Eurovision Song Contest 1998
| Eurovision Song Contest 1998 |
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|---|---|
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| Dates | |
| Final date | 9 May 1998 |
| Host | |
| Venue | National Indoor Arena Birmingham, United Kingdom |
| Presenter(s) | Ulrika Jonsson Terry Wogan |
| Conductor | Martin Koch |
| Director | Geoff Posner |
| Host broadcaster | British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) |
| Interval act | Jupiter, The Bringer of Joviality |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 25 |
| Debuting countries |  Macedonia |
| Returning countries |  Belgium Finland Israel Romania Slovakia |
| Withdrawing countries |  Austria Bosnia and Herzegovina Denmark Iceland Italy Russia |
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Participation map
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| Vote | |
| Voting system | Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 points to their 10 favourite songs |
| Nul points |  Switzerland |
| Winning song | Israel "Diva" |
| Eurovision Song Contest | |
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The presenters were Terry Wogan and Ulrika Jonsson. Despite being one of the presenters, Terry Wogan still managed to provide his trademark comedy commentary to the contest for the BBC.
Contents |
Winner [edit]
Dana International from Israel narrowly won this year's Eurovision, with the song "Diva", written by Svika Pick and Yoav Ginai. The singer had attracted much media attention both in Israel and Europe since she had undergone gender reassignment in 1993, being the first openly transgender performer to enter the competition.
This year was notable for several reasons: this was the last year with an orchestra, the first year with mass televoting, and the last year with language restriction. The 1998 contest was also memorable because of the suspenseful voting, where the winner was decided on the last nation's 12 points. Greece, Germany, Slovenia, Switzerland, Malta, Israel and Belgium did not sing with an orchestra, they sang with fully backing tracks (although this did not stop both Germany and Slovenia presenting 'conductors' at the start of their performances). France utilised the violin section of the orchestra but as they did not bring a conductor of their own, no conductor was shown before their entry.
Macedonia, participating as Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, took part for the first time, after their 1996 entry did not make it past the internal selection by the EBU. Belgium, Finland, Israel, Romania and Slovakia all participated after their break from the previous year's contest; Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Russia and Iceland could not participate because of their low average scores from the past five years. The Italian broadcaster, RAI, decided to withdraw from the contest, a move that would see Italy absent from the contest for 13 years before their return in 2011.
After the points from most of the countries were announced, it was clear that Israel, Malta, and the United Kingdom would be fighting for the top spot. Israel and Malta were apparently tied with 166 points after the penultimate vote (in fact, Spain's vote had been wrongly tallied and the real scores were Malta 165, Israel 164). Everything came down to the vote of Macedonia, who rewarded Israel with 8 points, United Kingdom 10, and in a twist awarded 12 points to Croatia not Malta, leaving Chiara to fall from first place to third. On the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel, Dana International brought the nation their third Song Contest victory. Also, Edsilia Rombley, who placed fourth with 150 points, ensured the best result for the Netherlands since their win in 1975.
Notable participants [edit]
For the second year in a row, at least one country went home empty-handed; Switzerland's Gunvor Guggisberg with her composition "Lass Ihn" failed to score a single point.
Other notable participants were Germany's Guildo Horn, whose shocking comedic act culminated in his climbing the scaffolding on the side of the stage. Controversially chosen to represent Germany, he was criticised for his lack of seriousness by the German press. However, after winning by 60% of the vote, the German people were firmly on Horn's side. "Guildo-Fever" spread throughout Germany during the weeks leading up to the contest, with Horn becoming front-page material in Germany. He was also noticed in countries around Europe, and the early criticism that had existed in Germany arose in those countries. Even though his 7th place was disappointing, to some Germans it was a revival for the contest in Germany, and was the beginning of 4 consecutive top-ten finishes.
Greece earned only 12 points, all of which came from Cyprus. After the contest, there was a correction made with the Spanish votes, who mistakenly awarded Germany zero points, rather than the 12 that were rightfully theirs.
