| abstract | - The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 was the 48th annual Eurovision Song Contest. The contest took place in Riga, Latvia on 24 May 2003, following Marie N's win in the 2002 contest with the song I Wanna. Turkey got their first (and so far, only) win with the song Everyway That I Can by Sertab Erener, with Belgium finishing second and Russia third in one of the tightest races for the title since 1991. The United Kingdom suffered their most embarrassing finish ever, finishing in last place with the dreaded Nul Points. Twenty-six countries participated, which saw the return of Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, and Poland after having been relegated from competing the previous year, Portugal returning to the contest after withdrawing the previous year, while Ukraine participated in the contest for the first time. Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Macedonia, and Switzerland were required to withdraw due to their poor results in the 2002 contest. It was the first time that Latvia hosted the contest, having debuted in 2000. Three cities were considered as the host city of the contest: Riga, Ventspils, and Jūrmala. LTV chose the Skonto Hall as the venue after conducting a lengthy bidding process. The official sponsors for the contest were telecom company Latvijas Mobilais Telefons and Latvian bank Parex Banka. Special guests Lys Assia, Elton John, Ed Lu, and Yuri Malenchenko appeared live through satellite from different locations to communicate with the hosts and spectators.
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