The Eurovision Song Contest 1999 was the 44th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 29 May 1999 at the International Convention Centre in Jerusalem, Israel. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the contest was held in the country following its victory at the 1998 contest with the song "Diva" by Dana International, and was presented by Dafna Dekel, Yigal Ravid and Sigal Shachmon.
Twenty-three countries participated in the contest. Finland, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, and Switzerland, having participated in the 1998 contest, were absent due to being relegated after achieving the lowest average points totals over the past five contests or by actively choosing not to return. Meanwhile Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, and Iceland returned to the contest, having last participated in 1997, while Lithuania made its first contest appearance since 1994.
The winner was Sweden with the song "Take Me to Your Heaven", composed by Lars Diedricson, written by Gert Lengstrand and performed by Charlotte Nilsson. Iceland, Germany, Croatia, and Israel rounded out the top five, with Iceland achieving its best ever result and Croatia equalling its previous best. It was the first contest since 1976 that countries were allowed to perform in the language of their choice, and not necessary the language of their country. It was also the first ever contest not to feature an orchestra or live music accompanying the competing entries.
Results[]
Country in gold is the winning entry and the country in silver is the host country.
| Rank | Country | EBU member station | Artist | Song | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Sweden | SVT | Charlotte Nilsson | "Take Me to Your Heaven" | 163 |
| 02 | Iceland | RÚV | Selma | "All Out of Luck" | 146 |
| 03 | Germany | ARD/NDR | Sürpriz | "Journey to Jerusalem – Kudüs'e Seyahat" | 140 |
| 04 | Croatia | HRT | Doris | "Marija Magdalena" | 118 |
| 05 | Israel | IBA | Eden | "Happy Birthday" | 93 |
| 06 | Estonia | ETV | Evelin Samuel and Camille | "Diamond of Night" | 90 |
| 07 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | RTVBiH | Dino and Béatrice | "Putnici" | 86 |
| 08 | Denmark | DR | Trine Jepsen and Michael Teschl | "This Time I Mean It" | 71 |
| Netherlands | NOS | Marlayne | "One Good Reason" | 71 | |
| 10 | Austria | ORF | Bobbie Singer | "Reflection" | 65 |
| 11 | Slovenia | RTVSLO | Darja Švajger | "For a Thousand Years" | 50 |
| 12 | Belgium | VRT | Vanessa Chinitor | "Like the Wind" | 38 |
| United Kingdom | BBC | Precious | "Say It Again" | 38 | |
| 14 | Norway | NRK | Van Eijk | "Living My Life Without You" | 35 |
| 15 | Malta | PBS | Times Three | "Believe 'n Peace" | 32 |
| 16 | Turkey | TRT | Tuba Önal and Grup Mistik | "Dön Artık" | 21 |
| 17 | Ireland | RTÉ | The Mullans | "When You Need Me" | 18 |
| 18 | Poland | TVP | Mietek Szcześniak | "Przytul mnie mocno" | 17 |
| 19 | France | France Télévision | Nayah | "Je veux donner ma voix" | 14 |
| 20 | Lithuania | LRT | Aistė | "Strazdas" | 13 |
| 21 | Portugal | RTP | Rui Bandeira | "Como tudo começou" | 12 |
| 22 | Cyprus | CyBC | Marlain | "Tha'ne erotas" (Θα'ναι έρωτας) | 2 |
| 23 | Spain | TVE | Lydia | "No quiero escuchar" | 1 |
Awards[]
Barbara Dex Award[]
| Rank | Country | Artist(s) | Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | Lydia | "No quiero escuchar" |
Broadcast[]
Participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) | Spokesperson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | ORF 1 | Andi Knoll | Dodo Roscic |
| FM4 | Stermann & Grissemann | ||
| Belgium (Dutch) | TV1 | André Vermeulen, Bart Peeters | Sabine De Vos |
| Belgium (French) | La Une | Jean-Pierre Hautier | |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | RTVBiH | Unknown | Segmedina Srna |
| Croatia | HRT 1 | Aleksandar Kostadinov | Marko Rašica |
| Cyprus | RIK 1 | Evi Papamichael | Marina Maleni |
| Denmark | DR1 | Keld Heick | Kirsten Siggaard |
| Estonia | ETV, Raadio 2 | Marko Reikop | Mart Sander |
| France | France 3 | Julien Lepers | Marie Myriam |
| TV5 Europe | Unknown | ||
| Germany | Das Erste | Peter Urban | Renan Demirkan |
| Iceland | Sjónvarpið, Rás 2 | Gísli Marteinn Baldursson | Áslaug Dóra Eyjólfsdóttir |
| Ireland | RTÉ One | Pat Kenny | Clare McNamara |
| RTÉ Radio 1 | Larry Gogan | ||
| Israel | Channel 1 | No commentator | Yoav Ginai |
| Lithuania | LRT | Darius Užkuraitis | Andrius Tapinas |
| Malta | TVM | Unknown | Nirvana Azzopardi |
| Netherlands | TV2 | Willem van Beusekom | Edsilia Rombley |
| Norway | NRK1 | Jostein Pedersen | Ragnhild Sælthun Fjørtoft |
| NRK P1 | Jon Branæs | ||
| Poland | TVP1 | Artur Orzech | Jan Chojnacki |
| Portugal | RTP1, RTP Internacional | Rui Unas | Manuel Luís Goucha |
| Slovenia | SLO 1 | Unknown | Mira Berginc |
| Val 202 | Andrej Karoli | ||
| Spain | La Primera, TVE Internacional | José Luis Uribarri | Hugo de Campos |
| Sweden | SVT2 | Pekka Heino, Anders Berglund | Pontus Gårdinger |
| SR P3 | Carolina Norén | ||
| Turkey | TRT 1, TRT Int | Unknown | Osman Erkan |
| United Kingdom | BBC One, BBC Prime | Terry Wogan | Colin Berry |
| BBC Radio 2 | Ken Bruce |
Non-participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | SBS TV | Unknown |
| Faroe Islands | SVF | Keld Heick |
| Finland | TV1 | Jani Juntunen |
| Radio Suomi | Sanna Kojo | |
| Radio Vega | Unknown | |
| Greenland | KNR | Keld Heick |
| Latvia | LTV | Kārlis Streips |
| Romania | TVR 1 | Doina Caramzulescu, Costin Grigore |
| Radio România Actualități | Ana Maria Zaharescu | |
| Russia | ORT | Olga Maksimova, Kolya MacCleod |
| Jewish Channel | Unknown | |
| Switzerland (German) | SF 2 | Sandra Studer |
| Switzerland (French) | TSR 1 | Jean-Marc Richard |
| Switzerland (Italian) | TSI 2 | Jonathan Tedesco |
Broadcast notes[]
- Australia - SBS TV aired the show deferred on 30 May 1999 at 20:30 AEST (10:30 UTC).
- France - TV5 Europe aired the show deferred at 00:05 CEST (22:05 UTC).
- Russia - Jewish Channel aired the show delayed on 5 December 1999.