Eurovision Song Contest
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The Eurovision Song Contest is an international song competition, organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and featuring participants representing primarily European countries. Each participating country submits an original song to be performed on live television and radio, transmitted to national broadcasters via the EBU's Eurovision and Euroradio networks, with competing countries then casting votes for the other countries' songs to determine the winner.
In 1999, France, Germany, Spain, and the UK became automatic qualifiers as the highest-paying EBU members. Contestants were also free to perform in any language, a rule not seen since the 1970s. In a controversial move, the orchestra became optional, meaning all entries performed to a backing track for the first time. Latvia withdrew late, and after Hungary declined the offer to participate, the final spot went to Portugal. Meanwhile, Finland, Greece, FYR Macedonia, Romania, and Switzerland were unable to compete due to low average scores in previous years. The Cypriot entry, a pre-contest favourite, received only two points. After the show, Croatia was sanctioned for using synthesized backing vocals against the live-vocal rule. As a penalty, they lost 33% of their points, which negatively impacted their five-year average score.
