Eurovision 1999: Jerusalem

The contest went back to Jerusalem, to the hall that had held it twenty years before, and it very nearly did not.

Orthodox groups in Israel protested against staging it at all. The deputy mayor of Jerusalem opposed it, because of who had won in Birmingham and because a dress rehearsal was due to take place on the sabbath. There were doubts about the money, too, and talk of moving the show to Malta or the United Kingdom, which had finished just behind Israel.

The Israeli government settled it with financial guarantees.

Two old rules disappear

The language rule. For the first time since the 1970s, a country could sing in whatever language it liked. The result was immediate: far more songs in English.

The orchestra. The rules no longer required the host to provide one. Israeli television chose not to, and every song was performed to a backing track. No contest has had an orchestra since.

The Big Four

A third change mattered just as much in the long run. France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom paid more towards the contest than anyone else, and some of them had been finishing badly enough to risk relegation. From 2000 they were guaranteed a place in the final, whatever their results.

Who was there

Twenty-three countries took part. Latvia was to have made its debut, and pulled out late. Its place was offered to Hungary, which said no, and then to Portugal, which said yes.

Russia could not come back from relegation. It had failed to broadcast the 1998 contest, as the rules required.

For the first time there were three presenters. One of them, Dafna Dekel, had sung for Israel in 1992.

The show

The postcards animated paintings of biblical stories and dissolved them into scenes of modern Israel. A break was built into the running order, for the first time, so that broadcasters could show advertisements.

Almost everywhere the public voted by telephone. Ireland meant to, but the phone company’s system failed before the lines opened and most calls were never counted. The back-up jury’s votes were used instead.

The result

Sweden won for the fourth time, 25 years after ABBA. Charlotte Nilsson’s “Take Me to Your Heaven” finished on 163 points, seventeen ahead of Iceland, whose second place for Selma was the best result it had ever had.

Germany was third with a song whose title came in two languages, English and Turkish: “Journey to Jerusalem – Kudüs’e Seyahat”. Spain was last, with one point.

The fall

Dana International came on to present the trophy. As she lifted it she lost her balance and went over, taking the winning songwriters down with her.

In that hall, on that night, a group of people suddenly falling to the stage set off a security alert. Guards rushed in and helped them up.

Croatia’s backing track

Croatia finished fourth, and then lost something else. Norway’s delegation had objected that the Croatian backing track contained synthesised male voices, and recorded vocals were not allowed. The EBU agreed.

Croatia kept its placing. But a third of its points were struck from the average used to decide who qualified for future contests.

Hallelujah

The broadcast ended with all the performers on stage together, singing Israel’s winner of 1979. It was offered as a tribute to the victims of the war then being fought in Kosovo.