Musical competition "Eurovision"- one of the most popular in our country. According to statistics, every second Russian every year with interest follows the struggle of the contestants, cheering, of course, first of all for his own. PEOPLETALK invites you to remember all the Russian performers who had the honor to represent the country at the competition.
Masha Katz, 1994
In 1994, Russia was represented at the competition by the singer Masha Katz(42). Her performance was the debut of our country on "Eurovision". Masha Katz, better known under the pseudonym Judith, performed with an English-language song "The Eternal Wanderer". The competition then took place in Dublin (Ireland). Bright and charismatic Maria managed to take only the ninth line, which is not so bad for the first time.
In 2004 on "Eurovision" the winner of the youth show went "Star Factory - 2" Yulia Savicheva(28). Because of the intense excitement with which Savicheva could not cope in the first minutes of the performance, the beginning turned out to be weak. However Julia managed to overcome emotions and take 11th place with the song believe me.
Natalia Podolskaya, 2005
Follow Savicheva to conquer Europe another one went "manufacturer" − Natalia Podolskaya(33). Song Nobody Hurt No One and 15th place.
In 2006 on "Eurovision" from Russia went Dima Bilan(33). in a desperate struggle Dima still lost first place to a costumed rock band Lordi from Finland. Song Never Let You Go brought Dima And Russia second place.
Silver, 2007
Group Maxim Fadeev "Silver" went to the competition in 2007 for the first place, but the sexy trio took only third. The girls sang a song Song #1.
Dima Bilan, 2008
2008 was a triumphant comeback Dima Bilan(33) on "Eurovision" after an embarrassing defeat in 2006. Determined to win Dima called for the help of the Olympic champion Evgenia Plushenko (32) and famous violinistEdwin Marton (41) . All three sang Believe. Dima was irresistible and Russia finally won the long-awaited victory for the first time.
Anastasia Prikhodko, 2009
Next year Russia represented by the ward Konstantin Meladze (52) − graduate "Star Factory", singer Anastasia Prikhodko (28) . Song "Mamo", performed in Ukrainian, instead of the coveted first place, brought us only 11th.
Musical group of Peter Nalich, 2010
In 2010, he was selected to participate in the competition "Musical group of Peter Nalich". Composition Lost and Forgotten brought again only 11th place.
The singer did not stay aside Alexey Vorobyov (27) who went to "Eurovision" in 2011. Alexey's participation caused a real stir due to an incorrect comment Vorobiev about sexual minorities. As a result, the singer performed extremely unsuccessfully, taking 16th place.
Buranovskiye grandmothers, 2012
In 2012, from Russia to get the championship on "Eurovision" go "Buranovskiye grandmothers". An unusual folklore group from the village of Buranovo, Malopurginsky district of Udmurtia, was considered the favorite of the competition. And indeed, the charismatic grandmothers enchanted the audience by singing the song Party for everybody. Eventually "Buranovskiye grandmothers" took second place.
Diana Garipova, 2013
In 2013 on "Eurovision" the winner of the show went "Voice" Dina Garipova(24). Song What If written by Swedish producers Gabriel Alares And Joachim Bjornberg, brought the country fifth place.
Maria and Anastasia Tolmacheva, 2014
In 2014, the sisters went to the competition Tolmachevs (18) . twins Maria And Anastasia sang a song shine, finishing in seventh place.
And this year our country on "Eurovision" presents a singer with a delightful voice − Polina Gagarina(28). Even before the start of the competition, the bookmakers were recording a song A Million Voices in the favorites, prophesying the singer first place. Whether the forecasts will be confirmed, we will find out soon, but for now we offer to listen again Polina.
During the performance of the Irishman, two guys are dancing on stage, portraying a love couple. This dramatization has already become the reason for rumors that the Russian First Channel showed this Eurovision 2018 semi-final not live, but with an hour and a half delay: in order, God forbid, to retouch the kiss (which, by the way, was not) scene. "It's all about the reprogramming that was planned earlier for this time, and not some kind of malicious intent," Aksyuta tried to explain the situation.
As for the number "Forever", which Alekseev performed in Lisbon, it was beyond kitsch. Nikita sang live so-so, and the roses on the performer's back looked like an open wound and looked more repulsive than beautiful. Therefore, having performed his ballad "Together" purely and with feeling, the Irishman made it to the final, while Alekseev did not. As in the case of the failure of Yulia Samoilova, the reasons must be sought at home.
Russia should stay in Eurovision
In Belarus, as in Russia, they also like to blame the "behind the scenes" of the contest and the European attitude towards the official Minsk in the country's failures at Eurovision. But Belarus still accepts the challenge every year and sends its participants to the competition. Therefore, I want to believe that Russia will remain in it and will not follow the lead of those who call for slamming the door.
