306 279 299 282 294 280 289 289 289 295 289 293 275 302 275 302 281 310 281 307 286 310 286 317 283 321 280 328 280 328 283 330 290 332 289 332 294 332 299 336 302 338 313 340 321 334 321 326 324 318 329 320 337 322 341 331 348 332 350 326 356 326 362 314 362 310 365 305 362 Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 225 234 219 246 213 252 221 255 225 273 229 280 233 288 229 294 238 294 241 296 241 304 230 311 236 314 225 320 209 318 199 316 197 320 193 318 182 321 192 311 197 310 203 310 208 305 202 308 189 301 199 295 196 284 207 285 212 277 208 267 200 265 188 272 176 266 181 258 189 258 192 268 199 265 199 260 200 251 197 241 201 232 193 223 196 220 206 221 216 220 229 201 226 217 218 223 211 231 United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 rect 270 404 283 416 Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest poly 269 341 267 334 271 332 275 336 274 342 Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest poly 69 539 0 539 0 503 69 502 131 469 137 458 135 455 139 448 137 441 143 441 147 425 153 420 150 415 141 415 134 410 136 401 132 397 142 392 155 398 173 403 187 405 198 409 210 417 220 417 220 426 233 426 233 424 239 424 239 429 248 454 226 465 206 465 195 476 190 476 184 484 160 482 152 484 148 488 144 482 141 474 138 471 133 469 69 502 69 538 Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 179 292 174 292 164 295 156 295 156 292 151 292 151 289 155 286 160 282 164 275 158 271 163 262 170 265 171 260 175 254 178 255 179 261 175 265 176 268 180 268 181 268 186 273 184 281 184 288 Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 293 275 291 268 290 266 292 264 289 257 291 248 296 248 300 242 304 242 303 253 306 257 317 261 318 266 318 272 311 277 Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest poly 369 198 368 189 365 175 367 170 370 165 376 146 380 142 378 136 372 134 368 128 368 122 363 110 360 107 347 102 347 99 350 96 357 100 364 101 370 98 370 90 370 86 375 80 384 85 382 98 384 101 389 103 392 106 391 113 400 125 401 138 405 142 410 146 408 152 413 155 420 157 419 166 415 177 408 191 400 193 392 199 384 204 373 198 Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest poly 278 231 274 227 274 219 271 201 273 189 283 180 297 172 304 162 314 150 316 132 325 118 320 113 324 105 336 94 348 84 362 71 372 69 321 11 311 0 322 0 322 11 371 69 381 71 385 72 383 77 385 82 385 86 374 81 371 85 371 94 370 101 363 101 357 101 351 95 349 100 347 106 340 107 339 112 335 113 333 120 331 128 328 135 325 135 325 142 321 155 325 158 322 164 315 164 313 167 313 179 315 183 313 193 318 194 315 201 318 206 315 213 312 218 313 225 308 222 306 214 303 216 303 221 302 226 296 229 291 234 285 235 282 235 Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 119 467 123 451 117 448 128 427 133 410 140 414 149 415 154 420 147 426 144 440 139 441 140 447 136 454 137 459 132 465 132 468 128 471 Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 317 250 313 239 314 235 311 233 309 227 311 223 313 215 318 209 316 199 318 196 314 192 314 183 313 172 313 165 317 162 324 162 324 160 320 155 323 145 324 138 330 131 333 119 337 113 342 107 346 107 348 101 357 103 363 110 365 117 367 121 367 127 373 135 364 136 362 143 358 150 361 152 358 159 353 164 348 172 344 182 344 193 344 199 348 203 356 212 353 221 348 224 360 233 360 243 357 243 356 238 358 232 347 225 346 234 346 243 347 246 345 251 343 257 332 258 331 261 330 268 326 268 321 258 321 255 320 248 Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 569 535 559 523 556 517 557 512 559 496 564 493 568 506 Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 399 454 403 443 404 436 411 436 411 433 418 432 422 427 431 424 440 426 442 426 450 422 448 416 455 420 452 426 453 430 448 430 439 430 437 432 430 434 430 441 420 440 420 445 424 449 431 455 439 461 443 465 437 466 437 472 438 496 446 497 453 497 465 497 452 501 439 499 439 496 438 470 434 468 428 471 432 477 426 477 431 486 424 485 416 483 417 477 403 469 408 467 Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 rect 338 498 350 509 Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 331 376 321 374 321 371 313 371 307 375 304 375 305 363 314 363 322 362 328 364 324 358 330 352 333 350 338 350 342 346 351 347 356 349 358 352 362 356 355 362 355 370 350 374 336 377 327 374 Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 200 407 206 379 208 372 203 367 199 355 187 348 184 339 196 339 198 343 209 345 209 332 218 337 225 334 235 330 237 321 244 319 252 328 256 331 266 338 275 341 288 346 284 356 281 365 269 377 274 379 277 386 275 393 276 404 270 404 270 416 296 423 298 427 296 436 294 438 291 433 291 427 296 424 270 415 262 415 256 411 248 410 240 415 240 424 233 424 234 414 221 414 221 416 216 417 203 412 France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 582 375 591 371 596 371 604 374 604 381 605 383 615 383 615 389 618 398 623 405 628 410 625 414 612 416 602 423 593 429 587 437 581 441 574 439 568 447 558 448 561 453 557 459 555 456 557 449 554 448 549 454 540 455 536 464 524 470 515 465 505 464 503 467 503 474 496 476 489 474 473 470 468 463 458 458 461 451 461 444 455 444 455 438 464 433 476 433 477 426 483 421 477 421 464 423 461 430 453 431 454 423 452 418 454 413 460 410 467 414 479 416 497 414 504 402 517 396 530 395 542 395 556 394 563 391 570 387 577 383 Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 96 539 97 533 104 524 106 520 116 514 128 512 134 505 144 489 152 499 161 502 170 503 180 506 183 511 181 531 183 536 186 539 96 539 Morocco in the