This afternoon, OGAE International Coordinator Ale� Matko informed esctoday.com that the 49th Eurovision Song Contest will take place on Saturday, May 15th 2004 in Mydonose Showland. The qualification round will take place on Wednesday, May 12th 2004.

The traditional Eurovision week, when all the rehearsals, press conferences, receptions and parties will take place, will start at Thursday, May 6th and thus will last a few days longer than usual. The reason: because almost 40 countries will participate there are a lot more rehearsals, press conferences etc.

The venue selected for the 49th Eurovision Song Contest is Mydonose Showland, with a Eurovision audience capacity of plus minus 3,500 seats in the main hall. Besides that, the centre has a wide range of other rooms for press and back stage facilities.