Competing countries Relegated countries unable to participate Countries that participated in the past but not in 1998
Vote
Voting system
Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 points to their ten favourite songs
Winning song
Israel
"Diva"
1997 ← Eurovision Song Contest → 1999
The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and presented by Terry Wogan and Ulrika Jonsson, the contest was held in the United Kingdom following the country's victory at the 1997 contest with the song "Love Shine a Light" by Katrina and the Waves.
Twenty-five countries participated in the contest. Six participating countries in the 1997 edition were absent, with Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Iceland and Russia relegated due to achieving the lowest average points totals over the previous five contests and Italy actively choosing not to participate. These countries were replaced by Macedonia in its first contest appearance, and previously relegated and absent countries Belgium, Finland, Israel, Romania and Slovakia.
The winner was Israel with the song "Diva", composed by Svika Pick, written by Yoav Ginai and performed by Dana International. The United Kingdom, Malta, the Netherlands and Croatia rounded out the top five. Dana International was the contest's first openly transgender participant and became the contest's first openly LGBTQ+ winning artist; however, her participation for Israel was controversial among sections of Israeli society and resulted in opposition and death threats against her in the run-up to the contest.
It was the first contest in which the results were determined predominantly through televoting, and would become the last contest in which all participants were required to perform in the language of their country and the last to feature an orchestra and live music accompaniment for the competing entries.
and 30 Related for: Eurovision Song Contest 1998 information
The EurovisionSongContest1998 was the 43rd edition of the annual EurovisionSongContest, held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham...
France has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 65 times since its debut at the first contest in 1956. France is one of only seven countries to...
70 songs written by 143 songwriters have won the EurovisionSongContest, an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting...
Hungary has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 17 times since making its debut in 1994. Hungary attempted to participate in 1993 but failed to...
North Macedonia has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 21 times since its official debut in 1998. The country had attempted to participate in...
Bosnia and Herzegovina has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 19 times since making its debut in 1993, after coming second in the qualification...
participated in the EurovisionSongContest since it started in 1956. Winners of the contest have come from twenty-seven of those countries. The contest, organised...
United Kingdom has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 65 times. It first took part in the second contest in 1957 and has entered every year since...
The EurovisionSongContest 2024 is the 68th edition of the EurovisionSongContest. It is taking place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory...
The EurovisionSongContest (French: Concours Eurovision de la chanson), often known simply as Eurovision or by its initialism ESC, is an international...
Luxembourg has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 37 times since its debut at the first contest in 1956. The nation participated in all but one...
The EurovisionSongContest (French: Concours Eurovision de la chanson) was first held in 1956, originally conceived as an experiment in transnational...
has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 45 times since making its debut in 1973. Israel was able to enter the contest as the Israel Broadcasting...
The EurovisionSongContest 1999 was the 44th edition of the EurovisionSongContest, held on 29 May 1999 at the International Convention Centre in Jerusalem...
Romania has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 23 times since its debut in 1994, and has placed in the top ten six times. Its best results were...
participated in the EurovisionSongContest 48 times since making its debut as one of only seven countries to compete at the first contest in 1956, which took...
Monaco has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 24 times since its debut in 1959. The country's only win in the contest came in 1971, when Séverine...
Austria has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 56 times since its debut in 1957. The country has won twice, in 1966 and 2014, and such it holds...
participated in the EurovisionSongContest 54 times since its debut at the 1964 contest. Since then it has missed five contests (1970, 2000, 2002, 2013...
Portugal participated in the EurovisionSongContest1998 with the song "Se eu te pudesse abraçar" written by José Cid. The song was performed by the group...
participated in the EurovisionSongContest1998 with the song "Lass ihn" written by Egon Egemann and Gunvor Guggisberg. The song was performed by Gunvor...
Turkey has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 34 times since its debut in 1975. Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Turkey has...
The EurovisionSongContest 1956 was the first edition of the annual EurovisionSongContest, organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host...
Global Information
Macedonia
