The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd annual Contest held in Birmingham, United Kingdom on 9 May following British-American group Katrina and the Waves giving the nation its fifth win with the song "Love Shine a Light", ending a 16-year wait.
F.Y.R. Macedonia made its debut while Belgium, Finland, Israel, Romania and Slovakia made their return. Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Iceland, Italy and Russia withdrew from competing.
The Contest was won by Israel's representative Dana International with the song "Diva". This was the country's third win as well as its first in almost two decades. This win also made her the first transsexual to win the Contest.
Location[]
Participants[]
Returning artists[]
| Artist | Note |
|---|---|
| Danijela Martinović | Represented Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 in Dublin as part of the group Magazin together with Lidija performing the song "Nostalgija", finishing in 6th place with 91 points |
| Egon Egemann | Represented Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 in Zagreb with the song "Musik klingt in die Welt hinaus", finishing in 11th place with 51 points |
| José Cid | Represented Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 in The Hague with the song "Um grande, grande amor", finishing in 7th place with 71 points |
| Paul Harrington | Gave Ireland its sixth win at the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 on home soil in Dublin together with Charlie McGettigan performing the song "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" |
Results[]
| Draw | Country | Performer(s) | Song | Language | Translation | Place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  Croatia
|
Danijela | "Neka mi ne svane" | Croatian | 5 | 131 | |
| 02 |  Greece
|
Thalassa | "Mia krifi evesthisia" | Greek | 20 | 12 | |
| 03 |  France
|
Marie Line | "Où aller" | French | 24 | 3 | |
| 04 |  Spain
|
Mikel Herzog | "¿Qué voy a hacer sin ti?" | Spanish | 16 | 21 | |
| 05 |  Switzerland
|
Gunvor | "Lass ihn" | German | Let him | 25 | 0 |
| 06 |  Slovakia
|
Katarína Hasprová | "Modlitba" | Slovak | 21 | 8 | |
| 07 |  Poland
|
Sixteen | "To takie proste" | Polish | 17 | 19 | |
| 08 |  Israel
|
Dana International | "Diva" | Hebrew | - | 1 | 172 |
| 09 |  Germany
|
Guildo Horn | "Guildo hat euch lieb!" | German | Guildo loves you | 7 | 86 |
| 10 |  Malta
|
Chiara | "The One That I Love" | English | - | 3 | 165 |
| 11 |  Hungary
|
Charlie | "A holnap már nem lesz szomorú" | Hungarian | 23 | 4 | |
| 12 |  Slovenia
|
Vili Resnik | "Naj bogovi slišijo" | Slovene | 18 | 17 | |
| 13 |  Ireland
|
Dawn Martin | "Is Always Over Now?" | English | - | 9 | 64 |
| 14 |  Portugal
|
Alma Lusa | "Se eu te pudesse abraçar" | Portuguese | 12 | 36 | |
| 15 |  Romania
|
Mălina Olinescu | "Eu cred" | Romanian | 22 | 6 | |
| 16 |  United Kingdom
|
Imaani | "Where Are You?" | English | - | 2 | 166 |
| 17 |  Cyprus
|
Michael Hajiyanni | "Genesis" | Greek | - | 11 | 37 |
| 18 |  The Netherlands
|
Edsilia | "Hemel en aarde" | Dutch | Heaven and earth | 4 | 150 |
| 19 |  Sweden
|
Jill Johnson | "Kärleken är" | Swedish | 10 | 53 | |
| 20 |  Belgium
|
Mélanie Cohl | "Dis oui" | French | Say yes | 6 | 122 |
| 21 |  Finland
|
Edea | "Aava" | Finnish | 15 | 22 | |
| 22 |  Norway
|
Lars Fredriksen | "Alltid sommer" | Norwegian | 8 | 79 | |
| 23 |  Estonia
|
Koit Toome | "Mere lapsed" | Estonian | 12 | 36 | |
| 24 |  Turkey
|
Tüzmen | "Unutamazsın" | Turkish | 14 | 25 | |
| 25 |  F.Y.R. Macedonia
|
Vlado Janevski | "Ne zori, zoro" | Macedonian | 19 | 16 |
Scoreboard[]