In a BBC interview, future Eurovision entrant Nicki French said that one of her most memorable Eurovision moments was Ulrika's infamous faux pas during the voting. On hearing that the Dutch lady announcing the Netherlands' votes had previously been a contestant in Eurovision, Ulrika replied, "A long time ago, was it?" which was followed by much laughter and booing from the audience.[1] In fact Conny van den Bos who sang for the Netherlands in 1965 said that she had gone to the contest many years ago; unfortunately for both Conny and Ulrika this wasn't heard above the noise of the audience.[1] What was heard, however, was Ulrika's seemingly insulting comment.
Russia and Italy did not broadcast the event due to withdrawals. In 1998 the Russian broadcaster Channel One prepared to run internal preselections, but soon organisers realised that because of low average results in previous years Russia would not qualify to compete in 1998 (though there were rumours that Channel One had planned to name Tatyana Ovsienko as their representative, performing "Solntse moyo"). Because Russia did not participate, Channel One decided not to broadcast the 1998 contest. According to other sources Channel One had expected Channel Russia to broadcast the contest.
Individual Entries [edit]
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Results [edit]
| Draw | Country | Language[2] | Artist | Song | English translation | Place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  Croatia |
Croatian | Danijela | "Neka mi ne svane" | May the dawn never rise | 5 | 131 |
| 02 |  Greece |
Greek | Thalassa | "Mia krifi evesthisia" (Μια κρυφή ευαισθησία) |
A secret sensibility | 20 | 12 |
| 03 |  France |
French | Marie Line | "Où aller" | Where to go | 24 | 3 |
| 04 |  Spain |
Spanish | Mikel Herzog | "¿Qué voy a hacer sin ti?" | What am I going to do without you? | 16 | 21 |
| 05 | Switzerland |
German | Gunvor | "Lass' ihn" | Let him | 25 | 0 |
| 06 | Slovakia |
Slovak | Katarína Hasprová | "Modlitba" | A prayer | 21 | 8 |
| 07 |  Poland |
Polish | Sixteen | "To takie proste" | It's easy | 17 | 19 |
| 08 | Israel |
Hebrew | Dana International | "Diva" (דיווה) | — | 1 | 172 |
| 09 |  Germany |
German | Guildo Horn | "Guildo hat euch lieb!" | Guildo loves you! | 7 | 86 |
| 10 |  Malta |
English | Chiara | "The One That I Love" | — | 3 | 165 |
| 11 |  Hungary |
Hungarian | Charlie | "A holnap már nem lesz szomorú" | Sadness will be over tomorrow | 23 | 4 |
| 12 |  Slovenia |
Slovene | Vili Resnik | "Naj bogovi slišijo" | Let the gods hear | 18 | 17 |
| 13 |  Ireland |
English | Dawn Martin | "Is Always Over Now?" | — | 9 | 64 |
| 14 |  Portugal |
Portuguese | Alma Lusa | "Se eu te pudesse abraçar" | If I could embrace you | 12 | 36 |
| 15 | Romania |
Romanian | Mălina Olinescu | "Eu cred" | I believe | 22 | 6 |
| 16 |  United Kingdom |
English | Imaani | "Where Are You?" | — | 2 | 166 |
| 17 |  Cyprus |
Greek | Michalis Hatzigiannis | "Genesis" (Γένεσις) | Genesis | 11 | 37 |
| 18 |  Netherlands |
Dutch | Edsilia | "Hemel en aarde" | Heaven and Earth | 4 | 150 |
| 19 |  Sweden |
Swedish | Jill Johnson | "Kärleken är" | The love is | 10 | 53 |
| 20 | Belgium |
French | Mélanie Cohl | "Dis oui" | Say yes | 6 | 122 |
| 21 | Finland |
Finnish | Edea | "Aava" | Open landscape | 15 | 22 |
| 22 |  Norway |
Norwegian | Lars Fredriksen | "Alltid sommer" | Always summer | 8 | 79 |
| 23 |  Estonia |
Estonian | Koit Toome | "Mere lapsed" | Children of the sea | 12[3] | 36 |
| 24 |  Turkey |
Turkish | Tüzmen | "Unutamazsın" | You can't forget | 14 | 25 |
| 25 | Macedonia |
Macedonian | Vlado Janevski | "Ne zori, zoro" (Не зори, зоро) | Dawn, don't rise | 19 | 16 |
Voting structure [edit]
Each country had a televote except Turkey, Romania and Hungary, where the top ten most voted for songs were awarded the 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points, with a back-up jury in case of mistakes. A jury was used if there were exceptional reasons not to use a televote.