Competition is what still connects Russia with Europe. Here she is a full and respected member of the European family. The attitude towards Yulia Samoilova, Sergey Lazarev, Polina Gagarina at Eurovision is a confirmation of this. Refusing to participate in the competition after failing to reach the final is the same as if, after the current defeat by the Czech hockey team, they were offered to refuse to participate in the World Championship. After all, both in hockey and at Eurovision Russia has something to be proud of.
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Next year in Israel
25-year-old Netta Barzilai, who represented Israel, was the favorite of the bookmakers. The clip of her song "Toy" with the words "I'm not your toy, stupid boy" even before Eurovision collected millions of views on the Internet. An eccentric feminist electro-pop with elements of rap and a loop showed that even serious things can be spoken (more precisely, sung) with irony. The audience gave Netta the maximum number of votes.
Eurovision 2018 winners (photo gallery)
Greek Albanian from Cyprus
Eleni Foureira performed with the song "Fuego". At one time, she fled with her parents from Albania. She grew up in Greece, where she is a star. But Eleni went to Eurovision from Cyprus. The song was worked on by a producer who created hits for Jennifer Lopez. Both the song and the performance were appreciated by both the national jury and the audience. 2nd place.
Eurovision 2018 winners (photo gallery)
Main surprise
The success of Caesar Sampson from Austria was the main surprise of the Eurovision 2018 final. According to the results of the jury voting, his song "Nobody but you" was even in the lead, but the votes of the audience moved him to third place. The black, athletic Linz native is a singer, songwriter, dancer, producer and model.
Eurovision 2018 winners (photo gallery)
German success
The 4th place of the German performer Michael Schulte is an undoubted success for Germany, because in previous years it occupied the bottom of the list at Eurovision. In the final of the competition in Lisbon, Schulte performed a heartfelt ballad about the death of his father "You let me walk alone". I am also glad that Schulte received high marks from various European countries.
Eurovision 2018 winners (photo gallery)
The success of a street musician
Mikolash Josef was predicted - and deservedly - the best result for the Czech Republic at Eurovision. At the rehearsal, the singer injured his back, but the performance took place, and Mikolash did his dangerous somersault at the end. By the way, he worked as a model for Prada, Replay and Diesel. But above all, Mikolash is a musician. Performances on the streets of European cities helped him gain self-confidence. 6th place.
Eurovision 2018 winners (photo gallery)
San Remo Festival Winners
The song "Non mi avete fatto niente" by the Italian duo, who took 5th place in Lisbon, spoke about terror. This is another proof that the audience and the jury of the competition appreciate not only the colorfulness of the show. Ermala Meta and Fabrizio Moro were given the opportunity to represent Italy in Lisbon as winners of the San Remo Music Festival. Deservedly received. .
Eurovision 2018 winners (photo gallery)
Family tradition
The Swede Benjamin Ingrosso has Italian roots. He has, so to speak, family ties with Eurovision: his parents met while performing together at the Swedish qualifying competition, and his uncle's wife Charlotte Perelli even won Eurovision in 1999. His composition during the voting was among the leaders for a long time. But in the end she took 7th place.
Eurovision 2018 winners (photo gallery)
The highest notes
The highest notes at Eurovision 2018 were for Estonia. Elina Nechaeva is a professional opera singer and works at the Tallinn Opera House. The composition "La Forza" in Italian is a kind of opera aria in a pop arrangement. The text contained many quotations from operatic works. Decent 8th place.
Eurovision 2018 winners (photo gallery)
viking song
The rather imposing appearance of this bearded Viking was very suitable for his song "Higher ground" - or it for him. Be that as it may, the Dane Rasmussen managed to enter the top ten of Eurovision with this composition. 9th place.
Eurovision 2018 winners (photo gallery)
Performance for happiness
The performance "My Lucky Day" from Moldova diluted a certain seriousness of the current "Eurovision". The performance of the DoReDos trio was notable for the fact that Philip Kirkorov wrote the music for it. The video was filmed in Greece. The trio participates in Eurovision from the third attempt. In 2017, they won the New Wave festival in Sochi, where Kirkorov drew attention to them. 10th place.
Eurovision 2018 winners (photo gallery)
...And others
Perhaps the main surprise of the Eurovision 2018 semi-finals was the performance of the Lithuanian singer Eva Zasimauskaite. At first, the bookies believed that she would not reach the final at all, but after her brilliant performance in the semi-finals, Eva was among the favorites of the competition. Her song "Wenn we´re old" was romantic and touching. She barely made it to the top ten. 12th place.
Eurovision 2018 winners (photo gallery)
Rybak-2
Alexander Rybak, a Belarusian by origin, again played for Norway. The song "Fairytale" brought him victory nine years ago in Moscow. In Lisbon, his composition "That's How You Write A Song" appeared on the list of favorites, but compared to other performances, it did not look too bright. Only 15th place was enough.
