The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 was the 47th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tallinn, Estonia, following the country's victory at the 2001 contest with the song "Everybody" by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Eesti Televisioon (ETV), the contest was held at the Saku Suurhall on 25 May 2002. The contest was presented by Estonian opera singer Annely Peebo and actor Marko Matvere. It was the first Eurovision Song Contest held in one of the former Soviet republics.
Buket Bengisu is a Turkish singer. She finished her primary studies in Istanbul. She grew up in a family that was closely associated with music, as her father was a bassist and her mother was a pianist. In 1996, she enrolled in the Istanbul University State Conservatory, studying chorus singing. In 2000, she went to the same school again and in 2003 graduated with a degree in musical singing. She also played for five years at the Turkey Children Theater and took part in a number of plays.
Turkey participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Rimi Rimi Ley" written by Göksan Arman and Erdinç Tunç. The song was performed by Gülseren.
Turkey entered the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 with Tuba Önal and Grup Mistik with the song "Dön Artık".
Turkey participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "Everyway That I Can" written by Demir Demirkan. The song was performed by Sertab Erener. The entry was selected through an internal selection organised by Turkish broadcaster Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu (TRT).
Austria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "Say a Word" written by Robert Pfluger and Alexander Kahr. The song was performed by Manuel Ortega. The Austrian broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) returned to the Eurovision Song Contest after a one-year absence following their relegation from 2001 as one of the bottom six countries in the 2000 contest. ORF organised the national final song://null.zwei in order to select the Austrian entry for the 2002 contest in Tallinn, Estonia. Ten songs competed in a televised show where an internet jury panel and a public vote selected "Say a Word" performed by Manuel Ortega as the winner.
Germany participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "I Can't Live Without Music" written by Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger. The song was performed by Corinna May. The German entry for the 2002 contest in Tallinn, Estonia was selected through the national final Countdown Grand Prix Eurovision 2002, organised by the German broadcaster ARD in collaboration with Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). The national final took place on 22 February 2002 and featured fifteen competing acts with the winner being selected through two rounds of public televoting. "I Can't Live Without Music" performed by Corinna May was selected as the German entry for Riga after placing first in the top three during the first round of voting and ultimately gaining 41.1% of the votes in the second round.
"Never Let It Go" is a 2002 song written by Marcos Ubeda and recorded by Swedish group Afro-dite. The song won Melodifestivalen 2002 and was the Swedish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2002, where it placed 8th out of 24 competing entries.
Greece competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002, held on 25 May 2002 at Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, Estonia. The Greek broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) organised a public selection process entitled Ellinikós Telikós 2002 to determine its entry for the contest. Held on 26 February 2002 in Athens, the event saw 10 entries compete to be the Greek entry; the results were determined by a combination of jury, SMS and televoting. The song "S.A.G.A.P.O.", written and performed by Michalis Rakintzis received the most votes and was selected to represent the nation. Greece performed fourth out of the 24 countries competing in the contest and placed 17th with 27 points.
Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 in Tallinn, Estonia. The Russian entry was selected internally by the Russian broadcaster Russian Public Television (ORT). Prime Minister represented Russia with the song "Northern Girl", which placed 10th and scored 55 points at the contest.
Spain participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with an entry selected through the first series of the reality casting show Operación Triunfo. Rosa with the song "Europe's Living a Celebration", composed by Toni and Xasqui Ten, was chosen through televoting by the Spanish public.
Karolina Gočeva represented Macedonia in the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Od nas zavisi" after winning the national final selection, for the Eurovision Song Contest 2002.
Slovenia competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002, represented by Sestre with "Samo ljubezen". The song was the winner of the Slovene national final, EMA 2002.
Malta competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 in Tallinn, Estonia. The Maltese entry was selected through the Malta Song for Europe contest, where the winner was Ira Losco with the song "7th Wonder", written by Philip Vella and Gerard James Borg.
Estonia was represented by Koit Toome, with the song "Mere lapsed", at the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May in Birmingham. "Mere lapsed" was chosen as the Estonian entry at the national final, Eurolaul, on 24 January.
Latvia participated in and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "I Wanna" written by Marija Naumova and Marats Samauskis. The song was performed by Marie N, which is the artistic name of singer Marija Naumova. The Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) organised the national final Eirodziesma 2002 in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2002 contest in Tallinn, Estonia. Fifteen songs were selected to compete in the national final on 2 March 2002 where a public televote exclusively selected "I Wonna" performed by Marija Naumova as the winner. The song was later retitled as "I Wanna" for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Turkey took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997. The country was represented by Şebnem Paker and Grup Etnic with the song "Dinle" written by Mehtap Altıntemiz and composed by Levent Çoker. Both Şebnem Paker and Levent Çoker had represented Turkey in the contest of the preceding year.
Turkey took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000. The country was represented by Pınar Ayhan and Grup S.O.S. with the song "Yorgunum Anla" written by Pınar Ayhan herself together with Sühan Ayhan and Orkun Yazgan. The entry was chosen by a professional jury. Although the song was originally in Turkish, during the contest it was sung partially in English.
Israel participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "Light a Candle" written by Svika Pick and Yoav Ginai. The song was performed by Sarit Hadad, who was internally selected by the Israeli broadcaster Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) in November 2001 to compete at the 2002 contest in Tallinn, Estonia. The song Hadad would perform at Eurovision, "Light a Candle", was also internally selected and presented to the public on 26 February 2002 during the Meni Peer Show which was broadcast on Channel 1.
Lithuania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "Happy You" written and performed by Aivaras. The Lithuanian broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) organised the national final "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka in order to select the Lithuanian entry for the 2002 contest in Tallinn, Estonia. The national final involved 15 competing entries and "We All" performed by B'Avarija was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a jury panel, votes from the venue audience and a public vote, however the entry was later disqualified due to a Lithuanian version of the song being released on CD at the end of 2001 and replaced by runner-up "Happy You" performed by Aivaras.
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