Spain originally gave its 12 points to Israel and 10 to Norway. After the broadcast it was announced that Spanish broadcaster wrongly tallied the votes and Germany should have got the top mark - 12 points - instead of being snubbed, as it happened. The mistake was corrected and so Germany was placed 7th over Norway. Israel and Norway both received 2 points less than originally and Croatia, Malta, Portugal, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Estonia and Turkey all received one point less than indicated during the broadcast.
With just one country left to vote, it was anyone's guess as to who was going to prevail, with Israel and Malta locked in battle with the scoreboard showing them with the same points total (although, due to the error above, Malta actually one point ahead), and the United Kingdom apparently nine points behind. When Macedonia came to award the decisive points, Israel was the first of the three contenders to be mentioned, receiving eight points. That was enough to knock the UK out of contention for victory, but left plenty of room for Israel to be overtaken by their principal rival. Next, the ten points went to the UK, nudging them into what looked like being an extremely fleeting spell in second place, since most of the audience assumed the twelve points were destined for Malta. Instead, there were gasps as Macedonia sent the final points of the evening to fellow Balkan nation Croatia, handing Israel their first win in the contest since "Hallelujah" in 1979.
It is also noteworthy that Israel only received points from 21 of the 24 other countries, whereas the United Kingdom received at least one point from every country, but finished second. Furthermore, whilst Israel received three sets of 12 points compared to Malta and the United Kingdom who both received four sets of 12 points, Israel received a seven sets of 10 points to help seal the win.
Score sheet [edit]
| Voting procedure used: Red: Televote. Blue: Jury. |
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Croatia | 131 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 12 | |||
| Greece | 12 | 12 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| France | 3 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spain | 21 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Switzerland | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Slovakia | 8 | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Poland | 19 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Israel | 172 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 8 | |||||
| Germany | 86 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Malta | 165 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 10 | ||||
| Hungary | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Slovenia | 17 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ireland | 64 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 7 | ||||||||||
| Portugal | 36 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Romania | 6 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United Kingdom | 166 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 10 | ||
| Cyprus | 37 | 4 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Netherlands | 150 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 3 | ||||||
| Sweden | 53 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Belgium | 122 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 6 | |||||
| Finland | 22 | 10 | 1 | 10 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norway | 79 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||
| Estonia | 36 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 12 | |||||||||||||||||
| Turkey | 25 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Macedonia | 16 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
12 points [edit]
Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:
| N. | Recipient nation | Voting nation |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | ||
| Malta | Ireland, Norway, Slovakia, United Kingdom | |
| United Kingdom | Croatia, Israel, Romania, Turkey | |
| 3 | ||
| Germany | Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland | |
| Israel | France, Malta, Portugal | |
| 2 | ||
| Croatia | Macedonia, Slovenia | |
| Netherlands | Belgium, Hungary | |
| 1 | ||
| Belgium | Poland | |
| Cyprus | Greece | |
| Estonia | Finland | |
| Greece | Cyprus | |
| Norway | Sweden | |
| Sweden | Estonia | |
| Turkey | Germany |
Returning artists [edit]
| Artist | Country | Previous Year(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Danijela | Croatia |
1995 (part of Magazin) |
| José Cid (part of Alma Lusa) | Portugal |
1980 |
International broadcasting [edit]
Other involved countries [edit]
FR Yugoslavia- After the breakup of Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was last participated in 1992. Third channel of Radio Television of Serbia broadcast the show, although Yugoslavia did not participate.