Eurovision Song Contest poly 530 487 524 482 533 473 544 469 543 480 Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 148 137 144 133 140 127 132 124 138 123 140 115 132 109 142 109 143 106 136 103 145 94 149 99 152 106 160 108 171 112 175 108 181 118 184 128 176 135 156 137 151 140 Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 379 419 371 415 361 408 356 402 353 397 353 392 356 390 366 390 376 390 382 391 382 397 386 401 383 406 381 408 378 416 Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 369 415 362 411 356 411 349 406 349 404 351 403 346 399 344 393 340 390 337 396 333 392 333 390 342 388 350 384 350 380 353 376 360 377 366 381 369 382 376 380 379 384 381 391 369 391 359 390 359 392 354 392 353 394 355 402 366 410 370 414 Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 332 384 331 376 337 376 347 375 353 371 356 374 350 378 350 382 346 385 347 389 342 387 339 388 335 388 Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 395 229 395 223 380 227 380 221 386 214 394 207 403 207 412 207 412 214 415 225 415 228 409 231 400 225 397 229 Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 367 358 359 355 357 352 360 347 365 345 368 339 371 337 383 337 388 336 392 333 395 334 398 336 401 338 399 346 391 346 386 346 385 351 375 354 372 358 Slovakia in the Eurovision Song Contest poly 355 374 356 367 356 362 360 361 360 355 364 359 369 357 373 353 383 351 385 346 397 346 401 346 405 351 401 356 398 368 395 372 391 375 385 377 376 382 370 382 364 379 Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest poly 416 399 412 395 411 390 407 390 401 390 399 385 396 384 395 381 389 376 395 374 399 360 402 356 408 348 415 348 422 346 423 350 426 346 431 345 436 339 445 345 449 352 455 359 453 367 456 373 463 371 470 368 471 375 466 375 464 381 463 391 455 388 448 389 442 392 438 397 Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 392 273 391 266 383 264 381 265 377 255 383 249 394 249 401 245 406 248 411 249 415 252 417 256 411 264 413 268 409 272 403 275 400 277 396 272 Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest poly 340 321 339 316 338 313 335 305 335 300 331 300 333 293 333 287 338 283 343 282 350 276 357 272 359 272 364 277 368 278 371 275 379 275 387 275 392 273 399 274 403 286 404 291 400 296 403 299 407 309 411 317 406 324 403 331 406 337 395 334 385 336 380 338 377 335 372 336 371 332 366 332 363 328 355 330 352 327 349 324 Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 393 272 385 275 371 275 370 207 386 207 408 199 409 190 414 177 418 165 419 156 410 151 409 146 405 138 402 133 399 125 392 115 391 105 391 101 384 100 384 94 385 87 387 82 393 78 398 81 413 81 428 84 436 86 443 91 445 95 445 101 435 109 422 109 414 111 414 113 419 115 422 121 425 129 427 133 432 134 435 134 438 136 445 136 449 132 442 130 437 126 437 123 454 123 457 123 447 113 454 95 465 98 460 85 455 84 452 76 449 71 453 68 461 71 457 77 461 80 468 84 473 80 469 72 473 61 463 56 459 53 459 51 464 48 468 52 465 55 473 63 476 52 478 45 485 49 490 47 487 43 491 40 495 29 500 33 503 29 501 22 490 19 477 17 469 22 464 20 452 22 449 19 450 12 445 3 445 1 454 1 457 7 464 15 475 15 490 15 500 10 518 5 529 4 527 0 679 1 679 97 677 101 665 94 665 100 658 101 657 111 652 122 645 138 632 155 635 160 645 159 645 162 638 168 647 173 644 180 658 179 662 184 654 192 647 197 642 197 631 203 630 213 628 218 611 217 597 220 590 227 585 239 585 245 591 254 585 256 579 251 579 261 581 270 582 279 590 282 592 285 598 280 610 286 606 292 613 292 610 302 604 302 608 309 606 321 614 321 620 332 635 342 633 354 623 349 614 349 611 346 603 349 596 354 590 352 582 352 576 356 565 356 561 357 549 353 540 351 535 351 528 349 534 345 538 335 533 330 539 320 537 319 531 323 530 319 536 311 543 311 536 301 533 291 529 289 519 289 519 292 512 288 507 293 495 292 490 286 483 286 480 278 475 275 472 279 467 279 464 285 456 276 455 271 462 271 464 267 455 261 448 253 443 245 436 245 436 247 431 243 424 243 419 234 416 226 413 218 412 209 413 202 419 199 427 196 416 193 414 191 409 191 408 198 388 206 370 207 371 269 380 269 380 266 381 264 389 265 394 266 Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 404 438 399 436 399 428 399 423 408 418 415 418 420 422 420 428 420 432 413 432 409 438 Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest poly 377 255 375 250 375 242 379 236 382 233 387 236 389 240 394 240 396 238 394 230 397 226 401 225 408 230 415 230 416 230 416 234 419 237 422 244 419 250 415 252 406 248 404 248 402 245 402 248 387 248 384 249 Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 poly 407 349 400 347 401 339 405 339 403 332 403 327 408 320 410 318 410 314 406 309 406 303 413 296 428 296 431 299 443 296 455 296 457 296 454 289 455 286 464 284 466 280 473 276 476 277 482 281 480 283 483 288 487 286 491 287 494 293 502 293 508 289 514 292 523 291 534 290 534 296 533 300 537 304 538 311 533 311 530 317 528 323 523 328 516 334 511 339 508 347 514 354 523 349 523 355 517 355 510 361 507 367 503 364 503 362 492 360 499 352 497 349 491 352 485 350 478 349 474 352 473 360 468 368 457 370 458 364 460 360 460 356 469 356 466 352 461 347 457 339 450 338 444 335 436 340 431 345 423 348 Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 desc bottom-right </imagemap>      Competing countries     Relegated countries unable to participate     Countries that participated in the past but not in 2003
Vote
Voting systemEach country awards 1–8, 10, and 12 points to their ten favourite songs
Winning song
2002 ← Eurovision Song Contest → 2004

