Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Encyclopedia
Russia was the host of the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, held in the Russian capital Moscow
, after Russia's win in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
. Channel One
will resume organisation of the Russian participation in Eurovision.
Different artists performed throughout the song including former Russian Eurovision entries, such as last year's winner Dima Bilan
, Alsou
and Serebro
, and artists competing in this year's Eurovision also performed, including Jade Ewen
for the United Kingdom
, Patricia Kaas
for France
, Sakis Rouvas
for Greece
and AySel
and Arash for Azerbaijan
.
In the first round, jury and televoting selected three acts to qualify to a Super Final. In this Super Final, the winner will be decided solely by a jury. The three qualifying artists were Anastasiya Prikhodko with "Mamo" (means "Mother" in Ukrainian), Valeriya
with "Back to Love", and Kvatro with "Ya tebya lyublyu".
An eleven member jury selected the final winner from the three super finalists. The winner, receiving six votes to five, was Ukrainian
singer Anastasiya Prikhodko, a last-minute entry to the competition, with the song "Mamo", performed in Russian
and Ukrainian
.
Prikhodko's win sparked allegations of vote-rigging. Valeriya's producer Yusif Prigozhin did not agree with the bilingual nature of Prikhodko's song stating: “A song performed in Ukrainian can’t have anything to do with Russia”.
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, after Russia's win in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Eurovision Song Contest 2008
The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Contest. It was hosted in Belgrade, Serbia after Marija Šerifović won the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, Finland. This year was the first contest to have two semi-finals which were held on 20 and 22 May, and the final held on 24 May 2008...
. Channel One
Channel One (Russia)
Channel One is the first television channel to broadcast in the Soviet Union. The channel was renamed Ostankino Channel 1 in 1991, after the Soviet Union broke up and the Russian SFSR became the Russian Federation. According to a recent government publication, the Russian government controls 51%...
will resume organisation of the Russian participation in Eurovision.
National final
Channel One used a national final to select the 13th Russian entry for Eurovision, having primarily used internal selections to select previous entries. Over 1000 entries were sent into Channel One. 50 of them were chosen and sent to a jury to select 15 that will compete in the televised national final on 7 March 2009. The winner was to be selected in the same voting method to be used at Eurovision, with both televoting and a jury vote. Venger Collective, Tim Rocks, Polina Griffith, Quatro are the following artists of Russian preselection that are breaking "1st of October rule", according to which participating songs, in full or in part, should not be publicly performed, released on audio or video, published in the internet or in any other way before 1st of October 2008. Channel One announced that Polina Griffith would sing "Cry For You" instead of "Love Is Independent". The other performers have decided to continue competing with their ineligible songs.Different artists performed throughout the song including former Russian Eurovision entries, such as last year's winner Dima Bilan
Dima Bilan
' is a Russian actor and pop singer . Bilan represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with "Never Let You Go", finishing second, and he won the contest in 2008 in Belgrade, with the song "Believe". He has had several Russian no. 1 hits....
, Alsou
Alsou
- Early life :Alsou was born in Bugulma, Tatarstan. Her father, Ralif Rafilovich Safin is a Russian oligarch, a former LUKoil executive and a current member of the Federal Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament. He is also the owner of the FC Zhemchuzhina-Sochi football team and was...
and Serebro
Serebro
Serebro are a Russian trio, formed in Moscow, Russia in 2006. They are also famously known as the band who finished third in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki with the song "Song #1"...
, and artists competing in this year's Eurovision also performed, including Jade Ewen
Jade Ewen
Jade Almarie Louise Ewen is an English singer, songwriter, actress and member of the Sugababes. Ewen began her singing career in a girl group named Trinity Stone signed to Sony BMG in 2005, but they disbanded in 2007 with no album released...
for the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Patricia Kaas
Patricia Kaas
Patricia Kaas is a French singer and actress.Kaas is a very successful French-speaking singer, with an International following...
for France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Sakis Rouvas
Sakis Rouvas
Anastasios "Sakis" Rouvas II , often referred to mononymously as Sakis, is a Greek musician, television and film artist, businessman, and former pole vaulter who is one of the most successful and influential entertainers of all time in Greece and Cyprus...
for Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and AySel
Aysel Teymurzadeh
-Biography:Aysel was born in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, the youngest of the three daughters of a journalist and a university professor. She is a descendant of the nineteenth-century Azerbaijani publicist Hasan bey Zardabi. Her grandmother on her mother's side was half-Russian, half-Ukrainian...
and Arash for Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
.
