Today the 44th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest 1999 was held 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.
For the first time since the 1976 contest the participants had full freedom to perform in any language, and not simply that of the country they represented. This led to a marked increase in the number of entries which were performed in English. Additionally, the rules were modified to make the orchestra a non-obligatory feature of the contest of which organising broadcasters were free to opt out. IBA chose not to provide an orchestra, with all entries subsequently being performed with backing tracks, and no orchestra has been included as part of the competition since.
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.
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