They are one of the last countries to publicly confirm their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019: Russia! Speaking to ESCKaz, broadcaster Russia-1 confirmed its participation in Tel Aviv.
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Russia always operates with two broadcasters in the Eurovision Song Contest. They take turns when it comes to broadcasting the contest and selecting the entrant. The last time VGTRK took part in Eurovision was for 2016, as Channel One took charge of the 2017 and 2018 contests.
VGTRK’s past three Eurovision entries have all ended in the top seven. In fact, since Dima Bilan took part in 2006, all of their entries managed to score a top ten position, with the exception of Peter Nalitch, who finished in eleventh in 2010.
Preparations to start after the New Year Programme
The New Year Programme is an important feature on VGTRK’s channel Russia-1. The channel usually focusses on making sure the programming that night scores the best ratings in the country.
That is also why VGTRK have decided to commence with their Eurovision preparations after that night. That also means that the broadcaster has not yet decided how they will select their entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv. In 2014 and 2016, the broadcaster opted for an internal selection. Both of those songs were written by Philipp Kirkorov, Dimitris Kontopoulos, John Ballard and Ralph Charlie. Kontopoulos and Kirkorov have now given themselves the name “Dream Team“. They have already said they are looking forward to giving Eurovision another go, after Moldova finished in tenth last year, when DoReDoS sang their song My Lucky Day
Russia’s result in Lisbon was their worst result ever in the Eurovision Song Contest. Not counting 1996, it was the first time Russia ever failed to make it through to the Grand Final. Julia Samoylova finished in fifteenth in her semifinal with I Won’t Break.
Who are you hoping Russia will send to the Eurovision Song Contest 2019? Let us know!
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