Lied van Liedjes 36

This was the thirty-sixth Lied van Liedjes to be held. The contest would be held in Sofia, Bulgaria, following their victory at the previous contest with winning song, "you're the worst" by Vik Vitanova. The Semi-Finals would occur on Tuesday 26th August 2003 and Thursday 28th August 2003. The Grand Final would take place on Saturday 30th August 2003.

Lucia Danielsen returned as executive producer, alongside the director Eila Kekkonen. The coordinator was chosen as both Nizhoni Lazarov and Teodor Valentinov who coordinated the 8th and 14th editions respectively. Sofia was confirmed as the host city immediately after Bulgaria accepted the offer of hosting the contest.

38 countries participating in the contest. Australia withdrew from the contest following poor results. Russia, Armenia and Hungary organised a protest of the contest and so withdrew. To fill the now lower spots, Northern Ireland was invited to return for the first time in many editions, along side Moldova.

Pot Draw
Italics indicate a returning country.

Semi Final 1
and would vote in this Semi Final. It took place on Tuesday 26th August 2003.

Semi Final 2
,, and would vote in this Semi-Final. It took place on Thursday 28th August 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