The 49th Eurovision took place in Istanbul on May 15, 2004. For the first time there was a semifinal so all the countries could take part every year and new countries could be welcomed. Also Monaco returned for the first time since 1979. The top ten countries from 2003 had a place already in the final and all the others had to qualify from the semifinal. Albania, Andorra, Belarus and Serbia-Montenegro debuted. All 33 countries that televised the semifinal were able to vote. Israel just missed the final being 11th and Switzerland last with null points. Zeljko Joksimovic, Sakis Rouvas, Lena Philipsson and Tose Proeski were there. Belgium's Xandee was one of the biggest favourites but finished 22nd. But Norway came last for the tenth time! New countries Ukraine and Serbia-Montenegro fought for the victory and in the end Ruslana's show took over Zeljko's atmospheric ballad.Personal note: Istanbul was my very first Eurovision. Fantastic week and atmosphere in the hall. In the semifinal I was sitting with a lot of Albanians who were so shocked they made it to the final. And so sad they didn't have tickets to the final so I got their flag and waved it like crazy in the final. I was also waving the Swedish flag, and who knows me knows it takes Lena Philipsson on stage to make that happen!
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