At the start of the 21st century, Sweden hosted the Contest in 2000, after winning their fourth victory the previous year in Israel with Charlotte Nilsson. The Contest was held on 13 May 2000 at the Globe Arena in Stockholm and featured twenty four participating countries.
Here’s a highlight of some of the most memorable artists from that year:
LATVIA
BrainStorm – My Star - 3rd place
This was Latvia’s very first appearance at Eurovision and the country did exceedingly well, placing third! BrainStorm have a popular following both in Latvia and their fellow Baltic neighbours – Estonia and Lithuania. Just a two years later, Latvia went on to win the contest in 2002, and the group’s lead singer, Renārs Kaupers, was one of the presenters when Latvia hosted the Contest the following year.
ESTONIA
Ines – Once In A Lifetime - 4th place
Estonia debuted the Contest in 1994, so by 2000 they were old hands. Ines (or to give her full name, Eda-Ines Etta) was the running favourite to win the 2000 Contest, but narrowly lost out to Denmark. Although it wasn’t to be this time, the following year, 2001, Estonia scored their first (and to date only) Eurovision win. Ines is a major recording artist in Estonia and has won the countries Female Artist of the year twice.
ICELAND
August & Telma – Tell Me - 12th place
August & Telma represented Iceland with this up beat little ditto that had a 1960s feel about it. Not much is known about either artist as they haven’t collaborated together since Eurovision, however August did go on to release a solo album in 2007 titled “It is not certain that it will crack”.
UK
Nicki French – Don’t Play That Song Again - 16th place
The reigning queen of the UK Eurovision scene - Nicki did the UK proud in Stockholm and has an enormous following amongst dedicated Eurovision fans. In recent years, Nicki has combined acting, on top of her musical skills, and since 2008, has been a regular stars in pantomime every December. Of course, we couldn’t consider starting EuroStarz back in 2016 without including Nicki and she featured as our host at the very first EuroStarz event as well as performing a full set herself!
SWEDEN Roger Pontare – When Spirits Are Calling My Name - 7th place
As usual, Sweden shows everyone how to do Eurovision well! Roger Pontare is only one of two contestants of Sami descent (the indigenous people that inhabit Northern Scandinavia, also known as Laplanders); the other being Fred Buljo of the Norwegian group, Keiino (2019). This was Roger’s second appearance at Eurovision. In 1994, he formed a duet with famous Swedish jazz singer, Marie Bergman.
DENMARK
The Olsen Brothers – Fly On The Wings of Love – Winner
This was Denmark’s second Eurovision victory after an interval of 37 years since their first win in 1963. Surprisingly, this entry wasn’t the bookies favourite to win! The Olsen Brothers (Jørgen & Niels) were the oldest contestants to win the Contest, and had made a total of six previous attempts to get to Eurovision, via Denmark’s National Selection Show, Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. This uplifting song was co-written by Jørgen. Celebrity fans of the brothers include Cliff Richard and Björn Ulvaeus of Abba.
Following Denmarks memorable win, the contest was held in Copenhagen the following year and the Olsen brothers opened the show with their iconic track.
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