The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 was the 47th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 25 May 2002 at the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, Estonia, and presented by Annely Peebo and Marko Matvere. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (ETV), who staged the event after winning the for with the song "Everybody" by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL. It was the first Eurovision Song Contest held in one of the former Soviet republics.
Broadcasters from twenty-four countries participated in the contest. , , , , , , and returned after their relegation from the previous edition. , , , , and were relegated due to their poor results in 2001. It was the first (and only) time Ireland and Norway were relegated from the contest. was also set to sit out this year, but when announced their non-participation, due to internal problems at its broadcaster, it left a spot open for Latvia to take, as the country had finished higher the year before than any of the other relegated countries.
The winner was Latvia with the song "I Wanna", performed by Marie N, who wrote it alongside Marats Samauskis. , the , , and rounded out the top five. Malta achieved their best result in their Eurovision history, coming second. Further down the table, finished twenty-fourth and last, their worst result up until that point, despite having been declared one of the favourites to win the competition beforehand.
Location
200px|thumb|[[Unibet Arena|Saku Suurhall, Tallinn – host venue of the 2002 contest.]]
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki in Finland. Tallinn's Old Town is one of the best preserved and intact medieval cities in Europe and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Venue
Early in the proceedings, media outlets had begun speculating whether (ETV) would be able to host the contest, citing a lack of a suitable venue and budgetary concerns. Due to this, Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) and Dutch broadcaster (NOS) both expressed interest in hosting in the event in respective countries instead of Estonia. However, worries were put to rest when a combination of fundraising activities and the Estonian Government enabled them to host the event. The Saku Suurhall was ultimately chosen as the venue for the contest. It is the largest indoor arena in Estonia, built in 2001 and holds up to 10,000 people. It is named after the Estonian brewery and soft drink company Saku.
Participants
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) had originally set the total number of participants to 22, but when it increased that number to 24, it granted and , which had finished 16th and 17th in , the opportunity to enter. Portuguese broadcaster (RTP) declined to enter the contest due to internal problems. This allowed eventual winner , who finished 18th in 2001, to enter. Despite finishing in joint 18th place with the Netherlands in 2001, tiebreaking rules put Latvia higher due to receiving more sets of 8 points.
Broadcasters from a total of 24 countries competed in the 2002 contest, which included the 16 top placing countries from the previous year's contest and Latvia, alongside the seven returning countries, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, Macedonia, Romania, and Switzerland, which had been relegated from competing in the 2001 contest. These seven countries replaced the bottom 5 countries from the 2001 contest - Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, and Poland, all of which were relegated from taking part in this year's contest, as well as Portugal, who decided not to compete. The draw for the running order took place on 9 November 2001. Sahlene representing Estonia, had provided backing vocals for and . Monica Anghel had represented , but failed to progress from the qualifying round. In addition, Christina Argyri, who represented as part of , and , who represented with , provided backing vocals for the same country.
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
|+ Eurovision Song Contest 2002 participants
|-
! scope="col" | Country
! scope="col" | Broadcaster
! scope="col" | Artist
! scope="col" | Song
! scope="col" | Language
! scope="col" | Songwriter(s)
|-
! scope="row" |
| ORF
| Manuel Ortega
| "Say a Word"
| English
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| VRT
|
| "Sister"
| English
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| PBSBiH
| Maja
| "" <small>()</small>
| Serbian, English
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| HRT
| Vesna Pisarović
| "Everything I Want"
| English
| Milana Vlaović
|-
! scope="row" |
| CyBC
| One
| "Gimme"
| English
| George Theofanous
|-
! scope="row" |
| DR
| Malene
| "Tell Me Who You Are"
| English
| Michael Ronson
|-
! scope="row" |
| ETV
| Sahlene
| "Runaway"
| English
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| YLE
| Laura
| "Addicted to You"
| English
|
|-
! scope="row" |
|
| Sandrine François
| ""
| French
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| NDR
| Corinna May
| "I Can't Live Without Music"
| English
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| ERT
| Michalis Rakintzis
| "S.A.G.A.P.O."
| English
| Michalis Rakintzis
|-
! scope="row" |
| IBA
| Sarit Hadad
| "Light a Candle"
| Hebrew, English
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| LTV
| Marie N
| "I Wanna"
| English
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| LRT
| Aivaras
| "Happy You"
| English
| Aivaras Stepukonis
|-
! scope="row" |
| MRT
| Karolina
| "" <small>()</small>
| Macedonian
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| PBS
| Ira Losco
| "7th Wonder"
| English
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| TVR
| Monica Anghel and Marcel Pavel
| "Tell Me Why"
| English
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| ORT
| Prime Minister
| "Northern Girl"
| English
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| RTVSLO
| Sestre
| ""
| Slovene
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| TVE
| Rosa
| "Europe's Living a Celebration"
| Spanish
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| SVT
| Afro-dite
| "Never Let It Go"
| English
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| SRG SSR
| Francine Jordi
| ""
| French
| Francine Lehmann
|-
! scope="row" |
| TRT
| and Group Safir
| ""
| Turkish, English
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| BBC
| Jessica Garlick
| "Come Back"
| English
| Martyn Baylay
|}
Format
For the first time, a slogan (or theme) was implemented. This year's theme was called 'A Modern Fairytale', which was evident in the postcards shown between the songs, which showed classic fairytales ending in modern Estonian situations.