Eurovision 2018 winners (photo gallery)
Ineffective Effects
The representative of Ukraine Melovin (this is the stage name of Konstantin Bocharov) impressed the audience of the second semi-final with his "technological" show and a lens in his eye. But the sea of fire, the piano-coffin and other effects left the national juries indifferent. Only thanks to the support of the audience, the song "Under the Ladder" left the "cellars" of the rating and eventually took 17th place.
Today you will not find a person who has not watched the broadcast of the annual Eurovision music contest at least once. Performers from the countries of the European Broadcasting Union demonstrate their vocal skills in this show. A representative of each state performs one composition, for which he receives points from viewers of other countries. By counting these points, the name of the winner of the competition becomes known.
Eurovision: list of participants from previous years
The Eurovision Song Contest was first held in Switzerland in 1956. Then only 7 countries participated in the competition, representatives of each performed several songs. Lis Assia won. Since then a lot has changed. So, for example, in 1986, the 1st place was taken by the representative of Belgium, Sandra Kim, who was only 13 years old. After her performance, it was decided to introduce age restrictions, according to which only participants who have reached the age of 16 are allowed to perform.
The list of Eurovision participants is constantly changing. Some performers try their hand more than once. Here, for example, Dima Bilan in 2006 fought from Russia for the victory, but he failed to become a prize-winner. And in 2008, Bilan decided to try again, which brought him the long-awaited 1st place for his country. By the way, this is the only case in the history of Eurovision when the representative of Russia became the winner.
But among the list of countries there are those who should rightfully be considered leaders. So, Ireland took the honorable 1st place at Eurovision 7 times, England, France and Luxembourg - 5 times each, and Sweden and Holland - 4 times each.
1969 was an interesting year in the history of the competition. The Eurovision participants then impressed everyone with their vocal abilities so much that according to the voting results, 1 place went to 4 countries at once. These were the Netherlands represented by Lenny Kuhr, France represented by Frida Boccara, Great Britain and Lulu, as well as Spain and the singer Salome.
Eurovision participants: famous performers and representatives of countries 2015
During the existence of the contest, the most famous performers became participants in Eurovision. So, for example, the AVVA group, Celine Dion, Lara Fabian, and even the Russian kings of the pop scene Philip Kirkorov and Alla Pugacheva once shone on the stage of the competition. Someone managed to win an honorable victory, but someone did not. The main thing is that these performers are recognized by the public not only in their countries, but also far beyond their borders.
If at the very beginning of the existence of Eurovision, the quality of singing, timbre, vocal abilities of a particular singer were mainly evaluated, then over the past decade there has been a certain change: the talent of the performer is relegated to the background, and first of all, the viewer chooses outrageous, unusual and colorful stage image . This is the best evidence of the performers who have taken first place over the past few years. Thus, the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 gave victory to the Finnish rock band Lordi with their composition Hard Rock Hallelujah. The rockers overtook Dima Bilan, who then took second place. There were many versions of why the rock band won the competition. Some experts said that the audience was tired of ballads and tearful songs, others argued that everyone voted for "Lordi" for the sake of a joke. Be that as it may, the whole world was talking about rockers then.
In addition, a striking example of an eccentric personality is another Eurovision 2014 participant, Conchita Wurst. Conchita is the stage image of a young man named Thomas, and with his appearance he wanted to prove to the world that any person should have the right to show his true desires and his real face to society, despite his hobbies and preferences.
The list of Eurovision 2014 participants included many talented performers, but Conchita surpassed everyone, which once again confirms that the audience needs extraordinary artists.
Participants of Eurovision 2015 are already known. Among them: Polina Gagarina from Russia, Yuzari and Maimuna from Belarus, Moldova will be represented by Eduard Romanyuta, Latvia by Aminata Savadogo, Sweden by Mons Zelmerlev.
Very soon we will find out who will be in the top three leaders of Eurovision 2015 - May 23 will be the final of this wonderful annual music competition. Well, now we just have time to choose our favorite, so that later we can cheer for him and send messages during the voting!
In the evening On May 12, the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 will take place at the Altis Arena in Lisbon. 26 performers will compete for a crystal microphone, the show will be broadcast by almost fifty countries , including Belarus.
Norwegian Belarusian Alexander Rybak is a participant in the final. Photo Andres Putting / eurovision.tv
In total, representatives of 43 states are participating in the competition this year. Ten finalists were selected based on the results of two semi-finals ( , ), another five performers automatically qualified for the final as representatives of the founding countries of the European Broadcasting Union (Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy and France). Portugal also missed out on the pre-selection as the host of the stage.
The representative of Belarus in the final show, but the inhabitants of our country will be able to vote for their favorite performer.
website offer to get to know the finalists and their compositions better (in the order they appear on the stage).
1. Ukraine. MELOVIN - Under The Ladder
Ukraine is represented at the competition by a 21-year-old singer, composer and songwriter Konstantin Bocharov, acting under the pseudonym MELOVIN.
