Horse race

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 Kindom, Poland, Romania, Iceland, Austria, Belgium, Ireland and Norway. They would all sing on the impressive Istanbul stage which was built bearing in mind the motto of the 2004 contest, Under The Same Sky.

About the winner

After a few countries had given their votes, it was clear that the winner would be from a three horse race including Ukraine, Serbia & Montenegro and Greece. These three contestants had also been hotly tipped by the press and the fans. Ukraine's Ruslana was the one to achieve this goal with her song Wild Dances. She had been on an extensive promotional tour in lots of European countries before the contest, which could have contributed to her victory. The already qualified countries in the Final didn't do significantly well: Nine of these entries ended up bottom-10 and only Turkey, Sweden, Germany and Spain made it to the top-10.

Facts & figures

• The 2004 Eurovision Song Contest Final was not only shown in the 36 participating countries, but also on television in Armenia, Kosovo, Puerto Rico, Australia and in the USA;
• For the first time, a DVD would be released shortly after the event including both the Semi-Final and the Final.