The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 was the 48th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Riga, Latvia, following the country's victory at the 2002 contest with the song "I Wanna" by Marie N. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV), the contest was held at the Skonto Hall on 24 May 2003. The contest was presented by last year's winner Marie N and former contestant Renārs Kaupers.[1]

Twenty-six countries participated in the contest, beating the record of twenty-five first set in 1993. It saw the return of Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Poland after having been relegated from competing the previous year. Portugal also returned to the contest after being absent the previous year, while Ukraine participated in the contest for the first time.[2] Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Macedonia and Switzerland were relegated due to their poor results in 2002.

The winner was Turkey with the song "Everyway That I Can", performed by Sertab Erener who wrote it with Demir Demirkan. This was Turkey's first victory in the contest after 28 years of participation. Belgium, Russia, Norway and Sweden rounded out the top five. Further down the table, the United Kingdom achieved their worst result to date, finishing twenty-sixth (last place) with no points. However, they avoided relegation due to being one of the "Big Four" countries at the time.[3] The host country Latvia placed twenty-fourth (third from last) – this was the first time since 1995 that the host entry did not place in the top 10, and it was, overall, the worst result for a host entry since 1992.

This was the last contest to take place on one evening. The EBU revealed that it would be adding a semi-final show to the competition in order to accommodate the growing number of interested countries wishing to take part in the contest.[4] This was also the last contest in which a relegation system was used to determine which countries would participate in the following year's contest. As the Belgian entry was sung in an imaginary language, this was also the first time the contest featured a song with no parts performed in English or a language native to the country.

Location

Skonto Hall, Riga – host venue of the 2003 contest.

On 22 August 2002, Latvian public broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) announced that it had chosen the Skonto Hall in Riga as the host venue for the 2003 contest.

Latvia won the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 on 25 May 2002 in Tallinn, Estonia with the song “I Wanna” performed by Marie N. This was Latvia's first victory in the contest, which also carried the right for LTV to organise the 2003 contest. LTV initially had budgetary concerns with staging the contest. The chairman of the National Radio and Television Council Ojārs Rubenis stated that if the government presented no budget guarantees, the council, which owns shares in LTV, would vote against organising the contest. Rubenis elaborated that LTV was prepared to cover the creative side and broadcasting of the contest, but additional funds would be needed for infrastructure, hotels and other financial issues.

The Government of Latvia allotted €5.3 million for the event with a further €1.1 million being provided by the Riga City Council – covering the anticipated organisational costs for the contest.[5] A task force that included members from LTV, the National Radio and Television Council and state secretaries was formed to explicitly work on organisation of the contest and report on the estimated expenses.

Bidding phase

class=notpageimage|
Locations of the candidate cities: the chosen host city is marked in blue, while the eliminated cities are marked in red.

Three cities were considered as host city of the contest: Riga, Ventspils and Jūrmala.[6] LTV requested proposals from the three cities concerning how they plan to organise the contest. Riga City Council offered the Mežaparks Open-air Stage, Skonto Hall and the Ķīpsala International Exhibition Centre as potential venues for hosting the contest. Ventspils bid to host the contest at the Ventspils Olympic Centre with a pledge of support from city mayor Aivars Lembergs, who added that Ventspils could also provide two cruise ferries that could be used to accommodate up to 8,000 guests.[7] Jūrmala City Council offered the Dzintari Concert Hall with plans to expand and upgrade the facility and surrounding infrastructure.[6]

LTV's organisational task force later decided to proceed with the bids from Riga and Ventspils, eliminating Jūrmala and the Mežaparks Open-air Stage in Riga. On 15 June 2002, the EBU Reference Group decided in conjunction with the organisational task force in Latvia that Riga would host the 2003 contest with the venue option between the Skonto Hall and Ķīpsala International Exhibition Centre being decided upon by LTV.[8] LTV ultimately chose the Skonto Hall as the venue to stage the contest.