Konstantin was born in Odessa. He began to sing in the school choir, where he was the only boy, during breaks he constantly gave mini-concerts in the music room for other students. At the age of 12, he entered the Samotsviti folk theater school, won many city competitions and acting festivals, and was the host of city events.
At the age of 16, the young man came up with the pseudonym MELOVIN, which is a reference to two words: Halloween and the name of designer Alexander McQueen.
In 2015, MELOVIN won the Ukrainian show "X-factor", and in 2016 he released his debut single "Not Alone".
Last year, the singer already tried to get to Eurovision, but lost the final, although he scored the largest number of audience votes. This year he performs his own song Under The Ladder. The stage number helped him to make Konstantin Tomilchenko, who choreographed Jamala - the winner of Eurovision-2016.
2. Spain. Amaia & Alfred - Tu Cancion
Amaya Romero And Alfred Garcia participated in the last season of the talent show Operación Triunfo on Spanish television. Amaya became the winner of the TV show, while Alfred finished fourth. The song Tu Canción is the epitome of Amaya and Alfred's love story.
Amaya Romero Arbis is 19 years old, she has been participating in various talent shows on television since childhood. He has been playing the piano since the age of six. She is inspired by artists such as Paul McCartney, The Beatles, Silvia Pérez-Cruz and the Argentine band El Mató a Un Policía Motorizado.
Alfred Garcia Castillo is 21 years old and has been studying voice and trombone since he was six years old. Currently studying at the Taller de Músics School of Music in Barcelona and also studying audiovisual communication at the International University of Catalonia. Alfred writes songs himself and has already released three albums.
3. Slovenia. Lea Sirk - Hvala, ne!
The girl is 28 years old, she began to study music at the age of five. She participated in many national and international festivals, where she constantly occupied a leading position.
She studied at the Conservatory in Geneva, participated in various seminars throughout Europe, she also has a Master of Arts degree.
Lea has already tried to break into Eurovision in 2009, 2010 and 2017, and in 2014 and 2016 she represented her country in the team of backing vocalists.
4. Lithuania. Eve Zasimauskaite- When We're Old
Eva is 24 years old, the girl was born in Kaunas. She graduated from a music school with a degree in pop singing, sang and played the piano in the children's ensemble Linksmasis do.
At the age of 16, together with the Kaunas choir, she won the project of the TV3 channel Chorų karai (“Choir Wars”). In 2012, Eva reached the superfinal in the Lithuanian version of the Voice project, after which she began her solo career.
At the age of 14, Eva already participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest as a backing vocalist. In the selection for the adult Eurovision, the girl showed unprecedented perseverance - she stormed the national contest five times, until she finally won.
5. Austria. Cesar Sempson- Nobody but you
34 year old Cesar Sempson- Singer, songwriter and producer. Already at the age of 17 he toured the world as a leading singer with such representatives of alternative music as Kruder & Dorfmeister, Sofa Surfers and Louis Austin.
Cesar already has experience working for Eurovision. Working with Symphonix International, he was part of the production team that led Bulgaria to historic fourth and second places at Eurovision in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
6. Estonia. Elina Nechaeva - La Forza
Elina Nechaeva- an opera singer and at Eurovision will sing in Italian. The girl is 26 years old. Her family has Estonian, Russian, English and French roots, so Elina easily learns foreign languages and is fluent in Estonian, Russian, English, French and Italian.
Two years ago, Elina graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, where she studied classical vocals. As a child, she dreamed of becoming an astronaut and flying between planets and stars - this inspired her song La Forza.
The singer strives to present opera on the biggest stages of the world. She loves classical music and especially appreciates Mozart and Tchaikovsky. The girl takes great care of her voice and loves to start the morning with yoga and jogging, she tries to walk whenever and wherever she can, and she prefers a piece of chocolate to a cup of coffee.
Elina loves to relax with animation, she likes classic cartoons about Disney princesses and Japanese anime, especially Hayao Miyazaki.
7. Norway. Alexander Fisherman- That's How You Write A Song
31 year old Alexander Rybak in 2009, he already won Eurovision, captivating the audience and the jury with his composition Fairytale and artistic violin playing.
Alexander was born in Minsk in a family of musicians. His mother is a pianist, his father is a violinist, and his grandmother is a music school teacher. At the age of 5, the boy began to play the violin and piano, dance, compose songs and sing. Around the same age, he moved to Norway with his family.
Alexander studied at the Videregående RUD School of Music, Dance and Dramatic Art, as well as at the Barratt Due Music Academy in Oslo. At the age of 17, he received a Meadowmount School of Music scholarship, which is awarded annually to no more than three candidates from among music students around the world.
At Eurovision 2009, Alexander Rybak scored a record 387 points at that time. Subsequently, the competitive composition Fairytale topped many European charts, and the self-titled album was released in 25 countries.
