Special Sub-Topic: Eurovision: 1998 Click Here To Play: Eurovision: 1998

In which British city was the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest held?

Birmingham. The contest was held at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. Built in 1991, the arena is one of, if not the, largest indoor venues in Britain.

Which country won the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest?

Israel. Israel won with their entry, "Diva". It was sung by Sharon Cohen, an Israeli transexual pop singer, whose stage name is Dana International.

The UK's 1998 entry was a song called "Where Are You?". Who sang it?

Imaani. Imaani Saleem, whose real name is Melanie Crosdale, is an English singer whose first big hit was the song entered for the Eurovision competition. It reached number fifteen in the UK Singles chart. A subsequent release, "Freak Like Me", reached number twelve in the same charts.

Guildo Horn performed the German entry in the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest. What did he do at the end of the song that caused something of an uproar?

climbed the scaffolding at the edge of the set. Guildo already had the audience going when he jumped down off the stage and was kissing some of the audience (both men and women). He'd already thrown off his light aqua cape (which matched his suit) and his suit jacket. But it was at the end that he spotted the scaffolding, climbed up (still singing), slid along a rail then stood up on it. His song? "Guildo hat euch lieb!" ("Guildo Loves You").

The current rules stated that each country had to sing in their own official language - but there are a number of countries with more than one official language. How many entries in the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest were sung entirely in French?

two. Two of the entries this year were sung in French. They were Belgium - "Dis oui" ("Say Yes") and France - "Ou aller" ("Where to Go").

The winning performer at the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest changed clothes before performing the reprise of the entry. What was the new costume?

dress made of feathers. The winning performer, Dana, changed into a dress apparently made of feathers. It was a tight grey full-length sheath, off one shoulder, with a staggered hem.

The voting at the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest was a bit of a cliff-hanger. It was down to the last country to vote, with three countries in contention for the title. Which country voted last, thereby deciding the victor?

Macedonia. Israel, the United Kingdom and Malta were all potential winners. The UK was nine points behind Malta and seven behind Israel. The Macedonian jury kept everyone on the edge of their seat as they announced their final points: "Israel, eight points; United Kingdom, ten points" (at this point Israel now had 176, the UK had 167 and Malta had 166) "and finally, twelve points from Macedonia goes to... Croatia". The audience went wild.

There were two presenters at the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest. Ulrika Jonsson was one; who was the other?

Terry Wogan. Ulrika Jonsson was born in Sweden but grew up partly in the UK. Her first television job was as a weather forecaster. Terry Wogan may be Irish but much of his career has been spent in English media, working as a radio DJ as well as a television presenter.

There's always a halftime - what was the entertainment for the halftime of the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest?

Jupiter, The Bringer of Joviality. "Jupiter, The Bringer of Joviality" is the fourth movement of Gustav Holst's suite, The Planets. The version played at the interval of the 1998 competition was very different from the norm - it included bagpipes, jazz rhythms, dancers native to parts unknown, a male choir, flames, a fiddle and a rather jolly time!

Twenty-five countries vied for the 1998 Eurovision Song crown. That means there should have been a 1st position, 2nd position, 3rd etc, all the way to 25th, right? Wrong - or is it? How many countries, if any, tied for position?

two. Two countries tied for one position this year. They were Estonia and Portugal, tying for twelfth position with thirty-six points each.