Key  †   Host venue  ‡  Shortlisted

City Venue
Jūrmala Dzintari Concert Hall
Riga Mežaparks Open-air Stage
Skonto Hall †
Ķīpsala International Exhibition Centre ‡
Ventspils Ventspils Olympic Center

Participating countries

Further information: List of countries in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 2003 – Participation summaries by country

Per the rules of the contest, twenty-six countries were allowed to participate in the event, a new record number of competing entries in a single edition.[9][10] Originally a total of twenty-five countries were scheduled to participate in the event, however Ukraine was added to the line-up shortly before the publication of the competing countries in November 2002, making its début appearance in the contest.[10][11] Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Portugal returned after being absent from the previous year's event, and competed alongside Ukraine, the "Big Four" largest contributing participating countries – France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom – and the remaining fifteen highest-scoring participating countries from the 2002 contest.[12][13] Having received the lowest scores in the 2002 contest, Denmark,[14] Finland,[15] Lithuania,[16] Macedonia,[17] and Switzerland[18] were subsequently relegated and were prevented from participating in this year's event.[9]

Twenty-four countries participated in the 2002 contest in Tallinn; of these, fourteen were expected to compete in 2003. The bottom ten in Tallinn would be relegated, to allow countries to compete for the first time.[19] In reality, only five countries were relegated – nineteen countries that entered in 2002 competed in Riga.[20] Originally, Serbia and Montenegro, Albania and Belarus had planned 2003 debuts, but the EBU's late changes to the relegation procedure meant that they could not compete.[21] The countries eventually made their debuts in 2004.

The 2003 contest was one of the few editions where no lead artists had previously competed as lead artists in past contests, although Slovenian representative Karmen had previously performed as a backing singer to Vili Resnik for Slovenia at the 1998 contest.[22]

Participants of the Eurovision Song Contest 2003[23][24]
Country Broadcaster Artist Song Language Songwriter(s)
 Austria ORF Alf Poier "Weil der Mensch zählt" German[a] Alf Poier
 Belgium RTBF Urban Trad "Sanomi" Imaginary Yves Barbieux
 Bosnia and Herzegovina PBSBiH Mija Martina "Ne brini" Croatian, English
  • Arjana Kunštek
  • Ines Prajo
 Croatia HRT Claudia Beni "Više nisam tvoja" Croatian, English Andrej Babić
 Cyprus CyBC Stelios Constantas "Feeling Alive" English Stelios Constantas
 Estonia ETV Ruffus "Eighties Coming Back" English Vaiko Eplik
 France France Télévisions Louisa Baïleche "Monts et merveilles" French Hocine Hallaf
 Germany NDR[b] Lou "Let's Get Happy" English
 Greece ERT Mando "Never Let You Go" English
 Iceland RÚV Birgitta "Open Your Heart" English
 Ireland RTÉ Mickey Harte "We've Got the World" English
  • Martin Brannigan
  • Keith Molloy
 Israel IBA Lior Narkis "Words for Love" Hebrew
  • Yossi Gispan
  • Yoni Ro'eh
 Latvia LTV F.L.Y. "Hello from Mars" English
 Malta PBS Lynn Chircop "To Dream Again" English
  • Cynthia Sammut
  • Alfred Zammit
 Netherlands NOS Esther Hart "One More Night" English
 Norway NRK Jostein Hasselgård "I'm Not Afraid to Move On" English
 Poland TVP Ich Troje "Keine Grenzen – Żadnych granic" German, Polish, Russian
 Portugal RTP Rita Guerra "Deixa-me sonhar" Portuguese, English Paulo Martins
 Romania TVR Nicola "Don't Break My Heart" English
 Russia C1R t.A.T.u. "Ne ver', ne boysia" (Не верь, не бойся) Russian
 Slovenia RTVSLO Karmen "Nanana" English
 Spain TVE Beth "Dime" Spanish
  • Amaya Martínez
  • Jesús María Pérez
 Sweden SVT Fame "Give Me Your Love" English
  • Calle Kindbom
  • Carl Lösnitz
 Turkey TRT Sertab Erener "Everyway That I Can" English
 Ukraine NTU Olexandr "Hasta la vista" English
 United Kingdom BBC Jemini "Cry Baby" English Martin Isherwood

Format

The EBU released the rules for the 2003 contest in November 2002, which detailed that twenty-six countries would participate, making it the largest number of participants to take part in the contest up to this point.[9] The rules also modified the eligibility criteria for entries, changing the date of release cut-off point for songs from 1 January 2003 to 1 October 2002. There was also a change in the tie-break rule, which would now resolve such a case in favour of the nation that received points from a higher number of countries rather than taking into account the number of top scores (12 points) received. The draw for running order was held on 29 November 2002 in Riga, hosted by Marie N and Renārs Kaupers, with the results being revealed during a delayed broadcast of the proceedings later that day.[26][27]

The official sponsors for the contest were Latvian mobile telecom provider Latvijas Mobilais Telefons and Latvian bank company Parex Banka.[28] LTV selected Latvia Tours as its official partner to provide lodging, travel and recreation for the contest delegations and other guests.[29] Riga City Council was also responsible for offering promotion and activities during the week preceding the contest.[30]

