Lied van Liedjes 35

This was the thirty-fifth Lied van Liedjes to be held. The contest would be held in Paris, France, following their victory at the previous contest with winning song, "The King" by Gui et Oz. The Semi-Finals would occur on Tuesday 22nd July 2003 and Thursday 24th July 2003. The Grand Final would take place on Saturday 26th July 2003.

Lucia Danielsen returned as executive producer, alongside the director Eila Kekkonen. The coordinator was chosen as Mickaël Beaufils, who had coordinated the 2nd edition of the contest. Paris was confirmed as the host following the withdrawal of the bid from Lyon and Bordeaux. It would be the first time the contest is held in Paris, with France's previous hosting being held in La Rochelle.

40 countries participated in this contest. Serbia and Montenegro would again withdraw after previously returning. Talks of the United Kingdom taking part, instead of the devolved nations of England, Wales, and Scotland was floated but ultimately, nothing came of it. Belarus too withdrew. This edition saw a few returns to the contest. Ireland would return following last edition's absence. Denmark would finally return after a long break of editions, having last participated in the 30th edition. Malta would also return.

Pot Draw
Italics indicate a returning country.

Semi Final 1
and would vote in this Semi Final. It took place on Tuesday 24th June 2003.

Semi Final 2
,, and would vote in this Semi-Final. It took place on Thursday 22nd May 2003.

Non-participation due to financial problems

 * - Broadcaster cited financial difficulties and lack of desire to take part in any upcoming contests.
 * - Cited financial issues and lack of other Arab nations in the contest.
 * - Cited financial issues and lack of other Arab nations in the contest.
 * - Cited financial issues.
 * - Cited financial issues.
 * - Cited financial issues and lack of other Arab nations in the contest.
 * - Cited financial issues.
 * - Cited financial issues and lack of other Arab nations in the contest.
 * - Cited financial issues and political problems with the broadcaster.
 * - Cited financial issues and lack of other Arab nations in the contest.
 * - Cited financial issues and lack of other Arab nations in the contest.
 * - Cited financial issues and long travel times. Expressed interest if their participation fee were paid by a foreign nation.

Non-participation due to protest

 * - New delegation leadership refused to apply in protest.
 * - New delegation leadership refused to apply in protest.

Non-participation due to lack of interest/bad results

 * - Originally announced they would return in the 32nd edition, but later withdrew. They expressed interest in returning in the following edition.

Non-participation due to unknown/other reasons

 * - Suspended by the Liedjes company for restricting Faroe Islands and Greenland participation in the contest. This suspension would last one edition.
 * - Mentioned a possible return to the contest in the future, but was uninterested as of now.
 * - Northern Ireland made a pact with the Irish broadcaster to send a join entry for this edition.

Yet to debut

 * - Insufficient financial issues, and political issues surrounding the broadcaster.
 * - Citing long travel times and lack of interest in the population but have expressed interest in debuting in the future.
 * - Citing long travel times and lack of interest in the population but have expressed interest in debuting in the future.
 * - Lack of interest in the population or the broadcaster, but have expressed interest previously and have dedicated fanbases