Ukraine won the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with “Wild Dances.”
The song was performed by Ruslana, whose energetic staging and blend of pop with Ukrainian folk influences made it one of the contest’s most memorable entries. Ukraine earned 280 points in the final, finishing ahead of Serbia and Montenegro and Greece.
The 2004 contest took place in Istanbul, Turkey, on 15 May. It was the first Eurovision edition to include a semi-final, introduced because the number of participating broadcasters had grown too large for one final. Ukraine qualified through that new preliminary round before winning the final.
“Wild Dances” drew on musical ideas associated with the Carpathian Mountains and included traditional-inspired rhythms, costumes and performance elements. Ruslana’s victory gave Ukraine its first Eurovision win only three years after the country debuted in the contest in 2003.
The result also meant Ukraine would later host Eurovision in Kyiv in 2005. The 2004 competition is therefore important both for its winner and for the beginning of Eurovision’s semi-final era.