2004 Eurovision Song Contest dates announced

Geneva, 2 September 2003 – The European Broadcasting Union and TRT, the EBU Member in Turkey, officially announced the dates for the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest today.

The event will be held in Istanbul with a brand new format: two televised contests in one week – a Qualifying Round and a Grand Final, both broadcast live.

The Qualifying Round will be broadcast on Wednesday, 12 May 2004. More than 20 countries are expected to compete for the 10 remaining places in the Grand Final, to be aired on Saturday, 15 May.

14 countries already have a secured place in the Grand Final: the winner and the highest scoring countries from the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest, along with the four largest countries in the competition (i.e. France, Germany, Spain, and the UK). These 14 countries are Austria (ORF), Belgium (RTBF), France (FT3), Germany (ARD/NDR), Iceland (RUV), Ireland (RTE), Norway (NRK), Poland (PRT/TVP), Romania (TVR), Russia (C1R), Spain (TVE), Sweden (SVT), Turkey (TRT), and the United Kingdom (BBC).

The exact number of countries wishing to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 will not be known until next month, after the deadline for entries on 1 October 2003.

TRT Television has still to decide on the venue for the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest, which will be announced at a later date.

Svante Stockselius, the EBU executive supervisor for the Eurovision Song Contest, is looking forward to another landmark music event. “Turkey is a very exciting venue for the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest in the sense that the event will be held with one foot in Europe and the other in Asia, and TRT is working very hard to showcase the new-look Contest," he said.

As TRT gears up for the challenge of hosting two major television events, the chairman of the Organizing Committee, Bulent Osma, said: “TRT really feels great responsibility for holding a top-quality song contest, not only to present the best of Turkish culture but also to produce two top-class live European TV shows in just four days."

Turkey won the right to stage the Eurovision Song Contest when Sertab Erener won the 2003 competition in Riga, Latvia, with the entry “Every way that I want”. It was the first time that Turkey had won the contest, after taking part for 20 years.

For further information:

Svante Stockselius
Executive Supervisor for the Eurovision Song Contest,
+46 (0) 708 86 48 30,
stockelius@ebu.ch

Aline Bussat Ingwersen
Media Officer,
+41 (0) 22 717 20 38 or +41 (0) 79 774 8644,
ingwersen@ebu.ch