Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest Logo

The first Eurovision Song Contest was held in Lugano, Switzerland, with only seven participating countries. In 1994, Russia competed in the European Song Contest for the first time. Russia first won the Grand Final in 2008: the winner was Dima Bilan with his song "Believe".

Overview: Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest
Year Artist Song Points Place Host Country/ City
2019 Sergey Lazarev Scream 370 3 Tel Aviv / Israel
2018 Julia Samoylova I Won’t Break! eliminated in Second Semi-Final Lisbon / Portugal
2017 Julia Samoylova Flame is Burning withdrawn Ukraine / Kiev
2016 Sergey Lazarev You Are the Only One 491 3 Sweden / Stockholm
2015 Polina Gagarina A Million Voices 303 2 Austria / Vienna
2014 Tolmachevy Sisters Shine 89 7 Denmark / Copenhagen
2013 Dina Garipova What if 174 5 Schweden / Malmö
2012 Buranovskiye Babushki Party for Everybody 259 2 Azerbaijan / Baku
2011 Alexey Vorobyov (Alex Sparrow) Get You 77 16 Germany / Düsseldorf
2010 The Peter Nalitch Band Lost and Forgotten 90 11 Norway / Oslo
2009 Anastasia Prikhodko Mamo 91 11 Russia / Moscow
2008 Dima Bilan Believe 272 1 Serbia / Belgrade
2007 Serebro Song # 1 207 3 Finland /Helsinki
2006 Dima Bilan Never Let You Go 248 2 Greece / Athens
2005 Natalia Podolskaya Nobody Hurt No One 57 15 Ukraine / Kiev
2004 Julia Savicheva Believe Me 67 11 Turkey / Istanbul
2003 t.A.T.u. Ne Ver', Ne Boisia 164 3 Latvia / Riga
2002 Prime minister Northern Girl 55 10 Estonia / Tallinn
2001 Mumiy troll Lady Alpine Blue 37 12 Denmark / Copenhagen
2000 Alsou Solo 155 2 Sweden / Stockholm
1997 Alla Pugachova Primadonna 33 15 Ireland / Dublin
1995 Philipp Kirkorov Kolybelnaya Dlya Vulkana 18 17 Ireland / Dublin
1994 Youddiph Vechni Stranik 70 9 Ireland / Dublin

The Eurovision Song Contest takes place every year in May. Participants of the contest are members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Each country is represented by one entry. The winner country is the host of the next Eurovision Song Contest. The Contest consists of two Semi-Finals and the Grand Final.

Main rules for the Eurovision Song Contest
Number of entries per country: 1
Requirements for participants: - Countries may be represented by single artists or bands.
- Each performance may consist of a maximum of six people on stage.
- All artists must be aged at least 16 on the day of their performance.
- No live animals are allowed on stage.
Songs / Entries: All artists shall perform live accompanied by a recorded backing-track without any vocals or vocal imitations. No lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political nature are permitted.
Song duration: maximum three minutes
Song language: free to choose (must not necessarily be the official language of the country)
Voting: TV viewers define winners of the both Semi-Finals by televoing (making a phone call and/or via SMS). Also professional juries give points in the Semi-Finals and in the Grand Final.Final scores shall be calculated on the basis of both the televoting results and of the juries' votes, each result counts for 50%.

The most successful winners of the Eurovision Song Contest are Cliff Richard (1968), ABBA (1974), Dschinghis Khan (1979), Celine Dion (1988). The Russian girl band t.A.T.u. became popular outside Russia after the European Song Contest in 2003 (without winning it).

More Entertainment

Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia

The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the first contest ever hosted in Russia. The Final took place on May 16th. It was an amazing, exciting and one of the biggest shows in history. Alexander Rybak from Norway won the contest with his song Fairytale. He obtained 387 points which was the highest total score in Eurovision history. Facts, videos and photos of the Eurovision 2009 in Moscow.

Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia

The young Ukrainian singer Anastasia Prikhodko represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow with the song Mamo. Anastasia sang in Russian and Ukrainian. The song received 91 points and finished in 11th place. Video, lyrics and some facts about Anastasia Prikhodko.