Nevertheless from the moment Sertab and her four backing dancers took to the stage, it was clear that the song was a crowd pleaser, combining ethnic musical elements in its arrangement, with a theatrical belly dance and slick costume tricks. The voting provided one of the most exciting sequences in Eurovision history, with Belgium, Turkey and Russia all in with a chance of winning as the last country voted. In the end, "Every Way That I Can" scored a narrow two point victory and receiving a rapturous ovation from the audience in Riga and Sertab returned to her native Istanbul, where she received a hero's welcome.

Born in 1964, Sertab Erener began her musical career working with Turkish music icon Sezen Aksu. Sertab released her first album in 1992 and followed it with four more Turkish-language albums over the next decade. After losing out in two national finals in 1989 and 1990, she was internally selected by TRT in 2003. "Every Way That I Can" topped the charts in Turkey, Sweden and Grece and became a Top 20 hit in many other countries. Despite releasing a couple of all-English albums, she has yet to repeat the international success of her Eurovision winner.    

Once again, the voting quickly turned the competition into a three horse race, with Greece, Serbia-Montenegro and Ukraine fighting it out for their first Eurovision win. In the end, thanks to its wider international appeal, Ukraine scored a clear win, picking up votes from all but one country. Ukraine went into the record books as the first country to win with only its second entry, something only previously achieved by Switzerland in 1956.  

Ruslana Lyzhychko was born in 1973 and first came to fame winning the famous Slavyanskiy Bazar in Belarus in 1996. It was the reaction to her 1998 debut album that established her as one of the brightest stars in the Ukrainian music industry. The album "Dyki Tantsi" (Wild Dances) released in June 2003, became the first album to be certified five times Platinum in Ukraine, selling more than 500,000 copies. Combining modern recording technology with the traditional music of the Carpathians, it established the unique sound which would define Ruslana's musical style. Following its Eurovision win, "Wild Dances" topped the chart in Greece and Belgium and while Ruslana retains a high international profile, it remains her biggest hit.   

Anne-Marie David was born in the historic city of Arles in Southern France in 1962 and first came to fame twenty years later, playing the part of Mary Magdeline in the French production of "Jesus Christ Superstar". She first tried to get to Eurovision in 1972, submitting a song to the French selection, however the following year it was Luxembourg who invited the attractive French singer to represent them, an offer she quickly accepted.  

As was customary at the time, Anne-Marie recorded her Eurovision winner in several different languages, for the international market, recording two versions in Italian, with different lyrics and as "Wonderful Dream", the song became a U.K. Top 20 hit. After her victory, she toured the World, becoming especially popular in Turkey, where she lived for several years. Anne-Marie returned to Eurovision in 1979, representing her native France with the song "Je Suis L'enfant Soleil". However, it was her turn to find herself on the wrong end of a three-way race, with the Israeli entry "Hallelujah" edging to a home victory. She toured in France in the early 1980s before turning her back on the entertainment industry, emerging from very private life in the French countryside, to perform at the "Congratulations" Eurovision anniversary concert in 2005. 

The song which had started life in Swedish and under the title "Tusen Och En Natt" (A Thousand And One Nights), had scored a runaway win in the Swedish Melodifestival selection. At Eurovision, Charlotte charmed the televoters with a slick routine that showed off her assets, with a catchy tune in the typical Swedish schlager style and Sweden scored a narrow win over Iceland. Among Charlotte's backing singers was Anna Sahlene who would sing for Estonia in 2002.

Born in 1974, Charlotte started singing on the locally popular dansband circuit, most notably with the band Wizex, which she joined in 1997. Two years later, her Eurovision entry helped establish Charlotte as a solo star. The Swedish version of "Take Me To Your Heaven" topped the local charts for two months, while the English version became a hit in the U.K., Norway, Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands, following its Eurovision victory. The song turned out to be Charlotte's only international success, although she had a couple of hits in her native country, before returning to Eurovision in 2008, where her song "Hero" gave Sweden one of its most disappointing Eurovision results.