Full preparations for the 2003 contest began on 18 May 2003 at the Skonto Hall. There were rehearsals, press conferences and participants were also involved in an internet chat.[31] Two dress rehearsals were held on 23 May, in front of an estimated 12,000 people. The organisers of the contest held a press conference; one of the issues complained about was the lack of invitations for the after-party. The final dress rehearsal was held on 24 May, the day of the contest. A simulation of the voting procedure was also held, in which the presenters linked up with all twenty-six countries by satellite for the first time.[31]

On the day of the contest, bookmaker William Hill's odds placed Russia as joint favourites to win the contest with Spain. Ireland, Slovenia, Estonia, Norway and Iceland were behind in third, fourth and joint fifth respectively.[32] At the conclusion of the contest, favourites Russia placed third and Spain placed eighth, while outsiders Turkey (20-1) and Belgium (50-1) claimed the first and second places, respectively. Austria, at 100–1, were favourites to finish last, however, they scored their best result since 1989, placing sixth.[32]

An official compilation album, featuring all twenty-six competing entries from the contest, was released for the first time on the EMI/CMC label.[33]

Graphic design

The design of the contest was built around the theme "Magical rendez-vous", which represented the meeting of the various European nations coming to Latvia and encountering Latvia's versatile landscapes.[34][11] LTV launched a competition in order to find the logo for the contest. At the close of the competition, high interest from the public translated into 204 logo submissions, which were ultimately judged by a jury panel consisting of Uldis-Ivars Grava (general director of LTV), Arvīds Babris (then executive producer of the contest), Ugis Brikmanis (director), Laimonis Šteinbergs (artist), Ingūna Rībena (architect), Arta Giga (LTV representative) and Juhan Paadam (EBU representative).[35] On 16 November 2002, LTV and the EBU presented the logo for the contest which was designed by the director of the Computer Graphics Department of LTV, Maris Kalve with further elaboration by LTV's chief artist Kristaps Skulte.[36] The logo was named upes, the Latvian word for rivers, and carried the slogan "All rivers flow toward the sea, all songs flow toward the Eurovision Song Contest".

The postcards shown between the entries were directed by Ugis Brikmanis and featured the artists competing at the contest interacting with Latvia's various landscapes: forests, rivers, lakes and towns. The postcards were recorded during the preceding week of the contest and ran behind schedule, leading to some postcards featuring only footage from the rehearsals and press conferences.[37]

The stage design was created by Aigars Ozoliņš and based on the concept called Planet Latvia.[38][39] The stage used several light and video effects and included an innovation new to the contest – a video screen stage floor that could be used to give each entry a unique look.[39] The green room where the delegations and competitors awaited the results of the contest was placed directly behind the stage and unveiled shortly before the voting portion of the show commenced, allowing the audience to see the representatives of the competing nations as they received points.[40] For the first time, the scoreboard automatically rearranged itself in descending order as each point was awarded, making it easier for the audience and television viewers to follow the exact progress of the competitors throughout the voting process.

National host broadcaster

Initially, Arvīds Babris, head of the Latvian delegation at the 2002 contest, was appointed as executive producer for the contest, however, after production fell behind schedule and the EBU applied pressure upon LTV, he was dismissed and Brigita Rozenbrika took over the position, receiving additional support from the Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) and Estonian broadcaster Eesti Televisioon (ETV).[11][41][42] SVT was also the technical producer of the contest for the second year running with Sven Stojanović as director and the Swedish lighting company Spectra+ contracted for the contest.[43][44]

Voting system

The EBU reintroduced televoting as an obligatory voting mode in all participating countries, which awarded 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 points to their ten favourite songs, in ascending order. Countries voted in the same order as they had performed. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Russia were granted an exception to holding a televote as they cited that their telecommunications penetration was less than 80%.[45][9] Polish broadcaster Telewizja Polska opted to use only SMS-voting.[46] In the televoting/smsvoting household shall not be permitted to vote more than three times.[9] All other countries planned to use a televote. This contest was also the first to introduce a computer-generated scoreboard which rearranged itself in order as the points were awarded. Broadcasters were required to assemble back-up juries that consisted of eight voting members, with age and gender equally distributed, in the case of televote failure on the night of the competition.[9] Four members of the jury had to be members of the general public and the other four members had to be music professionals.[9]

Future changes in contest format

With the increased number of potential participating countries, the EBU began to review the format of the contest with potential changes being considered such as adding extra evenings for the show, holding a regional pre-selection, or putting a limit to number of participating countries by increasing the entrance fee. On 29 January 2003, the EBU unveiled a two-night system for the contest in 2004: a semi-final would be held before a grand final. The "Big Four", along with the top ten from the 2003 contest, would automatically qualify for the 2004 final.[47] The format change eliminated the relegation system, allowing all countries to send an artist and song to the contest. The fourteen eventual countries from the 2003 contest that qualified to compete directly in the 2004 final were Turkey, Belgium, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Poland, Spain, Iceland, Romania, Ireland, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. All other countries would have to compete in the semi-final for ten remaining spots in the final.

