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Host country: Latvia
Venue: Skonto Hall, Riga
Date: 24 May 2003
Presenters: Marija Naumova, Renars Kaupers
Won by: Turkey

Every single year I shake my head in bewilderment and disbelief following the result of the Eurovision Song Contest, and this year was no different. The event ended in a very close three horse race which left Turkey the winner, with a song which some have felt bore more then a passing resemblance to Holly Valance's hit song, 'Kiss Kiss', although that itself was based on a Turkish song - with the same writer as the Euro entry. Admittedly, Sertab Erener's performance (left) did possess one of the more memorable dance routines this year - presumably that's what swung it for them.

However, 2003 will be chiefly remembered for one thing - and that's not the presence of the notorious Russian girl duo tATu. Already famous across Europe, and with a UK number one under their belt, tATu were giving Eurovision organisers enough hot flushes to consider running a recording of the dress rehearsal if their performance turned too racy. Plus there were doubts whether one half of tATu, Yulia Volkova, who had reportedly been taken to hospital with damaged vocal chords, would make it on stage. In the event she did, and the performance passed without any controversy at all. But the rendition of their song bordered on tuneless, and it's probable that it was only their fame that helped them secure third place - a mere three points behind Turkey.

But Eurovision fans in the UK will remember 2003 solely for the being the year that we notched up our first ever 'nul points'. War in Iraq, coupled with an appalling vocal performance from Liverpool duo Jemini (right), sent us right to the bottom of the table. As it was, I wasn't expecting great things with a particularly weak song chosen for us this year - but then Gemma Abbey and Chris Crombey managed to sing it completely out of tune. The UK has fared poorly four times in the last five years - the BBC needs to look very closely at the way our entry is chosen in future to avoid any more disasters like this.

As with last year, this year's contest proved that the ballad is an endangered species, with just a smattering of them between the up-tempo songs. But we did have all of the usual recurring Eurovision stereotypes. We had the nutty entry, usually Germany's responsibility, but this year brought to us by Austria's beret-clad Alf Poier (below) - the 'eejit' - who sung one of the most bizarre, and rather mickey-taking, songs in recent Eurovision history, and came on stage with some stuffed animals. Inexplicably, he finished sixth.

One country always tries to go hip and happening on us every year in an attempt to drag Eurovision into the 20th century - and this year it was Romania's Nicola who attempted to mix us up some vaguely junglist flavas in a area. 2003's pointless gimmick was courtesy of the Ukraine who marked their debut into the contest by bringing a contortionist onto the stage! The gravel voice contribution this year was from bright red haired Michal Wisniewski from Polish group Ich Troje; and the stereotypical Eurovision song title was brought to us by Slovenia with 'Nanana'.

And the accordion/traditional instrument element was this year contributed by Belgium's Urban Trad, who also threw in some bagpipes for good measure. (They also took the 'free language' rule to a new level - by making up their own). Recognising that world music/folkish vibes have tended to do well in Eurovisions of recent years paid off, as they almost won; but they had to make do with second place, just two points behind Turkey.

One interesting point to note: last year's top three Latvia, Malta and the United Kingdom - were this year's bottom three...

Click here to view the 2003 scoreboard (opens in new window)

Countries voting are shown across the top, with each country's cumulative total after the country has voted shown in large type, and the points awarded in small type. Each country gave 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points to its top ten songs
BBC broadcast: Saturday 24 May 2003, 8.00-11.09pm. Commentary: BBC1 - Terry Wogan, Radio 2 - Ken Bruce. UK vote spokesperson: Lorraine Kelly

The full breakdown for the UK vote was as follows: Ireland 86,653 (12); Sweden 41,099 (10); Austria 40,521 (8); Turkey 37,280 (7); Norway 31,050 (6); Belgium 30,631 (5); Germany 29,706 (4); Estonia 26,563 (3); Poland 25,972 (2); Netherlands 24,269 (1); Greece 24,027; Russia 23,497; Iceland 23,333; Romania 17,957; Malta 16,763; Spain 16,131; Cyprus 15,892; Latvia 11,344; Portugal 11,344; Israel 9,415; Croatia 8,762; France 7,244; Ukraine 6,528; Slovenia 5,976; Bosnia-Herzegovina 3,845

Click below to see more images from the night's contest:

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