In 2014, Rybak organized a casting in Belarus and, which he intended to send to Eurovision, while he himself acted as a producer of the band. But the girls lost in the national qualifying round. Then the country was represented at the competition (unsuccessfully) by the duo Uzari & Maimuna, and Rybak expressed his offense at the decision of the jury.
8. Portugal. Claudia Pascal - About Jardim
The singer is 23 years old, has been playing the guitar since the age of 15. Claudia was both a street musician and participated in many TV music shows - Ídolos (Portuguese version of American Idol,) X Factor, "Voice of Portugal".
Claudia has a single recorded with a popular singer Pedro Goncalves. In addition, the girl sings in the group MORHUA. The singer has been trying to record her debut album for a long time, but there are not enough funds for it.
The entry for Eurovision was written by the Portuguese singer Isaura, who will accompany Claudia on stage.
9. Great Britain. SuRie-Storm
Suzanne Marie Cork- 29-year-old British singer. Her pseudonym is formed from the first and last syllables of her names - SUsanna MaRIE.
SuRie's professional career began when she became the lead singer of HRH Princess Charles at the Royal Albert Hall. Suzanne received her classical musical education at the Royal Academy of Music, where she was recently elected an associate member of the academy, an honor given to former students for their great contribution to the musical profession.
SuRie first entered Eurovision in 2015 as a dancer and backing vocalist Loica Notte from Belgium, which finished fourth. In 2017, she was the musical director of the Belgian member Blanche, who also came in fourth.
10. Serbia.Sanya Ilic and Balkanika -Nova Deca
Alexander Ilic- leader of the Balkanika group, songwriter and composer. The musical style of "Balkanika" is folk Balkan motifs in the rhythm of modern musical trends. The band plays old Balkan instruments, from which Sanya and his friends are trying, not without success, to extract a modern pop-rock sound.
Balkanika gives successful concerts all over the world. Now the group consists of 12 people, but, of course, all of them will not be able to enter the Eurovision stage - the rules do not allow.
11. Germany. Michael Schulte- You Let Me Walk Alone
Michael is 28 years old. His career began in 2007 when he started posting his own covers of famous songs on YouTube.
In 2011, the frontman of the band Reamonn Ree Garvey invited Michael to join him for a concert at the Kieler Woche festival. Together they recorded the song Carry Me Home, which rose to number eight in the German charts.
The singer has over 2.5 million plays on Spotify and 2 million views on YouTube.
12. Albania. Evgent Bushpepa - Mall
Evgent was born in the town of Reshen, but after school he left Albania and moved to Italy for several years. Returning back in 2006, he worked on the Top Channel talk show Top Show and performed in clubs and bars. In the same year, he received several awards in the Top Fest competition.
Evgent and his band Sunrise played as the opening act for many famous rock bands. For example, Deep Purple in 2007, Duff McKagan (Guns N "Roses) in 2011 and Overkill in 2014.
In addition to music, the young man has many other interests, from love of art to support for human rights.
13. France. Madame Monsieur - Mercy
Madame Monsieur - duet vocalist Emily Sutt and producer jeanA-Carla Luca.
They began performing together in 2013, and in 2016 they released their debut album Tandem. The musicians also wrote the song Smile for French rapper Youssouf and later performed on the French TV show Taratata.
Emily was greatly influenced by artists such as Barbara and Nino Ferre, her passion for jazz and blues, as well as her childhood in Nice, where she was not read stories, but sang. Jean-Carl studied at the viola section of the Amiens Conservatory.
14. Czech Republic. Mykolas Josef - Lie to Me
Mykolas was born in Prague into a musical family and has been playing the guitar since the age of five. He studied at an international English school in his hometown, but decided not to continue his studies at British colleges, but to pursue a career. At the age of 17, he received the highest award from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts - a gold medal with honors for solo performance.
For about a year, Mykolas worked professionally as a model, performed at Diesel and Prada shows, but still made a choice in favor of music and travel - his performances could be seen on the streets of Oslo, Zurich, Hamburg, Vienna.
Josef is not only a singer and composer, but also a director of video clips.
In 2015 he released the debut single Hands Bloody and the following year the single Free which reached the top twenty of the Czech chart. Josef was offered to represent the Czech Republic at Eurovision 2017, but he did not like the proposed composition and refused. And the following year, Josef won the selection with the song Lie to Me.
15. Denmark. Rasmussen- Higher ground
Jonas Flodager Rasmussen- 33-year-old Danish actor and singer. Born in Viborg, he studied drama and music at Aarhus University.
Jonas works as a vocal coach, plays in musicals, performed in a choir on stage with The Rolling Stones, as well as in tribute concerts for Elton John, Paul McCartney and ABBA.
Higher Ground is inspired by the legend of the Viking Magnus Erlendson, who defied his king and renounced violence, battles and plunder. Songwriters Niklas Arn and Karl Evren consider Jonas to be a very suitable performer, since he looks like a Viking - he wears long hair and a red beard.
