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".
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).
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.
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.
In Russian "Serebro" means 'silver' (russ.: Серебро). But the Russian girls were determined to give their all and go for gold at the Grand Prix in Helsinki on Mai 12, 2007.