Contest overview

The contest featured special guests that communicated with the hosts via satellite: Lys Assia, winner of the 1956 contest greeted the hosts and spectators from Nicosia, Elton John spoke to the presenters live from the Life Ball in Vienna and one astronaut and one cosmonaut—Ed Lu and Yuri Malenchenko—gave their greetings from the International Space Station.[48][49][50] The interval act for the contest was a short film directed by Anna Viduleja that featured a sequence of performances by Latvian post-folklore group Iļģi, Renārs Kaupers' band Brainstorm, Marie N and piano player Raimonds Pauls.[51]

The UK's result was their worst-ever at Eurovision; by contrast, Turkey's win was their first. Alf Poier's sixth place was Austria's best result for fourteen years, Poland's seventh place was their best in nine, and Romania's tenth place was one place behind their best-ever. Belgium's second place was their first top-five finish in seventeen years, while Spain's eighth place (tied with Iceland's, which was its best result since 1999) was their third top-ten finish in 2 years, but Latvia's third-from-bottom finish was their worst result in four attempts; it was also the worst placing for a host country since 1992, until 2015 when host country Austria received 'nul points' and came second to last (Germany also received 'nul points' but because of the running order Austria placed ahead of them).

  Winner
Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 2003[52]
R/O Country Artist Song Points Place
1  Iceland Birgitta "Open Your Heart" 81 8
2  Austria Alf Poier "Weil der Mensch zählt" 101 6
3  Ireland Mickey Harte "We've Got the World" 53 11
4  Turkey Sertab Erener "Everyway That I Can" 167 1
5  Malta Lynn Chircop "To Dream Again" 4 25
6  Bosnia and Herzegovina Mija Martina "Ne brini" 27 16
7  Portugal Rita Guerra "Deixa-me sonhar" 13 22
8  Croatia Claudia Beni "Više nisam tvoja" 29 15
9  Cyprus Stelios Constantas "Feeling Alive" 15 20
10  Germany Lou "Let's Get Happy" 53 11
11  Russia t.A.T.u. "Ne ver', ne boysia" 164 3
12  Spain Beth "Dime" 81 8
13  Israel Lior Narkis "Words for Love" 17 19
14  Netherlands Esther Hart "One More Night" 45 13
15  United Kingdom Jemini "Cry Baby" 0 26
16  Ukraine Olexandr "Hasta la vista" 30 14
17  Greece Mando "Never Let You Go" 25 17
18  Norway Jostein Hasselgård "I'm Not Afraid to Move On" 123 4
19  France Louisa Baïleche "Monts et merveilles" 19 18
20  Poland Ich Troje "Keine Grenzen – Żadnych granic" 90 7
21  Latvia F.L.Y. "Hello from Mars" 5 24
22  Belgium Urban Trad "Sanomi" 165 2
23  Estonia Ruffus "Eighties Coming Back" 14 21
24  Romania Nicola "Don't Break My Heart" 73 10
25  Sweden Fame "Give Me Your Love" 107 5
26  Slovenia Karmen "Nanana" 7 23

Spokespersons

The voting order in the 2003 contest was the order in which the countries had been drawn to perform. The spokespersons for each country were:

  1.  Iceland – Eva María Jónsdóttir
  2.  Austria – Dodo Roscic [de]
  3.  Ireland – Pamela Flood
  4.  Turkey – Meltem Ersan Yazgan[53]
  5.  Malta – Sharon Borg[54]
  6.  Bosnia and Herzegovina – Ana Vilenica [hr]
  7.  Portugal – Helena Ramos [pt]
  8.  Croatia – Davor Meštrović [hr]
  9.  Cyprus – Loukas Hamatsos
  10.  Germany – Axel Bulthaupt
  11.  Russia – Yana Churikova
  12.  Spain – Anne Igartiburu
  13.  Israel – Michal Zo'aretz [he]
  14.  Netherlands – Marlayne
  15.  United Kingdom – Lorraine Kelly
  16.  Ukraine – Lyudmyla Hariv[55]
  17.  Greece – Alexis Kostalas [el][56]
  18.  Norway – Roald Øyen
  19.  France – Sandrine François
  20.  Poland – Maciej Orłoś [pl]
  21.  Latvia – Ģirts Līcis[57]
  22.  Belgium – Corinne Boulangier [fr]
  23.  Estonia – Ines
  24.  Romania – Leonard Miron
  25.  Sweden – Kattis Ahlström[58]
  26.  Slovenia – Peter Poles