16. Australia.Jessica Mauboy - We Got Love
Australia is participating in Eurovision for the fourth time, and this year it is represented by the 28-year-old Jessica Mauboy. The girl was born in Darwin, she has four brothers and sisters. From an early age, she sang in the church choir with her grandmother.
In 2006, Mauboy was runner-up on the fourth season of the Australian Idol talent show and subsequently signed with Sony Music Australia. In 2007, she joined the girl group Young Divas, but left after a year to concentrate on her solo career.
Mauboy performs mainly pop and R&B music, she has already released three studio albums.
In 2010, the girl played a major role in the musical Bran Nue Dae.
17. Finland. Saara Aalto- Monsters
31 year old Saara Aalto is a famous singer in Finland. She took second place in the local shows "Voice" and Finland's Got Talent. She also voiced Princess Anna in the Finnish version of the cartoon Frozen. Her name was the most frequently requested in Finnish Google in 2016 and in second place for queries - in 2017.
In 2016, the girl reached the final of The X Factor (UK) and received international fame, winning second place in the project.
Saara has already tried twice to get to Eurovision, but both times she took second place in the national selection - in 2011 and 2016.
18. Bulgaria. EQUINOX - Bones
The EQUINOX group appeared specifically for participation in Eurovision and consists of five people.
Jean Bergendorf- winner of the Bulgarian version of the show X Factor in 2013. One of the most successful and controversial Bulgarian artists in recent years.
Vlado Mikhailov- Singer, songwriter, frontman of the bands Safo and Sleng. Last year he participated in Eurovision as a backing vocalist. Vlado is also an actor and starred in the biggest Bulgarian films of the past year - Gasoline, Takeoff and Knockout.
Johnny Manuel was born in the USA. Since childhood, he has been performing on stage, at the age of 14 he went on tour with the N'SYNC group. Last year, he reached the semi-finals of America's Got Talent, and his performance of Whitney Houston's I Have Nothing garnered 270 million views on Facebook.
19. Moldova. DoReDos- My Lucky Day
DoReDos is a folk-pop trio formed in 2011 by Marina Jundiet, Evgeny Andrianov and Sergey Mytsa.
Last year, the guys won the "New Wave", after which all three received the title of Honored Artists of Moldova. Then he noticed them Philip Kirkorov, who actively helps the group in preparation for Eurovision 2018 and is the composer of the song My Lucky Day.
Marina Jundiet 32 years old, born in a creative family: dad plays the guitar, mom danced in a folk ensemble. She studied at the Tiraspol College of Music and the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts.
Evgeny Andrianov He started singing at the age of 10, now he is 25. Like Marina, he studied at the Tiraspol College of Music and the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts. In 2013, he took second place at the Slavianski Bazaar.
to Sergey Mytsa also 25 years old. In his hometown Rybnitsa, he studied at the Evrika Lyceum and a music school, and after moving to Chisinau, he entered the College of Music, in 2014 he became a student at the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts.
20. Sweden. Benjamin Ingrosso -Dance You Off
20 year old Benjamin Ingrosso grew up in a very creative family, his father is a dancer, his mother is a singer, among other relatives there are many actors and musicians.
He taught himself to play the guitar and piano, and at the age of 9 he already wrote his first hit.
Benjamin is one of the most popular artists in Sweden. He has over 25 million plays on Spotify, with one platinum and three gold singles.
21. Hungary. AWS - Viszlat Nyar
Metal band AWS formed in 2006 in Budapest. It was founded by four teenagers: Bence Brooker, Daniel Kakenesh, Ersh Shikloshi And Aaron Veresh, later joined the group Shoma Shisler.
AWS plays metalcore and post-hardcore. Their music is not easy to perceive not only with heavy sound, but also with non-trivial texts on the topic of the day. In addition, unlike many metal bands, AWS do not write lyrics in English, but in their native Hungarian language, because they believe that in this way they can convey their thoughts much more eloquently.
In 2010, the band got into the line up of the famous Sziget festival, which takes place annually in Budapest.
22. Israel. Netta-Toy
Hetta barzilai- 25-year-old Israeli singer with a good musical background. She studied music in depth in high school and then studied at the reputable Rimon Music School.
Netta worked in a professional camp for young musicians, then served in the Israeli Navy, and then for three years she sang at the Bar Giora club and directed the weekly blues nights there.
In 2016, the girl became a co-founder of The Experiment, an impromptu singing ensemble that toured all over Israel and collaborated with the famous Bat Sheva ensemble. For two years she was a soloist in the successful show group Gaberband, which performed both in Israel and abroad. In addition, Netta conducts seminars for young musicians in schools.
