2003: An Overview
A “Magical Rendevous” in Riga, Latvia
It was the end of May, I was two weeks away from graduating high school. I watched the show chatting on AIM with an on-line friend I'd met on a t.A.T.u. forum. We were both American, so we had no idea what to expect from The Eurovision Song Contest. All we wanted was for our girls from Russia to take the prize. What followed was a completely insane trip through European culture.The premise of the show already excited me. I was a geography nerd, I knew all the countries, but had I ever heard a song from Latvia? No. Had I ever heard a Slovene accent? Not at all. Here was my chance to experience a little bit of Europe from my home in the USA. I was enthralled. I still wanted t.A.T.u. to win, but that became secondary as I suddenly wanted to know more about the contest itself. Why did the hosts switch between English and French? What was with the awkward gags? Was that Elton John?
The contest was hosted in Riga, Latvia. The contest the previous year was held in Estonia and the years before in Sweden and Denmark, so this was the fourth year in a row the contest was held in a Baltic Country. The 2003 contest opened with two hosts Marie N and Renārs Kaupers, the winner of the 2002 contest and a former Eurovision entrant, dressed in bizarre coats. What followed was a foreign mess of gags and implied romance, appearances of men from the International Space Station and, yes, even Elton John appeared making an appeal for HIV/AIDS Research. They also spoke to the very first winner of Eurovision, which at the time I felt was special but I've since found out she makes lots of appearances on Eurovision. The hosts spoke in ok, almost exaggerated English that took awhile to adjust to. Just as I got used to them, the performances started. I finally grasped how enormous the crowd was in the Latvian stadium and abroad. The myriad of flags in the crowd was awe inspiring even with the low resolution 2003 era streaming.The contest saw the return of Iceland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Portugal. Ukraine was making it's Eurovision debut. Some performances were genuinely good, some unintentionally funny, others were worth going to get a snack... but I was there for Russia. When Turkey performed, I was impressed, but I was certain t.A.T.u. would still win. When the Russian girls appeared on stage there was a cry of cheers and boos. They were the first to get booed, for reasons dealing from Russia's politics and the perception that the girls would do something too controversial for the contest. They performed solidly but in my mind I knew Turkey had performed better. More songs followed with only cheers, it seemed like Russia was the only country to get a negative response. I was worried, especially after Belgium performed. It was really good. At this point, I realized just what a competition this was. After the last song, the hosts came back to continue their fake romance.While the votes are being counted, the host country presents what's called an interval act. The 2003 interval act really wasn't much compared to what I'd see in the upcoming years. The hosts produce an awkward introduction and then a film plays presenting different 'moods' of Latvian music. The video is quite nice actually.
Next was the voting. It felt like it took ages, though the voting process was just under an hour. In Eurovision, each participating country presents votes for 10 songs, from 1-8, 10 and 12 points. Because the votes are repeated in English and then French, the final 12 points has become known as the "douze points." Any country that gets zero points is then known as receiving "nil points." In French the word "points" is pronounced sort of like "pwa." The show is always presented in English and French, the official languages of the European Broadcasting Union, the company that produces the show along with the host broadcaster. In this case it's, last years winner, Latvia's Latvijas Televīzija (LTV).The voting is a mix of awkward greetings, miscommunication, audio delays, and so many accents. Russia's points were all across the board. They actually received the most douze points of the night, each time t.A.t.u. getting 12 points the crowd erupting in boos. Turkey however got a fair amount of Twelves as well, the crowd reacting with cheers. Turkey gets points from every country but Russia didn't get any from the UK or Ireland. The Russians got less points from western countries than Turkey. The crowd would cheer when Russia got low points. Then there was Belgium. It was doing very well, over taking both Russia and Turkey at times. It was definitely, as what British commentator at the time Terry Wogan called, a "three horsed race." It was clear the audience wanted Turkey to win.It wasn't till the final country's votes that the winner was decided. At the time, Belgium led with 162 points with Turkey at 157 and Russia at 152. If Russia won, it'd be the fifth time in a row that the contest would be won by a country bordering the Baltic Sea. If Belgium won, it'd be the first time they'd have won since 1986. For both Turkey and Russia, it would be their first win. The last country to vote was Slovenia. The Slovenian commentator walked off, jokingly, to the frustration of the crowd. He returns, giving only 3 points to Belgium. When Turkey receives 10 points the crowd goes wild. Even with Russia getting 12 points, they can't catch up. Turkey had won. Russia had come in third, with Belgium at 2nd. I was disappointed but not entirely. I feigned complete sadness with my friend on AIM but deep down I was still pretty excited.Obviously, I stuck with the Eurovision Song Contest. I was in after that one show, but just before the start of voting that night there was a big announcement. The next year the contest would be split into a semi-final and a grand final. Indeed, the 2003 show was the last of an era for the, at the time, 48 year old competition. The final of what I now call "The Classic Eurovisions." It was even the final contest to have a unique logo (pictured above).
The Picks of 2003
2003: The Best (Belgium)
2003: The Worst (United Kingdom)
2003: The Guilty (Spain)
2003: The Weird (Austria)
2003: The Hilarious (Romania)
2003: The Honorable (Russia)
2003: The Winner
Grand Final Song Recap May 24, 2003: