Seasons & episodes

S45 · E1The Eurovision Song Contest 2000 2000-05-13 · 180 min

24 countries participated in the contest in 2000. Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Lithuania, Romania and Bosnia & Herzegovina were all relegated due to their lower average scores. Greece was initially supposed to take part but withdrew. Latvia made its debut this year with the entry My Star performed by the group Brainstorm, finishing in third position. Estonia finished fourth with Ines' Once In A Lifetime which was the bookmaker's favourite. Internet polls also had the United Kingdom's Nicki French and Linda Wagenmakers from the Netherlands as favourites but these countries only finished 16th and 13th respectively. 13,000 spectators were at the final in the Globen Arena in Stockholm, which was a new record. Swedish broadcaster SVT produced a slick show and provided a new look and feel for the contest as it entered the new millennium.

S46 · E1The Eurovision Song Contest 2001 2001-05-12 · 190 min

23 countries participated in the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest. Bosnia & Herzegovina, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Lithuania and Greece all returned to the contest, replacing the seven countries with the lowest average result in the past five contests: Romania, Switzerland, FYR Macedonia, Finland, Belgium, Austria and Cyprus. The spectator record from the previous year in Stockholm was already broken in 2001 as nearly 35,000 attended the show in the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen. France, Greece and Slovenia were predicted to win this year but Estonia took everyone by surprise by taking the trophy.

S47 · E1The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 2002-05-25 · 178 min

Immediately after Estonia won the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest the media began to speculate whether the country would be able to host the competition in 2002, citing a lack of a suitable venue and budgetary concerns. Estonian Television defied the critics though and produced a professional show in Tallinn. 23 countries participated in 2002. Latvia entered the contest after Portugal declined the opportunity to participate. This was a rather peculiar situation, since Latvia ended up winning the whole contest in the end! There was no clear favorite among the 24 countries competing. Sweden, Germany and the host country Estonia were tipped as winners, but it was Marie N (Marija Naumova) who lifted the trophy.

S48 · E1The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 2003-05-24 · 190 min

A record 26 countries took part in the Eurovision Song Contest in the Latvian capital Riga. The slogan for 2003 was Rendezvous in Riga. Ukraine made its debut in the competition and sent one of the country's biggest stars, Olexandr Ponomariov. Pop duo t.A.T.u. who only month before the contest had a major worldwide hit with All The Things She Said, represented Russia in Riga. The pair caused mischief during the event week by regularly disrupting the rehearsal schedule and failing to attend press conferences. Turkey won the contest for the first time after one of the closest finishes in the contest for years. Slovenia, the last country to deliver its results, had the casting vote. Belgium finished second with Russia in third place.

S49 · E1Semi-final 2004-05-12 · 120 min

In 2003, it was decided that a Semi-Final would be held in 2004 with only the so-called 'Big Four' (Germany, UK, France and Spain) plus the ten most successful countries from the 2003 ranking having a place in the Final. Ten remaining countries would qualify from the Semi-Final, which was held on the Wednesday prior to the Eurovision Song Contest Final night on Saturday. 22 countries decided to took part in the 2004 Semi-Final, all countries used telephone and SMS voting. Several new countries entered in 2004; Andorra, Albania and Belarus along with Serbia & Montenegro. Monaco returned to the contest after a 25-year absence.

S49 · E2Final 2004-05-15 · 196 min

Ten countries qualified from the Semi-Final: Serbia & Montenegro, Ukraine, Greece, Albania, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Malta, Croatia and FYR Macedonia. Greece sent one of its biggest stars to Istanbul, Sakis Rouvas, who gave an energetic performance of his song Shake It. Similarly Serbia & Montenegro was represented by a singer who was big in the Balkans, Željko Joksimović.