| abstract | - The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 was the 47th edition. It took place on 25 May 2002 at the Saku Suurhall Arena in Estonia. The contest was won by Latvia's Marie N and her song I Wanna, which won by a tight margin over Malta's Ira Losco. Third place went to both the United Kingdom and host country Estonia, with France completing the Top 5. There had been worries about whether ETV would be able to fund the event; however, worries were put to rest when a combination of fundraising activities and the Estonian Government enabled them to host the event. The theme implemented for this year's contest was 'A Modern Fairytale', which was evident in the postcards aired between the songs, which showed classic fairytales ending with Estonian situations. The show began with 2001 winners Tanel Padar and Dave Benton performing a reprise of their winning entry Everybody. The hosts for the night, Annely Peebo and Marko Matvere, gave a performance of "A Little Story in the Music", composed by Raimond Valgre and arranged especially for the event, during the commercial break between the songs from Sweden and Finland. A total of 24 countries competed in the 2002 Contest, which included the top 17 countries from the previous years contest, alongside the seven returning countries which had been relegated from competing in the 2001 Contest. These countries replaced the bottom 6 countries from the 2001 contest, which were relegated from taking part in this year's Contest.
|
