Lied van Liedjes 39

This was the thirty-ninth Lied van Liedjes to be held. The contest would be held in Porto, Portugal, following their victory at the previous contest with winning song, "TBD" by TBD. The Semi-Finals would occur on Tuesday 23 September 2003 and Thursday 25 September 2003. The Grand Final would take place on Saturday 27 September 2003.

Lucia Danielsen returned as executive producer, alongside the director Eila Kekkonen. Marissa Henriques returned as coordinator from the 25th contest. Porto was confirmed as the host city following Lisbon pulling their bid. Lisbon had previously hosted the previous Portuguese contest. Casa da Música (Music House) was chosen as the most suitable venue before the pot draw.

35 countries participated in the contest. Turkey and Azerbaijan withdrew due to poor results while Cyprus returned to the contest.

Pot Draw (of the 37th contest)
Italics indicate a returning country.

Semi Final 1
TBD and TBD would vote in this Semi Final. It took place on Tuesday 25 November 2003.

Semi Final 2
TBD, TBD, and TBD would vote in this Semi-Final. It took place on Thursday 27 November 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 unknown/other reasons

 * - Mentioned a possible return to the contest in the future, but was uninterested as of now.

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