Detailed voting results

Detailed voting results of the Eurovision Song Contest 2003[59][60]
Voting procedure used:
  100% televoting
  100% jury vote
Total score
Iceland
Austria
Ireland
Turkey
Malta
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Portugal
Croatia
Cyprus
Germany
Russia
Spain
Israel
Netherlands
United Kingdom
Ukraine
Greece
Norway
France
Poland
Latvia
Belgium
Estonia
Romania
Sweden
Slovenia
Contestants
 Iceland 81 7 8 12 6 5 1 6 4 12 1 1 3 3 1 7 4
Austria 101 10 6 5 10 5 4 2 8 8 8 2 8 4 2 6 6 7
Ireland 53 2 5 5 7 4 7 12 1 6 1 1 2
Turkey 167 3 12 4 12 8 10 8 10 3 7 12 7 2 7 10 10 2 12 10 8 10
Malta 4 3 1
Bosnia and Herzegovina 27 7 12 8
Portugal 13 2 2 3 6
Croatia 29 5 6 3 6 1 8
Cyprus 15 2 1 12
Germany 53 8 1 4 3 7 4 2 4 5 2 2 1 10
Russia 164 4 8 10 1 3 4 12 10 8 6 10 1 12 10 2 7 4 12 7 12 7 2 12
Spain 81 6 2 12 7 6 6 12 5 5 10 5 4 1
Israel 17 5 1 3 8
Netherlands 45 5 7 2 10 2 1 5 8 5
United Kingdom 0
Ukraine 30 8 4 10 5 3
Greece 25 1 4 12 5 1 2
Norway 123 12 2 12 6 5 7 4 3 7 6 7 3 6 7 6 10 3 12 5
France 19 8 2 3 6
Poland 90 10 10 12 5 4 2 8 6 4 5 8 5 4 4 3
Latvia 5 5
Belgium 165 7 4 10 7 10 6 3 6 3 12 8 10 5 10 8 3 12 12 10 8 8 3
Estonia 14 1 8 2 3
Romania 73 6 1 7 1 2 4 12 10 6 6 4 1 4 8 1
Sweden 107 5 3 8 1 3 2 1 3 7 5 3 10 5 7 2 7 6 4 7 12 6
Slovenia 7 4 3

12 points

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

N. Contestant Nation(s) giving 12 points
5  Russia  Croatia,  Estonia,  Latvia,  Slovenia,  Ukraine
4  Turkey  Austria,  Belgium,  Bosnia and Herzegovina,  Netherlands
3  Norway  Iceland,  Ireland,  Sweden
 Belgium  France,  Poland,  Spain
2  Iceland  Malta,  Norway
 Spain  Israel,  Portugal
1  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Turkey
 Cyprus  Greece
 Greece  Cyprus
 Ireland  United Kingdom
 Poland  Germany
 Romania  Russia
 Sweden  Romania

Broadcasts

Each participating broadcaster was required to relay live and in full the contest via television. Non-participating EBU member broadcasters were also able to relay the contest as "passive participants"; any passive countries wishing to participate in the following year's event were also required to provide a live broadcast of the contest or a deferred broadcast within 24 hours.[9] Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their viewers. Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators, are shown in the tables below. Broadcasters in 42 countries were reported to have broadcast the event live or deferred, including broadcasters in Albania, Armenia, Australia, Belarus, Puerto Rico, Serbia and Montenegro and the United States.[61][62][63]

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries[61]
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Austria ORF ORF 1 Andi Knoll [64][65]
 Belgium RTBF La Une, RTBF Sat Jean-Pierre Hautier [66][67]
VRT TV1 André Vermeulen and Anja Daems [68][69]
 Croatia HRT HRT 1 Daniela Trbović [hr] [70][71]
 Cyprus CyBC RIK Ena [72]
 Estonia ETV Marko Reikop [73]
 France France Télévisions France 3 Laurent Ruquier and Isabelle Mergault [66]
 Germany ARD Das Erste Peter Urban [64][74]
 Greece ERT ET1 Dafni Bokota [75]
ERA 1 Nikos Triboulidis
 Iceland RÚV Sjónvarpið Gísli Marteinn Baldursson [76]
Rás 2
 Ireland RTÉ RTÉ One Marty Whelan and Phil Coulter [77]
 Latvia LTV LTV1 Kārlis Streips [lv] [78]
 Malta PBS TVM John Bundy [79]
 Netherlands NPO Nederland 2 Willem van Beusekom [68][80]
Radio 2
 Norway NRK NRK1 Jostein Pedersen [81]
NRK P1
 Poland TVP TVP1 Artur Orzech [82][83]
 Portugal RTP RTP1 Margarida Mercês de Melo [pt] [84][85]
 Romania TVR TVR 1 [86]
 Russia Channel One Yuriy Aksyuta [ru] and Yelena Batinova [ru] [87][88]
 Slovenia RTVSLO SLO 2 Andrea F [89]
 Spain TVE La Primera, TVE Internacional José Luis Uribarri [66][90]
 Sweden SVT SVT1 Pekka Heino [58][81]
SR SR P4 Carolina Norén and Björn Kjellman [58]
 Turkey TRT TRT 1, TRT Int Bülend Özveren [53]
 Ukraine NTU Pershyi Natsionalnyi Dmytro Kryzhanivskyi [55][91]
 United Kingdom BBC BBC One, BBC Prime Terry Wogan [81][92][93]
BBC Radio 2 Ken Bruce
BFBS BFBS 1 Terry Wogan [94]
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries[61]
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Andorra RTVA ATV Meri Picart [ca] and Albert Roig [95]
 Australia SBS SBS TV[c] Des Mangan [96][97]
 Belarus BTRC Belarus-1 Ales Kruglyakov and Tatyana Yakusheva [98][99]
 Denmark DR DR1 Jørgen de Mylius [81][100]
 Finland YLE YLE TV2 Maria Guzenina and Asko Murtomäki [fi] [101][102][103][104]
YLE FST Thomas Lundin [sv]
YLE Radio Suomi
YLE Radio Vega
 Italy GAY.tv Fabio Canino and Paolo Quilici [105]
 Lithuania LRT LTV Darius Užkuraitis [lt] [106][107]
  Switzerland SRG SSR SF 2 Roman Kilchsperger [de] [64][66]
TSR 1 Jean-Marc Richard and Alain Morisod
TSI 1 Daniele Rauseo

