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.
Gallery[]
Participants[]
| Draw | Country | Artist | Song | Language | Translation | Place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  Cyprus
|
One | Gimme | English | -- | 6 | 85 |
| 02 |  United Kingdom
|
Jessica Garlick | Come Back | 3 | 111 | ||
| 03 |  Austria
|
Manuel Ortega | Say a Word | 18 | 26 | ||
| 04 |  Greece
|
Michalis Rakintzis | S.A.G.A.P.O | I love you | 17 | 27 | |
| 05 |  Spain
|
Rosa | Europe's Living a Celebration | English, Spanish | -- | 7 | 81 |
| 06 |  Croatia
|
Vesna Pisarović | Everything I Want | English | 11 | 44 | |
| 07 |  Russia
|
Prime Minister | Northern Girl | 10 | 55 | ||
| 08 |  Estonia
|
Sahlene | Runaway | 3 | 111 | ||
| 09 |  North Macedonia
|
Karolina | It Depends on Us | Macedonian | 19 | 25 | |
| 10 |  Israel
|
Sarit Hadad | Light A Candle | Hebrew, English | 12 | 37 | |
| 11 |  Switzerland
|
Francine Jordi | Dans le jardin de mon âme | French | In the garden of my soul | 22 | 15 |
| 12 |  Sweden
|
Afro-Dite | Never Let It Go | English | -- | 8 | 72 |
| 13 |  Finland
|
Laura | Addicted to You | 20 | 24 | ||
| 14 |  Denmark
|
Malene | Tell Me Who You Are | 24 | 7 | ||
| 15 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
Maja | Na jastuku za dvoje | Serbian, English | On a pillow for two | 13 | 33 |
| 16 |  Belgium
|
Sergio & The Ladies | Sister | English | -- | 13 | 33 |
| 17 |  France
|
Sandrine François | Il faut du temps | French | It takes time | 5 | 104 |
| 18 |  Germany
|
Corinna May | I Can't Live Without Music | English | -- | 21 | 17 |
| 19 |  Türkiye
|
Buket Bengisu & Grup Safir | Leylaklar Soldu Kalbinde | Turkish, English | 16 | 29 | |
| 20 |  Malta
|
Ira Losco | 7th Wonder | English | 2 | 164 | |
| 21 |  Romania
|
Monica Anghel & Marcel Pavel | Tell Me Why | 9 | 71 | ||
| 22 |  Slovenia
|
Sestre | Samo ljubezen | Slovene | Just love | 13 | 33 |
| 23 |  Latvia
|
Marie N | I Wanna | English | -- | 1 | 176 |
| 24 |  Lithuania
|
Aivaras | Happy You | 23 | 12 |
Trivia[]
- Due to allegations of jury cheating between Cyprus, Greece, Russia, Malta (previously convicted in the 1990s), Romania and Macedonia[1], 100% televote was brought back the next year, and juries would not be used en masse again until 2009.
- This contest features Denmark's first last-place finish in the contest. In addition, this follows a similar pattern to Norway from 1995 to 1997 (a win, followed by a runner-up position as a host nation, followed by a last place).
- This was the only time Ireland and Norway were relegated.
- As of 2022, this was the last time a contest finished under three hours.
- Latvia was only able to participate after Portugal withdrew from the competition.
- After the 2001 contest, Latvia and the Netherlands tied for 18th place with 16 points. After Portugal withdrew, Latvia won the countback and were invited to 2002.
- After this edition, the United Kingdom would not finish in the top three for another 20 years.
Videos[]
