Eurovision Song Contest 2003 - "Eurovision Week"

"Eurovision Week"

Full preparations for the 2003 contest began on 18 May 2003 at the Skonto Hall. There were rehearsals, press conferences and participants were also involved in an Internet chat. The first performer to rehearse was Birgitta Haukdal from Iceland, on 19 May; she was also first at the Press Centre and on the web chat. t. A.T.u.'s first rehearsal dominated proceedings on 20 May—the band were supposed to rehearse the day before, but had turned up a day late, claiming that Yulia Volkova was suffering from a sore throat. The group were booed by journalists at the Press Centre. Sarah Yuen from the EBU said "They are the bad girls of pop…we shouldn’t have expected them to come here and be nice and pleasant." With the entrants' press conferences and web chats completed, two dress rehearsals were held on 23 May, in front of an estimated 12,000 people. The organisers of the contest held a press conference; one of the issues complained about was the lack of invitations for the after-party. The final dress rehearsal was held on 24 May, the day of the contest. A simulation of the voting procedure was also held, in which the presenters linked up with all twenty-six countries by satellite for the first time.

On the day of the contest, bookmaker William Hill's odds placed Russia as joint favourites to win the contest with Spain. Ireland, Slovenia, Estonia, Norway and Iceland were behind in third, fourth and joint fifth respectively. Austria, at 100-1, were favourites to finish last. A separate bookmaker also placed Russia to win, but were only joint favourites with the United Kingdom.