The Eurovision Song Contest 1999 was the 44th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on May 29, 1999 in the Usshishkin Hall at the International Convention Centre in Jerusalem, Israel. The presenters were Yigal Ravid, Dafna Dekel, and Sigal Shahamon. This is the second time that the contest takes place outside of Europe. The contest was won by the Charlotte Nilsson who was representing Sweden with the song “Take Me To Your Heaven” (originally: Tusen och en natt). Charlotte brought Sweden’s fourth victory overall, with a second win in the 90s after Carola in 1991. From this year, the long-standing rule that each country had to sing in one of its own national languages was dropped, and it was decided that France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, as the highest-paying European Broadcasting Union subscribers, would automatically be allowed to participate every year, irrespective of their five-year point average. Also, the requirement of an orchestra was optional. The Israeli broadcaster chose not to use an orchestra, which meant that for the first time in the history of the contest, all entries would perform using a backing track. This change was criticized by two-time Eurovision winner Johnny Logan, who commented that the contest turned into “karaoke”. The interval act was last year’s winner, Dana International, who performed her new song “Free”, which caused some controversy in Israel because of the lyrics. The contest ended with all of the participants singing “Hallelujah” – Israel’s winning song in 1979. Source: Wikipedia