23. Netherlands. Waylon- outlaw in 'em
38 year old William Bickerk(Waylon) was born in the Netherlands. At the age of 18, he was invited to the USA by the American singer Waylon Jennings and offered to work with him. After the singer's death in 2001, William returned home.
In 2008, he appeared on the show Holland Has Talent, and in 2009 he became the first Dutch artist to sign a contract with the Motown label. His first single Wicked Way and the album of the same name were very successful and won many awards. In 2016, he became a coach in the Voice of Holland project.
Waylon has already represented the Netherlands at Eurovision 2014 with Ilse DeLange Then they took second place.
24. Ireland. Ryan ABOUT" Shaughnessy- Together
Ryan is 25 years old. At the age of 8, he had the opportunity to play Mark Halpin in the soap opera Fair City, a role he played for nearly ten years and spent his teenage years on Irish TV screens. But by the age of 17 he decided to make music and left the series.
In 2012, the young man wrote the first collection of songs. In the same year, he performed in the finals of the television shows The Voice of Ireland and Britain's Got Talent. Later he began collaborating with Sony UK and released an EP which reached number one in Ireland and number nine in the UK.
For the past three years, O'Shaughnessy has toured the United States and Canada extensively.
25. Cyprus. Eleni Foureira- Fuego
31-year-old singer and actress Eleni Foureira is of Albanian origin. She started her musical career in 2010 and was successful both in Greece and Cyprus.
Eleni has been singing since the age of three, but professionally since she was 18. She performed in the group Mystique, and then took up a solo career. Together with Dan Balan Eleni recorded the English-Greek song Chica Bomb, which became a summer hit in 2010.
In recent years, Eleni has released singles in Greek and English, and in 2017, her song Send For Me, created in collaboration with successful producer and rapper A.M., became an international hit. SNiPE.
Eleni was also a judge on the Greek version of the show Think You Can Dance? (So You Think You Can Dance) and worked in the fashion industry. Eleni was also a judge on the Greek version of Do You Think You Can Dance? and worked in the fashion industry.
26. Italy.Ermal MEta & Fabrizio Moro -Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente
37 year old Ermal Meta was born in Albania. When Ermal was 13 years old, his mother moved to Italy with three children. While still in Albania, he started learning to play the piano and continued his studies in Italy, then switched to the guitar. He played in the bands Ameba4, La Fame di Camilla, with whom he participated in the Sanremo festival, but did not reach the final.
He wrote songs and arrangements for other artists, and then pursued a solo career. Already solo participated in festivals in Sanremo of different years and won prizes.
Fabrizio Mobrici(pseudonym - Fabrizio Moro) - 43-year-old Italian singer and songwriter. He began writing songs as a teenager, taught himself to play the guitar, and was educated at the Roberto Rossellini Film and Television Institute in Rome.
Over the course of his career, Moro has released twelve discs and has taken part in the Sanremo Festival six times. He writes songs not only for himself, but also for other artists.
In the last decade, the annual European song contest has been in the center of attention of all residents of our state. In the spring, all the media and ordinary citizens, together with them, begin a heated discussion of the future vocal competition, in May everyone freezes in anticipation, but after the final for a few more months, the whole country is excited by the results. How many of our talented performers in history have performed at the Eurovision Song Contest? The list of participants from Russia, all successful and not so good numbers will be described below.
Historical reference
For the first time, Eurovision was held in Switzerland, and its goal was to unite Western Europe, trying to recover from the war. Despite the fact that the European vocal competition dates back to 1956, the Soviet Union, for obvious political reasons, never sent its representatives there. The competition gained popularity and became one of the most important annual events for Europe. In 1991, the Union collapsed, and Russia, like other former republics, began to establish ties with the West, so the presence of representatives of our country at such an event was only a matter of time. Eurovision participants from Russia appeared at the contest already in 1994.
Getting started and some stats
The first test of the pen was a fairly well-known blues performer who performed under the pseudonym Judith. Maria was chosen for such an honorable mission among 10 applicants for "Program A". Her song "The Eternal Wanderer" took ninth place at the competition in Dublin, the start was not the worst, at least she got into the top ten, which the Eurovision participants from Russia could not achieve until 2000. Although there were more than enough attempts. Since 1994, only three times our country has not participated in the final, but all three times in the 90s. Eurovision participants from Russia have reached the final 19 times in all the years to the present. In 1996, Andrei Kosinsky could not pass the qualifying round to the final, in 1998 he was not allowed in due to a low rating, and ORT did not broadcast the competition live, which caused a second refusal in 1999. The channel was able to draw conclusions, in 2000 our country triumphantly returned to the European singing competition.
