Stockholm, Sweden - The year 2009 marks the end of the first decade of the 21st century. The last ten days of this year, Eurovision.tv looks back at the remarkable transition that the Eurovision Song Contest went through. We are also inviting you to share your memories with us, right here on the website as well as on Facebook. Today, we're looking back at the first Eurovision Song Contest of this deciade: Stockholm 2000.
It was Charlotte Nilsson (now Perelli) with Take Me To Your Heaven who brought Sweden its fourth victory in 1999, after winning in 1974, 1984 and 1991. There was hardly any doubt that Stockholm would host the 45th running of Europe's favourite TV-show, which would indeed happen on Saturday 13 May, 2000.
SVT picked a pair of open lips to represent the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest. The designers described it as "a sensual, yet stylistically pure mouth representing song, dialogue and speech". Three years later, the logo was in the running to become the contest's generic logo. Eventually, the current heart-flag symbol was picked.
The show
Swedish public broadcaster SVT appointed former journalist and Melodifestivalen producer Svante Stockselius as Executive Producer. In 2004, he would become the contest's Executive Supervisor on behalf of the EBU. The Swedish team, inspired by the beginning of a new millennium, decided to modernize the Eurovision Song Contest, which was increasingly reviewed as being "old-fashioned". SVT booked the Globen Arena in downtown Stockholm for the big night, giving some 13,000 people the opportunity to attend the show. It was the largest venue ever, at least until the Danes would hold the 2001 contest at the much bigger Parken Stadium.
The TV-show was hosted by Kattis Ahlström and Anders Lundin, and directed by Marius Bratten, who would also do the job in Tallinn in 2002. Christine Marchal-Ortiz supervised the contest on behalf of the European Broadcasting Union for the fourth time.
