The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 was held in Tallinn, Estonia, and was won by Marie N with her song I Wanna. She represented Latvia, so the contest of 2003 will be held in Riga.

Congratulations to the winner of 2003, Turkey!

Some irrelevant news..

The Saku Suurhall, where the contest in 2002 took place, is ready to provide the venue for Latvia's contest in 2003. It is unclear whether or not Latvia will take up on the offer, since that would mean that Latvia's contest wouldn't be held in Latvia. On the other hand, the Latvian press has written that evidently there isn't a suitable concert hall in Latvia that would meet the requirements of the Eurovision event.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2004 will be bigger than ever: the event will take two days! On the first day there will be a semifinal, on which all countries can enter. On the second day there'll be the final, on which the 24 best countries from the semifinal compete. Both contests will be shown live.

Between then and now..

• 
  France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom are the largest contributing participants and can take part on the contest every year.
• Other countries to enter the contest are
  
  a) the winner of previous year (Latvia);
  
  b) the members of EBU which not admitted in 2002 but have complied with all other rules (mainly they have to broadcast the contest);
  
  c) for the remaining places, until the maximum of 24 participants is reached, those countries which obtained the highest score in 2002.
  
• The order of presentation of the songs in 2003 will be determined by a draw in approximately November 2002.

Participants in 2003 (in alphabetical order by their Finnish names )

• the Netherlands (national finals 1.3.2003)
• Belgium
• Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Spain
• Ireland
• Iceland
• United Kingdom: Cry Baby by Jemini
• Israel
• Austria
• Greece
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Latvia (national finals 1.2.2003)
• Malta (national finals 7.-8.2.2003)
• Norway (national finals 16.2.2003)
• Portugal
• Poland
• France
• Rumania
• Sweden: Give Me Your Love by Fame
  
  National semifinals 15.2. in Jönköping: contestants were Stronger by Crosstalk; Someone, Somewhere, Someday by DeDe; Carnaval by Mendez; Ingen Annan (No-one Else) by Alive featuring Jessie Martin; Crazy in Love by Jill Johnsson; Stop! Look! Listen! by Da Buzz; Television by Markus Landgren; and Let Your Spirit Fly by Pernilla Wahlgren and Jan Johansen. The four who got most votes on the televote were Let Your Spirit Fly, Crazy in Love, Television and Carnaval, and got to the second vote. The contestors from this selection on the national final are Let Your Spirit Fly and Crazy in Love.
  
  
  
  National semifinals 22.2. in Göteborg: contestants were Just Like a Boomerang by Andrés Esteche; Hela Världen för Mig (The whole world for me) by Sanna Nielsen; Let's Go by Kerli and Locatellies; You by Pandora; 15 minuter (15 minutes) by Brandsta City Släckers; Give Me Your Love by Fame; Better Believe It by Aleena; and Not a Sinner Nor a Saint by Alcazar. The four with most televotes on the first voting round were Not a Sinner Nor a Saint, 15 minuter, Give Me Your Love and Hela Världen för Mig. The songs voted to the final are Give Me Your Love and Hela Världen För Mig.
  
  
  
  National semifinals 1.3. in Luleå: the contestants were Bye Bye by Barbados; Tonight's the Night by Shanna Smith; Evig Kärlek (Eternal Love) by Nanne; Genom Eld och Vatten (By Fire and Water) by Sarek; My Love by Sofia Källgren and Robert Wells; Love Is All by Liverpool; Mr Memory by Shirley Clamp; and Stay the Night by Style. The four with most televotes were Stay the Night, Genom Eld och Vatten, Love Is All and Bye Bye. On the second round of televoting the two voted to the final are Bye Bye and Genom Eld och Vatten.
  
  
  
  National semifinals 8.3. in Sundsvall: the contestants wewre We're Unbreakable by Sahlene; No dudes en llamarme by Fernando Brito; T.K.O (Knock You Out) by Bubbles; He's Always On My Mind by Maarja; Maria by Östen med Resten; Nothing Can Stop Me by Lina Hedlund; Tills Jag Jötte Dig (Until I Met You) by Mikael Erlandsson; and Aqua Playa by Afro-Dite. Aqua Playa, Maria, T.K.O. (Knock You Out) and Nothing Can Stop Me were the four who got to the second round of televoting. The finalists are Aqua Playa by Afro-Dite and Maria by Östen med Resten.
  
  
  
  The last of the national semifinals was held 9.3. and the contestants were those, who got to the second round of the televotes on the other finals. Just like on the other semifinals, the two most televoted go and compete on the national final. The contestants were: Television by Markus Landgren; Carnaval by Mendez; Not a Sinner Nor a Saint by Alcazar; 15 Minuter by Brandsta City Släckers; Love Is All by Liverpool; Stay the Night by Style; T.K.O. (Knock You Out) by Bubbles; and Nothing Can Stop Me by Lina Hedlund. The winners of the televote were Not a Sinner Nor a Saint and T.K.O. (Knock You Out).
  
  
  
  The national finals were held 15.3.2003 in Globen in Stockholm. The finalists were Give Me Your Love by Fame; Crazy in Love by Jill Johnsson; Maria by Östen med Resten; Aqua Playa by Afro-Dite; Hela Världen För Mig by Sanna Nielsen; Bye Bye by Barbados; Genom Eld och Vatten by Sarek; Let Your Spirit Fly by Pernilla Wahlgren and Jan Johanssen; T.K.O. (Knock You Out) by Bubbles; Not a Sinner Nor a Saint by Alcazar.
  
• Germany: Let's Get Happy by Lou
• Slovenia (national finals 15.2.2003)
• Turkey
• Ukraine
• Russia
• Estonia