Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest
| Russia | |
|---|---|
| |
| Participating broadcaster | |
| Participation summary | |
| Appearances | 21 (20 finals) |
| First appearance | 1994 |
| Highest placement | 1st: 2008 |
| External links | |
| Channel One page Channel Russia page | |
 For the most recent participation seeRussia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 | |
Russia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 21 times since their debut in 1994. Russia won the 2008 contest with Dima Bilan performing the song "Believe". One of the most successful countries in the contest in the 21st century with a total of nine top five placements, Russia finished second with Alsou in 2000, Dima Bilan in 2006, Buranovskiye Babushki in 2012 and Polina Gagarina in 2015; third with t.A.T.u. in 2003, Serebro in 2007 and Sergey Lazarev in 2016, and fifth with Dina Garipova in 2013.
Contest history
Their debut was in the 1994 contest after Russia became a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Russia came second at four contests; in 2000 with the song "Solo" performed by Alsou, in 2006 with Dima Bilan's song "Never Let You Go", in 2012 with the song "Party for Everybody" performed by Buranovskiye Babushki, and in 2015 with Polina Gagarina's song "A Million Voices". They also achieved three third-place finishes; in 2003 with t.A.T.u's song "Ne Ver', Ne Boysia", Serebro's in 2007 with their entry "Song #1", and in 2016 with Sergey Lazarev's song "You Are the Only One"(But this song won in the "televoting").
In 1996, Russia's entry was Andrey Kosinsky with the song "Me is me", but on the eve of competition (for the second time in its history), he scored an insufficient number of points in a special qualifying round and therefore missed the final.
In 1998, because Russia did not participate in the contest (due to lower average scores in participating in previous competitions), Russia refused to broadcast the competition and the European Broadcasting Union in return forbade the country to participate the following year. According to unconfirmed information, Russia was required to submit Tatyana Ovsiyenko with the song "My Sun".
Russia won their first Eurovision Song Contest in 2008, when Dima Bilan, participating for the second time in the contest, won with the song "Believe", bringing the contest to Russia for 2009.
Russia was the most successful country in Eurovision in 2000-2009, with one win, two second places, and two third places. However, in 2010 they finished 11th, and in 2011 they were 16th, which was the worst place for Russia since 1995. Interest in the competition fell, but in 2012 Buranovskiye Babushki finished in second place, increasing Russia's interest in the show. Russia holds the record for the most top five finishes in the 21st century, with nine, most recently with Sergey Lazarev, who was third in 2016 with 491 points, which is the highest score of any Russian contestant.
In 2018, for the very first time, a Russian contestant failed to reach the final. Yulia Samoylova, who represented the country with the song "I Won't Break", failed to qualify to the Grand Final from the second semi-final.
Broadcast
The contest has been broadcast irregularly on two different public state channels in Russia, both EBU members: for the 1994 and 1996 it was broadcast on Russia-1 of VGTRK, while in 1995, 1997 and from 1999 to 2007 the contest was broadcast on Channel One. Since 2008, there is an alternation on broadcast and selection, with Russia-1 on even years, and Channel One on odd ones.
Contestants
- Table key
| Year | Artist | Language | Title | Final | Points | Semi | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Youddiph | Russian | "Vechni stranik" (Вечный странник) | 9 | 70 | No semi-finals | ||
| 1995 | Philipp Kirkorov | Russian | "Kolybelnaya dlya vulkana" (Колыбельная для вулкана) | 17 | 17 | |||
| 1996a | Andrei Kosinsky | Russian | "Ya eto ya" (Я это я) | Failed to qualify | 26 | 14 | ||
| 1997 | Alla Pugacheva | Russian | "Primadonna" (Примадонна) | 15 | 33 | No semi-finals | ||
| Did not participate between 1998 and 1999b | ||||||||
| 2000 | Alsou | English | "Solo" | 2 | 155 | No semi-finals | ||
| 2001 | Mumiy Troll | English | "Lady Alpine Blue" | 12 | 37 | |||
| 2002 | Prime Minister | English | "Northern Girl" | 10 | 55 | |||
| 2003 | t.A.T.u. | Russian | "Ne ver', ne boisia" (Не верь, не бойся) | 3 | 164 | |||
| 2004 | Julia Savicheva | English | "Believe Me" | 11 | 67 | Top 11 Previous Year | ||
| 2005 | Natalia Podolskaya | English | "Nobody Hurt No One" | 15 | 57 | Top 12 Previous Year | ||
| 2006 | Dima Bilan | English | "Never Let You Go" | 2 | 248 | 3 | 217 | |
| 2007 | Serebro | English | "Song #1" | 3 | 207 | Top 10 Previous Year | ||
| 2008 | Dima Bilan | English | "Believe" | 1 | 272 | 3 | 135 | |
| 2009 | Anastasia Prikhodko | Russian, Ukrainian | "Mamo" (Мамо) | 11 | 91 | Host country | ||
| 2010 | Peter Nalitch and Friends | English | "Lost and Forgotten" | 11 | 90 | 7 | 74 | |
| 2011 | Alexej Vorobjov | English, Russian | "Get You" | 16 | 77 | 9 | 64 | |
| 2012 | Buranovskiye Babushki | Udmurt, English | "Party for Everybody" | 2 | 259 | 1 | 152 | |
| 2013 | Dina Garipova | English | "What If" | 5 | 174 | 2 | 156 | |
| 2014 | Tolmachevy Sisters | English | "Shine" | 7 | 89 | 6 | 63 | |
| 2015 | Polina Gagarina | English | "A Million Voices" | 2 | 303 | 1 | 182 | |
| 2016 | Sergey Lazarev | English | "You Are the Only One" | 3 | 491 | 1 | 342 | |
| 2017d | Julia Samoylova | English | "Flame Is Burning" | Withdrawn | ||||
| 2018 | Julia Samoylova | English | "I Won't Break" | Failed to qualify | 15 | 65 | ||
- NOTES:
- a. ^ In 1996 Russia failed to qualify from the audio only pre-qualification round. The official Eurovision site does not count 1996 in Russia's total list of appearances.
