Eurovision 2004 was held in Istanbul at the Abdi Ipekci Arena. It marked the first time that Turkey had hosted the contest (29 years after the country made its debut), thanks to Sertab Erener’s win the previous year. The theme for this edition was Under the Same Sky, reflecting Istanbul being a city that straddles two continents, as well as the spirit of bringing the artists together to celebrate music.
This year saw the introduction of the new generic logo for the competition, which would feature the host country's flag in the stylized center heart that formed the "V" in "Eurovision". In addition, the Semi-Finals were also introduced in order to accommodate the increasing number of countries who wished to participate.
Thirty-six countries participated in the contest, beating the record of twenty-six in the previous edition, and resulting in a painstakingly long voting procedure. Andorra debuted this year, alongside Albania, Belarus and Serbia & Montenegro.
Andorra's debut marked the first time Catalan language was heard in the contest. 2004 was also the first time Ukrainian, Latvian and Võro languages were heard in the show.
After a few countries had given their votes, it was clear that the competition would be a three-horse race between Ukraine, Serbia & Montenegro and Greece. Ultimately, Ukraine’s Ruslana won the contest with the highly energetic song Wild Dances. Perhaps so energetic that during rehearsals Ruslana broke one of the glass panels of the stage with her leather whip!
Fun fact: On her way to present the trophy to the winner, Sertab Erener got her shoe stuck in a speaker grill by the side of the stage and had to be freed by stagehands. Oops.
In a controversial move that angered some Cypriots, when Cyprus presented its votes, no map of the island was shown – in contrast to every other country that was represented on a map during votes presentation.
After the show has aired, the EBU discovered a problem with votes from Monaco and Croatia. Apparently, Croatia had awarded themselves four points due to a technical error. However, when the votes were corrected, the outcome of the results was not affected.
The final was aired not only in the participating countries, but also in Armenia, Kosovo, Puerto Rico, and Australia. For the first time, a DVD was released shortly after the event including both the Semi-Final and the Final.