Eurovision Song Contest 1998

Eurovision Song Contest 1998
Dates
Final	9 May 1998
Host
Venue	National Indoor Arena Birmingham, United Kingdom
Presenter(s)	Terry Wogan Ulrika Jonsson
Musical director	Martin Koch
Directed by	Geoff Posner
Executive supervisor	Christine Marchal-Ortiz
Executive producer	Kevin Bishop
Host broadcaster	British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Website	eurovision.tv/event/birmingham-1998
Participants
Number of entries	25
Debuting countries	Macedonia
Returning countries	Belgium  Finland  Israel  Romania  Slovakia
Non-returning countries	Austria  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Denmark  Iceland  Italy  Russia
Participation map      Competing countries     Relegated countries unable to participate     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1998
Vote
Voting system	Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 points to their ten favourite songs
Winning song	Israel "Diva"
1997 ← Eurovision Song Contest → 1999

The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and presented by Terry Wogan and Ulrika Jonsson, the contest was held in the United Kingdom following the country's victory at the 1997 contest with the song "Love Shine a Light" by Katrina and the Waves.

Twenty-five countries participated in the contest. Six participating countries in the 1997 edition were absent, with Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Iceland and Russia relegated due to achieving the lowest average points totals over the previous five contests and Italy actively choosing not to participate. These countries were replaced by Macedonia in its first contest appearance, and previously relegated and absent countries Belgium, Finland, Israel, Romania and Slovakia.

The winner was Israel with the song "Diva", composed by Svika Pick, written by Yoav Ginai and performed by Dana International. The United Kingdom, Malta, the Netherlands and Croatia rounded out the top five. Dana International was the contest's first openly transgender participant and became the contest's first openly LGBTQ+ winning artist; however, her participation for Israel was controversial among sections of Israeli society and resulted in opposition and death threats against her in the run-up to the contest.

It was the first contest in which the results were determined predominantly through televoting, and would become the last contest in which all participants were required to perform in the language of their country and the last to feature an orchestra and live music accompaniment for the competing entries.