The Eurovision Song Contest 1999 was the 44th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 29 May 1999 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 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. , , , , , , and , having participated in the , 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 , , , and returned to the contest, having last participated in , while made its first contest appearance since .
The winner was with the song "Take Me to Your Heaven", composed by Lars Diedricson, written by Gert Lengstrand and performed by Charlotte Nilsson. , , , and rounded out the top five, with Iceland achieving its best ever result and Croatia equalling its previous best. It was the first contest since that countries were allowed to perform in the language of their choice, and not necessary the language of their country. It was also the first ever contest not to feature an orchestra or live music accompanying the competing entries.
Location
The 1999 contest took place in Jerusalem, Israel, following the country's victory at the with the song "Diva", performed by Dana International. It was the second time that Israel had staged the contest, following the also held in Jerusalem. The selected venue was the Ussishkin Auditorium of the International Convention Centre, commonly known in Hebrew as (), which also served as the host venue for Israel's previous staging of the event.
The prospect of Israel staging the contest resulted in protest by members of the Orthodox Jewish community in the country, including opposition by the deputy mayor of Jerusalem Haim Miller to the contest being staged in the city. Additional concerns over funding for the event also contributed to speculation that the contest could be moved to Malta or the United Kingdom, the nations which had finished in the top three alongside Israel the previous year. Financial guarantees by the Israeli government however helped to ensure that the contest would take place in Israel. The possibility of holding the event in an open air venue was discussed, however concerns over security led to the choice of an indoor venue for the event. A tight security presence was felt during the rehearsal week as a precaution against potential disruption from Palestinian militant groups.
Participating countries
Per the rules of the contest, twenty-three countries were allowed to participate in the event, a reduction from the twenty-five which took part in the and 1998 contests. made its first appearance since , and , , , and returned after being relegated from the previous year's event. was unable to return from relegation due to failing to broadcast the 1998 contest, as specified in the rules for that edition. 1998 participants , , , , , , and were absent from this edition.
Several of the performers taking part in the contest had previously competed as lead artists in past editions. Two artists returned as lead artists in this year's event, with 's Doris Dragović having taken part in representing , and 's Darja Švajger making a second appearance for her country following the . A number of former competitors also returned to perform as backing vocalists for some of the competing entries: Stefán Hilmarsson, who represented twice in and , provided backing vocals for Selma; Kenny Lübcke, who represented in , returned to provide backing for Trine Jepsen and Michael Teschl; Christopher Scicluna and Moira Stafrace, who represented in , provided backing for Times Three; Gabriel Forss, who represented in as a member of the group Blond, was among Charlotte Nilsson's backing vocalists; and Linda Williams, who represented the in , returned as a backing vocalist for 's Vanessa Chinitor. Additionally, Evelin Samuel competed for in this year's contest, having previously served as backing vocalist for Maarja-Liis Ilus in 1997.