5.
The 2004 contest was held in Istanbul. In the wake of Serteb Erener’s belly dancing stage show winning performance of Everyway that I can, the visual look of a performance was becoming ever more important. Ruslana took heed of this template and ran with it. She performed with her troupe of ethno feral tribesman to flames and injected an energy that was to set a standard for which many contestants since have tried to emulate in a bid to win the contest. Ruslana herself did indeed triumph and gave the Ukraine their first ever win with Wild Dances.