Commentators [edit]
Television [edit]
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Radio [edit]
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Spokespersons [edit]
Croatia - Davor Meštrović[23]
Greece - Alexis Kostalas[24]
France - Marie Myriam (Eurovision winner for France in 1977)[25]
Spain - Belén Fernández de Henestrosa
Switzerland - Regula Elsener
Slovakia - Alena Heribanová
Poland - Jan Chojnacki
Israel - Yigal Ravid[26]
Germany - Nena
Malta - Stephanie Farrugia
Hungary - Barna Héder
Slovenia - Mojca Mavec
Ireland - Eileen Dunne
Portugal - Lúcia Moniz (Portuguese representative in 1996)[11]
Romania - Anca Ţurcașiu
United Kingdom - Ken Bruce
Cyprus - Marina Maleni[12]
Netherlands - Conny Vandenbos (Dutch representative in 1965)
Sweden - Björn Hedman[14]
Belgium - Marie-Hélène Vanderborght[25]
Finland - Marjo Wilska[27]
Norway - Ragnhild Sælthun Fjørtoft
Estonia - Urve Tiidus[28]
Turkey - Osman Erkan
Macedonia - Evgenija Teodosievska[29]
References [edit]
- ^ a b "Nicki French speaks about Eurovision". BBC News. 2005-05-20. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1998". The Diggiloo Thrush. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1998 | Year page | Eurovision Song Contest - Baku 2012". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ "Pogledaj temu - POVIJEST EUROSONGA: 1956 - 1999 (samo tekstovi)". Forum.hrt.hr. 2009-05-15. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ a b c Christian Masson. "1998 - Birmingham". Songcontest.free.fr. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ "FORO FESTIVAL DE EUROVISIÓN • Ver Tema - Uribarri comentarista Eurovision 2010". Eurosongcontest.phpbb3.es. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ "Zobacz temat - Eurowizyjna gra". Eurowizja.Com.Pl. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ "Dr. Peter Urban kommentiert - Düsseldorf 2011". Duesseldorf2011.de. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ betelgeuseIE (2010-02-07). "Eurovision Song Contest 1998 opening sequence". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ a b "Comentadores Do ESC - escportugalforum.pt.vu | o forum eurovisivo português". 21595.activeboard.com. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ a b Savvidis, Christos (OGAE Cyprus)
- ^ "Welkom op de site van Eurovision Artists". Eurovisionartists.nl. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ a b "Infosajten.com". Infosajten.com. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ mathiasehv (2009-11-19). "ESC 1998: Melanie Cohl België twaalf punten/Belgique douze points". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ "Selostajat ja taustalaulajat läpi vuosien? • Viisukuppila". Viisukuppila.fi. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ "Alt du trenger å vite om MGP - Melodi Grand Prix - Melodi Grand Prix - NRK". Nrk.no. 2003-05-27. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ [2][dead link]
- ^ "Forside". esconnet.dk. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ "Morgunblaðið, 09.05.1998". Timarit.is. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ "Thomas Mohr: Mit Dschinghis Khan im Garten". Eurovision.de. 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
- ^ "Song Contest mit Stermann & Grissemann". wien ORF.at. 2012-05-01. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
- ^ "Pogledaj temu - SPOKESPERSONS". Forum.hrt.hr. 2008-02-29. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ "Εκφωνητές της ΕΡΤ για τις ψήφους της Ελλάδας στην EUROVISION - Page 3". Retromaniax.gr. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ a b "Concours Eurovision de la Chanson • Consulter le sujet - Porte-paroles des jurys des pays francophones". Eurovision.vosforums.com. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ "פורום אירוויזיון". Sf.tapuz.co.il. 1999-09-13. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ "Selostajat ja taustalaulajat läpi vuosien? • Viisukuppila". Viisukuppila.fi. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ [3][dead link]
- ^ "FORO FESTIVAL DE EUROVISIÓN • Ver Tema - 98 Malta - The one that I love - Chiara". Eurosongcontest.phpbb3.es. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
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