25 participating countries intended to compete at the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest.

But Greece decided not to participate, so in the end only 24 took part as the European Broadcasting Union did not find a replacement in time for the last spot. Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Lithuania, Romania and Bosnia & Herzegovina were not allowed to take part due to their bad average scores.

13,000 spectators were at the final in the Globen Arena in Stockholm, which was a new record.

The Netherlands had to use a back-up jury for their votes because of a large fireworks disaster in the city of Enschede, which meant that only half of the song contest was aired live on Dutch television.

The European Broadcasting Union introduced a new rule this year.

Only the top 15 countries from the previous year and the so called 'Big Four' (Germany, Spain, the UK and France) could participate this year - alongside the countries that had to stay at home for the 2000 event.

The Danish national broadcaster had to cope with major challenges. Just like other host countries in the past, they worried they could not afford to host the contest and also wondered about finding a suitable venue. In the end, Danish TV picked a football stadium and - especially for the Eurovision Song Contest - a roof was built over Parken Stadium. It still ranks as the biggest-ever Eurovision Song Contest venue with room for 40,000.

The small capital of Tallinn was the proud host of the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest.

The rules for the 2002 contest stated that only 22 countries would be able to participate, but the European Broadcasting Union later changed this to 24 countries being allowed into the competition.

Israel accepted the invitation as the first runner-up in the pool of countries that were initially doomed to stay at home. Portugal, the second runner-up declined to go to Tallinn, so Latvia was able to enter the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest. This chance situation changed the whole competition, since Latvia ended up winning the Contest in the end!

For the first time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, Latvia and its capital Riga host the event.

The Contest featured one of the most exciting voting sequences in recent history. In total, 26 countries took part which would mark a new Eurovision record. The famous Russian duo, t.A.T.u., decided to enter the contest and kept both the organisation and the press busy during the rehearsal week by not caring about rehearsal schedules and boycotting press conferences. Eventually, the alleged lesbian duo finished third behind Turkey and Belgium.

After having successfully hosted the first Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Final, Istanbul held the 2004 Final.

But what could possibly go wrong, as it would take place Under The Same Sky!

Ten lucky countries had qualified from the Semi-Final: Serbia & Montenegro, Ukraine, Greece, Albania, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Malta, Croatia and FYR Macedonia. These countries were to meet the strong opposition of the 14 already qualified countries: Turkey, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, Poland, Romania, Iceland, Austria, Belgium, Ireland and Norway.

The tension was extremely high on the 21st of May, 2005 as 24 countries competed for the crown of Europe's biggest musical event.

In the 50th edition, the Ukrainian TV had decided that the motto for the 2005 contest would be Awakening, following the country's political changes the year before.

Just like in 2004, ten countries had a reason for partying as they went on to qualify for the Final of the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest: Romania, Moldova, Denmark, Croatia, Hungary, Norway, Israel, Switzerland, FYR Macedonia and Latvia. Unlike in 2004, there was no clear favourite among the ten qualifiers and the 14 who already were pre-qualified for the Final.

There were lots of discussions in Athens amongst the media and fans as to who would be the winner of this year's edition.

Sweden, represented by Carola and her song Invincible, was highly regarded. She had already won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1991 and wanted to be the second singer on Earth to win it twice. Another hotly tipped winner was Russian heartthrob Dima Bilan, who had already tried to represent Russia the year before.

Host Broadcaster YLE adopted True Fantasy as the theme for this year's contest.

The Finnish design agency Dog Design won a competition to design the visual theme of the contest, which incorporated colourful, kaleidoscopic patterns. The high-tech stage was constructed in the shape of a kantele, a traditional Finnish instrument.

The Final opened with Lordi, the monster rock band that brought Finland its first ever Eurovision Song Contest history the year before. Along with Jaana Pelkonen and Mikko Leppilampi, Krisse Salminen co-hosted the show from the green room and the Senate Square. The star guest opening the voting was Santa Claus, who came from northern Finland for this special occasion.

For the first time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, two Semi-Finals were held.

The Final of the contest took place on the 24th of May, just like the first ever Eurovision Song Contest in 1956.

There were other "firsts" this year too. Namely, it was also the very first time Serbia had hosted the contest, after debuting the year before. In addition to that, for the first time, a record-breaking number of 43 entries competed for the trophy.

For the second time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, two Semi-Finals were held.

The Final of the contest took place on the 16th of May in the Russian capital of Moscow.

While it had been the Russian broadcaster RTR who had won the contest the year before, it was decided that Channel One Russia would host it instead. They organised one of the biggest contest in the history. For example, a total of 1/3 of the world’s LED screens were used at the arena during the event!