"Eurovision". Russia: participants and places in the 90s
After a rather good start at ORT, they decided that venerable performers, well known in their homeland, should represent our state at the European competition. Therefore, in 1995, the future pop king of the national stage, Philip Kirkorov, recovered again to Dublin. According to the artist, he had only 10 days to prepare after he was taken aback by the news. This, perhaps, can explain the failure of the song "Lullaby for the Volcano", which took 17th place. Or maybe the reason was the fact, revealed a little later, that the composition was not original, like most of Kirkorov's repertoire. But, one way or another, after his failure, Philip repeatedly helped many Russian and not only young performers at Eurovision. And the prima donna of the national stage with the song of the same name Alla Pugacheva in 1997 was able to take only 15th place, and again in Dublin. Europe could not understand and accept the manner and style of Alla Borisovna, so her performance can be safely considered a failure.
Shock five-year plan
After a short two-year break, our country triumphantly returned to Eurovision. The list of participants from Russia in the first years of the new millennium was very diverse. In 2000, a young Tatar woman went to Stockholm, who conquered Europe with her song "Solo" and thus earned the first silver for Russia. The well-deserved second place in the competition became a real sensation, and Alsou became a national heroine. Intoxicated with success, in 2001 ORT producers sent a rather extraordinary rock band Mumiy Troll to Copenhagen. Not everyone could understand him in his homeland, and even more so the Europeans could not, so the group took only 12th place. The song of the boy band “Prime Minister” called “Girl from the North” was sung by the whole country, and its English-language counterpart did not resonate with Europeans in 2002 in Tallinn. Probably, the reason for the 10th place was also too much excitement of the performers. The most controversial among those who were sent to Eurovision by Russia, participants of all seasons, are the infamous Tatu girl group. Incredibly, in 2003 in Riga it was they who took 3rd place with the song "Do not believe, do not be afraid, do not ask", thereby bringing the first bronze to their country. For the next two years, the Eurovision participants from Russia were graduates of the Star Factory. In Turkish Istanbul in 2004, Yulia Savicheva performed very worthily. But difficult choreographic steps prevented the artist from focusing entirely on vocals, and the result was 12th place. The performance in Kyiv in 2005 by Natasha Podolskaya was the biggest failure since the time of Pugacheva, because the "manufacturer" also took 15th place.
Light streak and real victory
Be that as it may, domestic artists continued to perform at Eurovision. Participants from Russia for 10 years were very different. From popular stars to unknown bands. And their age ranged from young stars of a children's song contest to representatives of the oldest generation. In 2006, the conqueror of young hearts, Dima Bilan, went to Athens for a vocal competition. His number was interesting, and the song would definitely have won, if not for the outrageous Finnish rock band Lordi, who overtook Dima. Europe, fed up with standard good numbers, craved spectacles, so Bilan was in second place. Nevertheless, it was another silver in the piggy bank of our country. What turned out to be symbolic was the little-known female pop group "Silver" with "Song No. 1", which went to conquer European audiences in Helsinki in 2007, but received, however, bronze, although third place turned out to be a very unexpected, but pleasant result. But 2008 was a real sensation for Russia, because he promised to return to Eurovision and win, he kept his word. A delightful number, accompanied by violinist Edwin Marton and figure skating star Evgeny Plushenko, as well as a stunning vocalist's voice and a touching song did their job - they conquered Europe, and Russia took first place.
Fall from the top of the pedestal
The Eurovision participants from Russia for all the years have been representatives of the Federation itself, so for many it still remains a mystery how in 2009 a native of Ukraine passed the qualifying round and represented our country at the competition in Moscow. The song "Mamo" in Ukrainian and Russian took only 11th place, which was a crushing defeat after the previous victory. The next Eurovision participants from Russia, the new and unknown to a wide audience, the Musical Group of Peter Nalich, again took 11th place in Norway in 2010, probably because the song was frankly boring and clearly not in the format of a European competition. Such a deafening failure, like that of Alexei Vorobyov in 2011 in Germany, the Russian representatives have not had since the 90s. The artist took 16th place, and even several high-profile scandals were associated with his name.
Unexpected decisions
After three failures in a row, the producers had to come up with something obviously new and unusual, and they decided to make the most unexpected move that Russia had ever made at the Eurovision Song Contest. The participants of all seasons were more or less young artists, which cannot be said about the Buranovsky Babushkas that hit Europe in 2012. The fervent team of Russian old women took second place, which no one could have guessed for sure. And in 2013, Russia sent a young and talented winner of the Voice project to the competition, who took 5th place and entered the top ten, which was also a pretty good result.
Prejudice
All participants of the Eurovision Song Contest in Russia over the past 10 years have not experienced such pressure as the domestic representatives of 2014 and 2015 due to the aggravation of the situation in the world and the general political situation. Despite the fact that music is out of politics, Europe perceives our country in the last two years more hostile. Perhaps this factor influenced the fact that the Tolmacheva sisters last year took only 9th place at the Eurovision Song Contest in Denmark, although their song and number as a whole were quite strong. But Polina Gagarina this year managed to get silver and take second place, which the whole country was very proud of, because now they are especially worried about their representatives in Russia.