The postcards continued with the opening theme of "A Modern Fairytale" taking well known fairy tales and translating them into Estonian life through short films, with a moral at the end of each one of them.
Contest overview<span class="anchor" id="Results"></span><span class="anchor" id="Participants and results"></span>
<!-- Anchors in the header are the old section names -->
The contest was held on 25 May 2002 at 22:00 EEST (21:00 CEST) and was won by Latvia. The table below outlines the participating countries, the order in which they performed, the competing artists and songs, and the results of the voting.
Latvia won with 176 points. Malta came second with 164 points, with Estonia, United Kingdom, France, Cyprus, Spain, Sweden, Romania and Russia completing the top ten. Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Lithuania and Denmark occupied the bottom five positions.
{| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
|+ Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 2002
|-
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" | Country
! scope="col" | Artist
! scope="col" | Song
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Points
! scope="col" | Place
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 1
|
| One
| "Gimme"
| 85
| 6
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 2
|
|
| "Come Back"
| 111
| 3
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 3
|
|
| "Say a Word"
| 26
| 18
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 4
|
|
| "S.A.G.A.P.O."
| 27
| 17
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 5
|
| Rosa
| "Europe's Living a Celebration"
| 81
| 7
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 6
|
|
| "Everything I Want"
| 44
| 11
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 7
|
| Prime Minister
| "Northern Girl"
| 55
| 10
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 8
|
| Sahlene
| "Runaway"
| 111
| 3
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 9
|
| Karolina
| ""
| 25
| 19
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 10
|
|
| "Light a Candle"
| 37
| 12
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 11
|
|
| ""
| 15
| 22
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 12
|
| Afro-dite
| "Never Let It Go"
| 72
| 8
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 13
|
| Laura
| "Addicted to You"
| 24
| 20
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 14
|
| Malene
| "Tell Me Who You Are"
| 7
| 24
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 15
|
| Maja
| ""
| 33
| 13
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 16
|
| Sergio and the Ladies
| "Sister"
| 33
| 13
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 17
|
|
| ""
| 104
| 5
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 18
|
|
| "I Can't Live Without Music"
| 17
| 21
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 19
|
| and Group Safir
| ""
| 29
| 16
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 20
|
|
| "7th Wonder"
| 164
| 2
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 21
|
| and Marcel Pavel
| "Tell Me Why"
| 71
| 9
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 22
|
| Sestre
| ""
| 33
| 13
|- style="font-weight:bold; background:gold;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 23
|
|
| "I Wanna"
| 176
| 1
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 24
|
| Aivaras
| "Happy You"
| 12
| 23
|}
Spokespersons
Each participating broadcaster appointed a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing, in English or French, the votes for its respective country.
- Melani Steliou
- Anne Igartiburu
- Duško Ćurlić
- Arina Sharapova
- Ilomai Küttim "Elektra"
- Biljana Debarlieva
- Diana Jörg
- Kristin Kaspersen
- Marion Rung
- Signe Svendsen
- Segmedina Srna
- Leonard Miron
- Nuša Derenda
- Loreta Tarozaitė
Detailed voting results<span class="anchor" id="Scoreboard"></span>
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According to the EBU rules, every broadcaster was free to make a choice between the full televoting system and the mixed 50-50 system. In exceptional circumstances, where televoting was not possible at all, only a jury was used. In the EBU's rules for the 2002 contest, it was stated; In the televoting, households shall not be permitted to vote more than three times.
At this contest (and the following one) the broadcaster decided to reverse the song recaps - starting instead with the last performed song (24) and finishing with the first performed song (1). This was due to the apparent preference within public vote for songs in the later part of the running order in comparison to the songs nearer to the start.
