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1998 Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest 1998
ESC 1998 logo.png
Dates
Final 9 May 1998
Host
Venue National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Presenter(s)
Conductor Martin Koch
Director Geoff Posner
Executive supervisor Christine Marchal-Ortiz
Executive producer Kevin Bishop
Jonathan King
Host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Opening act Birmingham, Old and New
Interval act Jupiter, The Bringer of Joviality
Participants
Number of entries 25
Debuting countries  Macedonia
Returning countries
Withdrawing countries
Vote
Voting system Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs
Nul points   Switzerland
Winning song

The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd annual Eurovision Song Contest. The contest took place in Birmingham in the United Kingdom, following Katrina and the Waves's win in the 1997 contest in Dublin with "Love Shine A Light". It was the UK's fifth win, and the eighth time that the UK hosted the contest, the last being in Harrogate in 1982. The UK has not won or hosted the contest since. The contest took place in the National Indoor Arena on 9 May 1998, and the city played host to the G8 summit one week later, with commentator Terry Wogan's hotel room subsequently being occupied by Bill Clinton. Twenty-five countries participated in the contest, with Macedonia making their official debut, even though they had submitted an entry in the non-televised 1996 pre-qualifying round, which failed to qualify into the televised final of that contest.Belgium, Finland, and Slovakia returned to the contest after a one-year absence. Despite having also taken part in the non-televised 1996 pre-qualifying round, in which they failed to qualify, Romania and Israel returned officially after their last participations in 1994 and 1995 respectively.Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, and Russia all withdrew from the contest due to the relegation rule. Italy did not return until 2011.


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Wikipedia

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