Megahit-International Mediterranean Song Contest () was an international song contest hosted in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

featuring singers from

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

countries. There were three editions of the event. Nine countries participated in the first event, which was held in 2002 in

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

. The second and third editions were organized in

Fethiye Fethiye () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Muğla Province, Turkey. Its area is 875 km2, and its population is 177,702 (2022). It is one of the prominent tourist destinations in the Turkish Riviera. It was formerly k ...

Muğla Muğla () is a city in southwestern Turkey. The city is the center of the district of Menteşe, Muğla, Menteşe and Muğla Province, which stretches along Turkey's Aegean Sea, Aegean coast. Muğla's center is situated inland at an altitude of ...

. The number of participants grew and reached 14 in 2003, and to 15 in 2004. The three contest winners were Eyal Shachar of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Sedat Yüce Turkey was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with the song "", composed by Semih Güneri, with lyrics by Figen Çakmak and Nurdan Güneri, and performed by Sedat Yüce. The Turkish participating broadcaster, the Turkish Radio and ...

of Turkey and Linda Valori of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, respectively.

History

Created by End Productions, the first edition of Megahit-International Mediterranean Song Contest (Turkish: Megahit-Uluslararası Akdeniz Şarkı Yarışması) was organized in Aspendos Theatre in

on October 13, 2002. 9

countries participated in the contest, each represented by one performer. Serhat Hacıpaşalıoğlu, president of End Productions, hosted the event with

Tuğçe Kazaz Tuğçe Kazaz (born 26 August 1982) is a Turkish people, Turkish actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Turkey 2001. Biography Kazaz was born in Edremit, Balıkesir, Edremit, Balıkesir Province. She was educated ...

and

Çağla Kubat Çağla Kubat (; born 16 November 1978) is a Turkish people, Turkish actress, model, windsurfer and beauty pageant titleholder. She is member of Fenerbahçe SW, Fenerbahçe sailing & windsurfing team. She is 5 feet 10 (1.80m) tall. She was born ...

i singer Eyal Schahar won the contest with "The Puppet Show".

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n singer

Goran Karan Goran Karan (born 2 April 1964) is a Croatian singer-songwriter. He specializes in songs influenced by Dalmatian folk music and is known for his powerful and refined tenor voice. Karan's collaboration with composer Zdenko Runjić led to some of h ...

finished in second place with "I'm Falling Into Dark", with Hüseyin Özkılıç of Turkey placing third with "Bir Kez Daha". The winner of the contest was awarded $5,000 and a plate specially created for the event. Additionally, some contestants chosen by the jury were awarded with the International Federation of Festival Organizations (FIDOF) Special Prize and City of Antalya Special Prize. The second edition of the contest was organized in Fethiye Stadium,

on September 27, 2003. There were 14 participating countries in the contest, which was hosted by Serhat Hacıpaşalıoğlu and

Viktor Lazlo Sonia Dronnier (born 7 October 1960), known by her stage name Viktor Lazlo, is a French writer, singer, and comedian. Born in France, she studied in Belgium, where she is primarily known. Her biggest hit was "Breathless" in 1987. That year sh ...

from Turkey won the contest with "Nereye Kadar?". The International Federation of Festival Organizations Special Prize was given to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ian singer Amira Ahmed, and the Municipality of Fethiye Special Prize was given to Croatian singer

Claudia Beni Claudia Beni (born 30 May 1986) is a Croatian pop singer, born in Opatija. Biography At the time when she first participated in Dora, the national finals for the Eurovision Song Contest, Claudia was only 12, but she was already an experienc ...

. The top three performers were awarded vacations from Lykia World. Furthermore, the event was named “best music festival of the year” by FIDOF, and Serhat Hacıpaşalıoğlu was awarded with the Annual Golden Transitional Media Ring of Friendship for his role as “best festival host of the year”. The contest was broadcast on

TRT 1 TRT 1 (''TRT One'') is the first Turkish national television channel, owned by state broadcaster TRT. It was officially launched on 31 January 1968 as a test broadcast, becoming regular by the early 1970s. It was the only channel Turkey until 15 ...

. The third and final edition of the contest was held again in Fethiye Stadium on September 15, 2004 The number of participating countries raised to 15. This time,

Azra Akın Azra Akın (born 8 December 1981) is a Turkish-Dutch actress, dancer, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss World 2002 in London on 7 December 2002. She is best known for series ''Yağmur Zamanı.'' Biography Akın was born in Almelo, Ne ...

and

Deniz Seki Deniz Seki (born July 1, 1970) is a Turkish pop singer, songwriter and composer. Personal life Deniz Seki was born in Istanbul, Turkey on July 1, 1970. She has two younger brothers Serdar and Serkan. She completed her education in Çamlıca Hig ...

were the hosting partners of Serhat Hacıpaşalıoğlu.

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

performer Linda Valori won the contest with "E Vai" and was awarded a €10,000 prize. Julie & Ludwig from

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

earned second place with "Mood Swing", and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

n performer

Nuša Derenda Nuša Derenda (, born Anuška Žnideršič on March 30, 1969 in Brežice, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a Slovenian singer who represented Slovenia at the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, Denmark where she achieved 7th place. Biog ...

finished in third place with "Devil". The Lifetime Achievement Prize was awarded to Olcayto Ahmet Tuğsuz and Elias Rahbani, while the Fethiye Special Prizes were awarded to

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

contestant Chris Vamos and Portuguese contestant Ricardo Costa. The event was broadcast live on

Show TV Show TV is a Turkish free-to-air national television channel, established in 1991 by Erol Aksoy, Dinç Bilgin, Haldun Simavi and Erol Simavi, owned by the Can Holding. History The channel replaces Cine5's now-defunct frequencies, and it was ...

Editions

Participants by year

2002

* ''Note'': Georgina was going to represent Malta with "Fomm il-Vjolin", but later she rejected from the contest.

2003

2004

References

External links

Contest page in End Productions official website
{{in lang, tr Song contests Entertainment events in Turkey Music of Turkey Recurring events established in 2002 Recurring events disestablished in 2004 2002 establishments in Turkey 2004 disestablishments in Turkey