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
|+ Detailed voting results of the Eurovision Song Contest 2002
|-
! colspan="2" |
! scope="col" style="vertical-align:bottom"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
|-
! rowspan="24"
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Cyprus
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 85 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 3 || || 12 || 6 || 10 || 6 || 4 || || || || 1 || 4 || || || 3 || || || || 12 || 8 || 4 || 8 || 4
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | United Kingdom
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 111 || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 12 || 7 || || || || 6 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 2 || 8 || 6 || 7 || 6 || 1 || 8 || 2 || 10 || || 8 || 5 || 8
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Austria
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 26 || 1 || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || || || 1 || || || || 7 || || || || || 5 || || || 12 || || || || ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Greece
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 27 || 12 || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || 1 || 8 || || || || || || || || || || || || || || 6 || || ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Spain
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 81 || 7 || 2 || || 4 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 6 || || || || 6 || 12 || 7 || || || 6 || 12 || 12 || 7 || || || || || ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Croatia
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 44 || 6 || || 6 || 5 || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || || 5 || || 5 || || || || 2 || || || 3 || || || || 12 || ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Russia
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 55 || 5 || || || 2 || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 10 || || 1 || || || 3 || || || || || || || 8 || 10 || || 10 || 6
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Estonia
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 111 || || 7 || 3 || || || 5 || 3 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 6 || 2 || || 12 || 10 || 8 || 10 || 4 || || 4 || 8 || 2 || 2 || 6 || 12 || 7
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Macedonia
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 25 || 3 || || || || || 4 || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || || || 1 || || || || || || || 5 || 12 || || ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Israel
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 37 || || 5 || || || || || || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 1 || || 5 || 1 || || 2 || 10 || 5 || || || 5 || || 3 ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Switzerland
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 15 || || || 5 || || || || || || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || || || || || 3 || 2 || || || 3 || 1 || 1 ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Sweden
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 72 || || 1 || 4 || 1 || || || || 8 || || 3 || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 7 || 10 || 12 || 1 || || || 4 || || || 7 || 4 || 10
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Finland
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 24 || 2 || || || || || || || 5 || 1 || || || 10 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 3 || 3 || || || || || || || || ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Denmark
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 7 || || || || || || || || || || 4 || || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || || || || 1 || 1 || || || || 1
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Bosnia and Herzegovina
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 33 || || || 7 || || 3 || 7 || || || 3 || || || 6 || || 2 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || || || || 3 || || 2 || ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Belgium
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 33 || || 4 || || || 1 || || 7 || || || || || 3 || || 4 || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 2 || || 10 || || || || || 2
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | France
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 104 || || 10 || || 3 || 8 || || || 3 || || 7 || 10 || 8 || 12 || 5 || 8 || 10 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 6 || || || 4 || 3 || 2 || 5
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Germany
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 17 || || || 1 || || 2 || || 2 || 1 || || || 3 || || || || || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 3 || 4 || 1 || || ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Turkey
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 29 || || || || || 4 || 3 || || || 8 || || || || || || || || 7 || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || 7 || || ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Malta
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 164 || 10 || 12 || 8 || 6 || 10 || 12 || 5 || 7 || 10 || 10 || 4 || 4 || 2 || 12 || 4 || 7 || 6 || 10 || 5 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || 10 || 7 || 3
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Romania
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 71 || 8 || || || 8 || 5 || || 12 || || 12 || 8 || || || || || || || 4 || 1 || 7 || 6 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Slovenia
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 33 || || 6 || 2 || || 7 || 8 || || || 2 || || 2 || || || || 1 || || 5 || || || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || ||
|- style="background:gold;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; font-weight:bold; background:gold;" | Latvia
| style="text-align:right; font-weight:bold;" | 176 || 4 || 8 || 10 || 10 || 12 || 2 || 10 || 12 || 7 || 12 || 8 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 5 || 8 || 8 || 12 || 6 || 7 || || 5 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 12
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Lithuania
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 12 || || || || || || || 4 || 2 || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || 6 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" |
|}
12 points
Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! scope="col" | N.
! scope="col" | Contestant
! scope="col" | Nation(s) giving 12 points
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| || , , , ,
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="2" | 3
| || , ,
|-
| || , ,
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="3" | 2
| || ,
|-
| || ,
|-
| || ,
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="7" | 1
| ||
|-
| ||
|-
| ||
|-
| ||
|-
| ||
|-
| ||
|-
| ||
|}
Allegation of vote swapping
This year saw allegations that the juries in certain countries were guilty of swapping votes among each other. According to the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet, The French Head of Delegation allegedly said that members of the Cypriot delegation had approached him to swap votes. In addition to Cyprus, allegations were also made toward Greece, Russia, Macedonia, Malta and Romania.
Broadcasts<span class="anchor" id="Commentators"></span>
<!-- Anchor in the header is the old section name -->
Each participating broadcaster was required to relay live and in full the contest via television. Non-participating EBU member broadcasters were also able to relay the contest as "passive participants"; any passive countries wishing to participate in the following year's event were also required to provide a live broadcast of the contest or a deferred broadcast within 24 hours.
|-
| FM4
| Stermann & Grissemann
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="rowgroup" rowspan="4" |
| rowspan="3" | VRT
| TV1
| André Vermeulen and Bart Peeters
| style="text-align:center" rowspan="3" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| RTVFBiH
| FTV1
|
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| CyBC
|
| Evi Papamichail
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| DR
| DR1
| Keld Heick
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| colspan="2" | ETV
| Marko Reikop
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="rowgroup" rowspan="4" |
| rowspan="4" | YLE
| YLE TV2
| Maria Guzenina and
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
| YLE FST
|
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
| YLE Radio Suomi
| Iris Mattila and
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
| YLE Radio Vega
|
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" |
|
| France 3
| Marc-Olivier Fogiel and Dave
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| LTV
|
|
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| LRT
| LRT
|
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| PBS
| TVM
| John Bundy
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| TVR
|
|
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| colspan="2" | ORT
|
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| RTVSLO
| SLO 1
|
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="rowgroup" rowspan="2" |
| TVE
|