The winner was Sweden with the song "Take Me to Your Heaven", composed by Lars Diedricson, written by Gert Lengstrand with English lyrics by Marcos Ubeda and performed by Charlotte Nilsson.

The 1999 contest took place in Jerusalem, Israel, following the country's victory at the 1998 edition with the song "Diva", performed by Dana International.

[5][6] Additional concerns over funding for the event also contributed to speculation that the contest could be moved to Malta or the United Kingdom, the nations which had finished in the top three alongside Israel the previous year.

[3] A tight security presence was felt during the rehearsal week as a precaution against potential disruption from Palestinian militant groups.

[3][10] Lithuania made its first appearance since 1994, and Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, and Iceland returned after being relegated from the previous year's event.

[18] Additionally, Evelin Samuel competed for Estonia in this year's contest, having previously served as backing vocalist for Maarja-Liis Ilus in 1997.

In cases where the average was identical between two or more countries, the total number of points scored in the most recent contest determined the final order.

[3][7] Finland, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Switzerland were therefore excluded from participating in the 1999 contest, to make way for the return of Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Iceland, and Lithuania, and new debuting country Latvia.

[2][30] On behalf of the contest organisers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the event was overseen by Christine Marchal-Ortiz as scrutineer.

[31][32][33] Usually able to hold a maximum of 3,000 people, modifications made to the Ussishkin Auditorium reduced the capacity to around 2,000 for the contest, with rows of seats removed from the floor to make room for the stage and from the balcony to allow for the construction of boxes for use by various commentators.

[12] Additionally, the rules were modified to make the orchestra a non-obligatory feature of the contest of which organising broadcasters were free to opt out.

[10][43] Each participating country was required to use televoting to determine their points, with viewers able to register their vote by telephone for a total of five minutes following the performance of the last competing entry.

[10] Countries which were unable to hold a televote due to technological limitations were granted an exception, and their points were determined by an assembled jury of eight individuals, which was required to be split evenly between members of the public and music professionals, comprised additionally of an equal number of men and women, and below and above 30 years of age.

[45][46] The postcards for the 1999 contest featured animations of paintings of biblical stories which transitioned into footage of modern locations in Israel or clips representing specific themes related to contemporary Israeli culture and industries.

The various locations or themes for each postcard are listed below by order of performance:[37] The contest took place on 29 May 1999 at 22:00 (IST) and lasted 3 hours and 13 minutes.

[10][22] The show began with a computer animation entitled "From Birmingham to Jerusalem", highlighting the contest's journey from last year's host country the United Kingdom to Israel, and containing notable landmarks and features of the competing countries; the animation then transitioned into recorded footage of Jerusalem including dancers and hosts Dekel and Shachmon.

[22][37] A pause between entries was included for the first time to allow broadcasters to provide advertisements during the show;[12] placed between the Polish and Icelandic entries, a performance of the song "To Life" from the musical Fiddler on the Roof featuring co-presenters Dekel and Shachmon was provided for the benefit of the audience in the arena and for non-commercial broadcasters.

[22][37] The contest's pre-recorded interval act entitled "Freedom Calls", shown following the final competing entry and during the voting window, was staged outside the Walls of Jerusalem and the Tower of David and featured performances by a troupe of dancers, a chorus and Dana International singing the D'ror Yikra and a cover of "Free", originally recorded by Stevie Wonder.

[2][12] The winner was Sweden represented by the song "Take Me to Your Heaven", composed by Lars Diedricson, written by Gert Lengstrand [sv] and performed by Charlotte Nilsson.

[44] Ireland had intended to use televoting, however technical failures at Telecom Éireann ahead of the voting window meant that the majority of calls were not registered and the country's back-up jury was utilised to determine its points.

[10] Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their television viewers.