26 Monterrey

Welcome to Monterrey
"City of the Mountains"

An industrial powerhouse and a major transportation hub close to the Texas border, Monterrey offers visitors a blend of culture, art, and history. You could easily spend most of your Monterrey vacation strolling the city's appealing river walk, touring renowned museums, and partying the night away at any number of bars in Barrio Antiguo - the old town. Yet what makes holidays in Monterrey so special actually lies beyond the hectic urban center. Rolling foothills of the Sierra Madre mountain range offer outstanding climbing and hiking opportunities, with picturesque waterfalls and thick forests creating a lush and tranquil setting just a drive from the city center.

Host City / Monterrey, Mexico
Venue / Estadio Tecnologico
Hosts / Eva Longoria and Eduardo Verastegui

Participating countries / 33
Debuting countries / None
Returning countries / Croatia, Iceland, Italy, Macedonia and South Korea
Withdrawing countries / Australia, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Slovenia and Sweden

Debuting players / Krikor for Italy and Maryan for Macedonia

Returning Artists

David Fonseca / for Portugal / Global Music Champion

Chenoa / once for Spain and Andorra / her best result being 17th
Within Temptation / for Netherlands / Bronze Medallists

Laura Pausini / for Italy / placing 18th
Natalia Kukulska / for Poland / not qualifying for the final
Shayne Ward / for United Kingdom / placing 5th
Tamta / for Greece / placing 5th
Weird Al Yankovic / for United States / placing 28th

The Result

Countries receiving most 12 points / Italy, 5
Countries giving 12 points to the winner / Italy and Monaco
Countries receiving points from most juries / Germany and Israel, 18
Highest placing country not scoring a top mark / Denmark in 7th place with 10 points from Croatia as highest mark
Lowest placing country scoring a top mark / Croatia in 23rd place getting 12 points from Bosnia-Herzegovina

Again it was a close voting with 4 countries scoring more than 100 points. In the end the United Kingdom had collected the most points and was crowned champion. Italy made a splashy comeback, taking the silver, and the bronze wendt to Germany, while Canada and Israel rounded out the top 5.

United Kingdom debuted in GM03 and took home the bronze with Sugarbabes on their first attempt. In the following editions, the UK ended up in the top 10 in about half of them, though no other medals were obtained. They thus opted for a break and returned in GM18 with Taslim as new HoD. And in just his second participation he took Des'ree all the way to the top of the podium. Following a few other top 10 results, he now claims United Kingdom's second gold medal - this time with a male solo artist, Shayne Ward. Well done United Kingdom, Shayne Ward and Taslim!