- b. ^ Russia was forced to sit out another year in 1999, as the EBU only allows countries which had broadcast the previous year's contest to enter the next year's contest.
- c. If a country won the previous year, they did not have to compete in Semi Finals. In addition, back in 2005-2007, countries who done well did not have to compete in Semi Finals the following year. The top ten non-Big four along with the Big four countries automatically qualified, for example, if Germany and France placed inside the top 10, the 11th and 12th spots were advanced to next year's Grand Final along with everyone within the top 10.
- d. ^ Russia withdrew from the 2017 contest, after Julia Samoylova was banned from entering the host country Ukraine but was allowed to perform. The official Eurovision site does not count 2017 in Russia's total list of appearances.
Voting history
As of 2018, Russia's voting history is as follows:
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Act selection process
| Year | Selection process | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | National Final with 9 participants | RTR |
| 1995 | Internal Selection | ORT |
| 1996 | National Final with 14 participants | RTR |
| 1997 | Internal Selection | ORT |
| Did not participate between 1998 and 1999 | ||
| 2000 | Internal Selection | ORT |
| 2001 | ||
| 2002 | ||
| 2003 | Channel 1 | |
| 2004 | ||
| 2005 | National Final with 29 participants | |
| 2006 | Internal Selection | |
| 2007 | ||
| 2008 | National Final with 27 participants | Russia |
| 2009 | National Final with 16 participants | Channel 1 |
| 2010 | National Final with 25 participants | Russia |
| 2011 | Internal Selection | Channel 1 |
| 2012 | National Final with 25 participants | Russia 1 |
| 2013 | Internal Selection | Channel 1 |
| 2014 | Russia 1 | |
| 2015 | Channel 1 | |
| 2016 | Russia 1 | |
| 2017 | Channel 1 | |
| 2018 | ||
Commentators and spokespersons
 |
| Year(s) | Commentator | Dual Commentator | Spokesperson | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Vadim Dolgachyov | No Dual Commentator | Irina | RTR |
| 1995 | Unknown | Marina Danielyan | ORT | |
| 1996 | Vadim Dolgachyov | Russia did not participate | RTR | |
| 1997 | Philipp Kirkorov | Sergei Antipov | Arina Sharapova | ORT |
| 1998 | No Broadcast | No Broadcast | Russia did not participate | No Broadcast |
| 1999 | Aleksej Zhuravlev | Tatjana Godunova | ORT | |
| 2000 | Zhanna Agalakova | |||
| 2001 | Alexander Anatolievich | Konstantin Mikhailov | Larisa Verbickaya | |
| 2002 | Yuriy Aksuta | Elena Batinova | Arina Sharapova | |
| 2003 | Yana Churikova | Channel 1 | ||
| 2004 | ||||
| 2005 | ||||
| 2006 | Tatjana Godunova | |||
| 2007 | Elena Batinova | |||
| 2008 | Dmitry Guberniev | Olga Shelest | Oxana Fedorova | Russia 1 |
| 2009 | Yana Churikova | Semi-finals — Aleksey Manuylov; Final — Philipp Kirkorov |
Ingeborga Dapkunaite | Channel 1 |
| 2010 | Dmitry Guberniev | Olga Shelest | Oxana Fedorova | Russia 1 |
| 2011 | Yuriy Aksuta | Yana Churikova | Dima Bilan | Channel 1 |
| 2012 | Dmitry Guberniev | Olga Shelest | Oxana Fedorova | Russia 1 |
| 2013 | Yuriy Aksuta | Yana Churikova | Alsou | Channel 1 |
| 2014 | Dmitry Guberniev | Olga Shelest | Russia 1 | |
| 2015 | Yuriy Aksuta | Yana Churikova | Dmitry Shepelev | Channel 1 |
| 2016 | Dmitry Guberniev | Ernest Matskyavichys | Nyusha | Russia 1 |
| 2017 | No Broadcast | No Broadcast | Russia did not participate | No Broadcast |
| 2018 | Yuriy Aksuta | Yana Churikova | Alsou | Channel 1 |
Conductors
Lev Zemlinski (1994)
Mikhail Finberg (1995)
Rutger Gunnarsson (1997)[1]
Hostings
| Year | Location | Venue | Presenters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Moscow | Olympic Indoor Arena | Semi-finals: Natalia Vodianova and Andrey Malahov; Final: Alsou and Ivan Urgant[2] |
Other awards
Marcel Bezençon Awards
Press Award
| Year | Song | Performer | Final Result | Points | Host city |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | "You Are the Only One" | Sergey Lazarev | 3rd | 491 | Stockholm |
Photogallery
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See also
- Russia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Junior version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
- Russia in the Eurovision Dance Contest – Dance version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
- Russia in the Eurovision Young Dancers – A competition organised by the EBU for younger dancers aged between 16 and 21.
- Russia in the Eurovision Young Musicians – A competition organised by the EBU for musicians aged 18 years and younger.
- Russia in the Türkvizyon Song Contest – A contest for countries and regions which are of Turkic-speaking or Turkic ethnicity.
Notes and references
References
- ^ http://andtheconductoris.eu/
- ^ "Exclusive: The hosts of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest!". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
External links
- Points to and from Russia eurovisioncovers.co.uk
