User:Spa-Franks/sandbox/1
| Eurovision Song Contest 1998 | |
|---|---|
| Dates | |
| Final | 9 May 1998 |
| Host | |
| Venue | National Indoor Arena Birmingham, United Kingdom |
| Presenter(s) | Ulrika Jonsson Terry Wogan |
| Musical director | Martin Koch |
| Directed by | Geoff Posner |
| Host broadcaster | British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 25 |
| Debuting countries |  Macedonia |
| Returning countries |  Belgium Finland Israel Romania Slovakia |
| Non-returning countries |  Austria Bosnia and Herzegovina Denmark Iceland Italy Russia |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 points to their 10 favourite songs |
| Winning song | Israel "Diva" |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd Eurovision Song Contest. Following Katrina & The Waves' win in Dublin in 1997, the contest was brought to the National Indoor Arena, in Birmingham, United Kingdom, held on 9 May 1998. Procedures at the time limited the participants to 25 countries - the six countries with the lowest points average over the last five years were forced not to participate, whilst five countries prohibited from entering in 1997 returned, as well as Macedonia debuting.
Dana International from Israel won the contest 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. 1998 was also the last year with an orchestra, the first year with mass televoting, the last year with language restriction, and the suspenseful voting.
Location[edit]
The contest was held at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.