Incidents

Organisational issues

In January 2003, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported that Riga was suffering from serious financial problems that could lead to a breach of contract so the contest might need to be moved to another city.[108] Ilona Bērziņa, spokesperson of LTV, denied that potential financial issues the city council of Riga may be facing would interrupt the organisation of the contest.[109] In February 2003, The Baltic Times reported that a committee of Riga municipality rejected the proposal to withdraw the funds it pledged in support of organising the contest.[110]

In March 2003, Danish newspaper B.T. published an article based on accusations that the EBU television director Bjørn Erichsen made in reference to LTV suffering from organisational chaos which could result in the removal of Latvia's hosting duties since they were running behind schedule.[111] The general director of LTV, Uldis-Ivars Grava, replied, saying: "A few weeks ago, the EBU's legal director, Werner Rumphorst, was in Riga, and I spent an entire day with him and with the former general director of the Danish broadcaster DR, Bjørn Erichsen. We talked about co-operation and about programme exchanges, and neither of them said a single word that would indicate any doubts, lack of trust or accusation."[112] Ingrida Smite, head of press for the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, reaffirmed that the contest would take place in Riga despite reports to the contrary.[112]

Controversies surrounding Russian band t.A.T.u.

Upon the selection of the Russian artists t.A.T.u., the duo gave an interview to German tabloid Bild in March 2003 where they claimed that they would win the contest without a doubt and criticised the German entrant Lou calling her a witch with duo member Julia Volkova (also referring to Germany's 2002 entrant) stating, "In Russia we nurse blind and old people, but we don't send them to the Grand Prix. This must be different in Germany."[113] Lou later responded to the comments stating, "I don't know whether bitching, fighting and boozing kids are the right representatives for such a beautiful country as Russia."

t.A.T.u.'s first rehearsal dominated proceedings on 20 May—the band were supposed to rehearse the day before, but had turned up a day late, claiming that Julia Volkova was suffering from a sore throat.[114] The group were booed by journalists during their press conference where they complained about the production's poor lighting and stage. EBU supervisor Sarah Yuen said "They are the bad girls of pop… we shouldn’t have expected them to come here and be nice and pleasant."[115] The EBU had originally planned to have a pre-recorded performance of the Russian entry ready to substitute during the live broadcast in case the duo performed a lesbian publicity stunt on stage, which they deemed inappropriate for a family entertainment show.[116] The EBU later stated that the performance would be broadcast live without any interruption.[117][118]

Russian complaint against Irish vote

After the contest, Russian broadcaster Channel One complained that Irish broadcaster RTÉ had used a back-up jury, and that it had cost them victory. A statement by Channel One said "Considering [the] insignificant difference in points between the first and third places, there are grounds to believe that the contest results could be much different for Russia."[119][120] On the night of the competition, the voting polls operated by Irish telecommunications company Eircom suffered a delay in delivering the results on time, which prompted RTÉ to use the votes of the back-up jury instead.[121] The EBU cleared RTÉ of any potential wrongdoing after an investigation on the matter and stated that the rules concerning substituting the back-up jury in place of the televote were correctly applied.[121] RTÉ later published the unused results of the televote, which showed that had the jury not been used, Turkey would still have won, and Ireland's voting "partners", the United Kingdom, would still have no points. Russia did not receive any points from the televote, however, since Belgium only received 2 points from the Irish televote as opposed to 10 points awarded by the Irish jury, Russia would have placed second.[122]

Other awards

Marcel Bezençon Awards

For the second year, the Marcel Bezençon Awards, organised by Sweden's then-Head of Delegation and 1992 representative Christer Björkman, and 1984 winner Richard Herrey, honoured songs in the contest.[123] The awards were divided into three categories: the Artistic Award, the Fan Award, and the Press Award.[124] The Fan Award was decided by the combined votes from members of OGAE, an organisation consisting of a network of over 40 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs across Europe and beyond.[125][126]

Category Country Song Performer(s) Songwriter(s)
Artistic Award  Netherlands "One More Night" Esther Hart
Fan Award  Spain "Dime" Beth
  • Jesús María Pérez
  • Amaya Martínez
Press Award  Turkey "Everyway That I Can" Sertab Erener

Official album

File:ESC 2003 album cover.jpg
Cover art of the official album

Eurovision Song Contest: Riga 2003 was the official compilation album of the 2003 contest, put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by CMC International on 19 May 2003. The album featured all 26 songs that entered in the 2003 contest.[127]

Charts

Chart (2003) Peak
position
German Compilation Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[128] 3

Notes

  1. ^ Specifically Styrian, a Southern Bavarian dialect
  2. ^ On behalf of the German public broadcasting consortium ARD[25]
  3. ^ Deferred broadcast on 25 May at 20:30 AEST (10:30 UTC)[96]

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