In the first round, jury and televoting selected three acts to qualify to a Super Final. In this Super Final, the winner will be decided solely by a jury. The three qualifying artists were Anastasiya Prikhodko with "Mamo" (means "Mother" in Ukrainian), Valeriya
Valeriya
Valeriya is a stage name of Alla Yurievna Perfilova , a Russian singer.-Early years:Valeriya was born on the April 17, 1968 in a small town Atkarsk in middle Russia in a family of classical musicians. She studied piano at the only musical school in the town where her father Yuri Ivanovich was a...
with "Back to Love", and Kvatro with "Ya tebya lyublyu".
| Draw | Artist | Song |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anna Semenovich Anna Semenovich Anna Grigorievna Semenovich is a Russian retired competitive ice dancer, a singer, actress and model.-Skating career:Early in her career, she skated with Maxim Kachanov. They competed at the 1994 Goodwill Games and placed 5th. She teamed up with Vladimir Fedorov in 1995. They won the Finlandia... |
"Love lovila" |
| 2 | Tomas N'evergreen Tomas N'evergreen Tomas N'evergreen is a pop singer from Aarhus, Denmark. He currently resides in Moscow, Russia. In 2009 he participated in the Russian National Selection to the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. On 6 February 2010 he participated and won Dansk Melodi Grand Prix with Christina Chanée... |
"One More Try" |
| 3 | Alexa | "Ne dumat o tebye" |
| 4 | Plazma Plazma Plazma is a Russian musical group consisting of Roman Chernitsyn and Maxim Postelniy... |
"Never Ending Story" |
| 5 | Anastasiya Prikhodko | "Mamo" |
| 6 | Valeriya Valeriya Valeriya is a stage name of Alla Yurievna Perfilova , a Russian singer.-Early years:Valeriya was born on the April 17, 1968 in a small town Atkarsk in middle Russia in a family of classical musicians. She studied piano at the only musical school in the town where her father Yuri Ivanovich was a... |
"Back to Love" |
| 7 | Nano | "Traitor" |
| 8 | Tim Rocks | "The Happiest Man" |
| 9 | Princess Avenue | "Never, Never" |
| 10 | Nikolay Fokeyev | "You Can Stop The Time" |
| 11 | Venger Collective | "9 O'Clock Moscow" |
| 12 | Polina Griffith | "Cry for You" |
| 13 | Alexey Vorobyov Alexey Vorobyov (singer) Alexey Vladimirovich Vorobyov is a Russian singer and actor who performs both in Russian and English. For international purposes Vorobyov is also credited as Alex Sparrow, a translation of his Russian name. He is best known for appearing on the Russian version of The X Factor at the age of 17 in... |
"Angelom byt" |
| 14 | Unisex | "Ai-ai-ai" |
| 15 | Arishata | "Breakdown" |
| 16 | Kvatro | "Ya tebya lyublyu" |
An eleven member jury selected the final winner from the three super finalists. The winner, receiving six votes to five, was Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
singer Anastasiya Prikhodko, a last-minute entry to the competition, with the song "Mamo", performed in Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
.
| Draw | Artist | Song |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anastasiya Prikhodko | "Mamo" |
| 2 | Valeriya Valeriya Valeriya is a stage name of Alla Yurievna Perfilova , a Russian singer.-Early years:Valeriya was born on the April 17, 1968 in a small town Atkarsk in middle Russia in a family of classical musicians. She studied piano at the only musical school in the town where her father Yuri Ivanovich was a... |
"Back to Love" |
| 3 | Kvatro | "Ya tebya lyublyu" |
Prikhodko's win sparked allegations of vote-rigging. Valeriya's producer Yusif Prigozhin did not agree with the bilingual nature of Prikhodko's song stating: “A song performed in Ukrainian can’t have anything to do with Russia”.