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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. Location The 1999 contest took place in Jerusalem, Israel, following the country's victory at the 1998 edition with the song "Diva", performed by Dana International. It was the second time that Israel had staged the contest, following the 1979 contest also held in Jerusalem. The selected venue was the Ussishkin Auditorium of the International Convention Centre, commonly known in Hebrew as Binyenei HaUma (Hebrew: בנייני האומה), which also served as the host venue for Israel's previous staging of the event. The prospect of Israel staging the contest resulted in protest by members of the Orthodox Jewish community in the country, including opposition by the deputy mayor of Jerusalem Haim Miller to the contest being staged in the city. Additional concerns over funding for the event also contributed to speculation that the contest could be moved to Malta or the United Kingdom, the nations which had finished in the top three alongside Israel the previous year. Financial guarantees by the Israeli government however helped to ensure that the contest would take place in Israel. The possibility of holding the event in an open air venue was discussed, however concerns over security led to the choice of an indoor venue for the event. A tight security presence was felt during the rehearsal week as a precaution against potential disruption from Palestinian militant groups. Participating countries Per the rules of the contest, twenty-three countries were allowed to participate in the event, a reduction from the twenty-five which took part in the 1997 and 1998 contests. Lithuania made its first appearance since 1994, and Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, and Iceland returned after being relegated from the previous year's event. Russia was unable to return from relegation due to failing to broadcast the 1998 contest, as specified in the rules for that edition. 1998 participants Finland, Greece, Hungary, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, and Switzerland were absent from this edition. Several of the performers taking part in the contest had previously competed as lead artists in past editions. Two artists returned as lead artists in this year's event, with Croatia's Doris Dragović having taken part in 1986 representing Yugoslavia, and Slovenia's Darja Švajger making a second appearance for her country following the 1995 contest. A number of former competitors also returned to perform as backing vocalists for some of the competing entries: Stefán Hilmarsson, who represented Iceland twice in 1988 and 1991, provided backing vocals for Selma; Kenny Lübcke, who represented Denmark in 1992, returned to provide backing for Trine Jepsen and Michael Teschl; Christopher Scicluna and Moira Stafrace, who represented Malta in 1994, provided backing for Times Three; Gabriel Forss, who represented Sweden in 1997 as a member of the group Blond, was among Charlotte Nilsson's backing vocalists; and Linda Williams, who represented the Netherlands in 1981, returned as a backing vocalist for Belgium's Vanessa Chinitor. Additionally, Evelin Samuel competed for Estonia in this year's contest, having previously served as backing vocalist for Maarja-Liis Ilus in 1997. Qualification Due to the high number of countries wishing to enter the contest, a relegation system was introduced in 1993 in order to reduce the number of countries which could compete in each year's contest. Any relegated countries would be able to return the following year, thus allowing all countries the opportunity to compete in at least one in every two editions. The relegation rules introduced for the 1997 contest were again utilised ahead of the 1999 contest, based on each country's average points total in previous contests. The twenty-three participants were made up of the previous year's winning country and host nation, the seventeen countries other than the host which had obtained the highest average points total over the preceding five contests, and any eligible countries which had not competed in the 1998 contest. In cases where the average was identical between two or more countries, the total number of points scored in the most recent contest determined the final order. A new addition to the relegation rules specified that for the 2000 contest and future editions, the four largest financial contributors to the contest – France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom – would automatically qualify for each year's event and be exempt from relegation. This new "Big Four" group of countries was created to ensure the financial viability of the event, and was prompted by a number of poor placements in previous years for some of these countries, which if repeated in 1999 could have resulted in those countries being eliminated. Finland, Greece, Hungary, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Switzerland were therefore excluded from participating in the 1999 contest, to make way for the return of Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Iceland, and Lithuania, and new debuting country Latvia. However Latvia's Latvijas Televīzija subsequently withdrew its participation at a late stage, and their place in the contest was subsequently offered to Hungary as the excluded country with the highest average points total. Hungarian broadcaster Magyar Televízió declined and the offer was then passed to Portugal's Rádio e Televisão de Portugal as the next country in line, which accepted. The calculations use.... Discover the Sabine Luck popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Sabine Luck books.