Russia participated in the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the sixth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which is the world's largest song contest for children. It was held at the "Spyros Kyprianou" Athletic Centre in Lemesos, Cyprus and hoste ...

Lemesos Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

. The Russian entry was selected through a national final, organised by Russian broadcaster All-Russia State Television and Radio Company (VGTRK). The final was held on 1 June 2008. Mikhail Puntov and his song "Spit angel" won the national final, getting 10.81% of votes.

Before Junior Eurovision

National Final

On 2 March 2008, VGTRK announced that a national final would be held to select Russia' entry for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008. A submission period for interested artists was opened and lasted until 20 April 2008. A professional jury selected twenty artists and songs from the applicants to proceed to the televised national final. The selected artists and songs competed at the national final which took place on 1 June 2008 at the "Rossiya" concert hall in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, hosted by Oskar Kuchera and Oksana Fedorova. In addition to the performances from the competitors, the show featured guest performances by Masha Pestunova, Aleksandra Golovchenko, Vlad Krutskikh and

Tolmachevy Sisters Anastasiya Andreyevna Tolmacheva and Maria Andreyevna Tolmacheva (born 14 January 1997, Kursk), known as the Tolmachevy Sisters (), are identical twin singers and actresses from Kursk, Russia. Aged nine, they won the Junior Eurovision Song Conte ...

. The members of the jury were Yury Entin, Artur Gasparyan, Gennady Gokhstein and Grygory Gladkov.

At Junior Eurovision

During the allocation draw on 14 October 2008, Russia was drawn to perform 4th, following

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

and preceding

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. Russia placed 7th, scoring 73 points. Mikhail Puntov was joined on stage by dancers from band "Volshebniki Dvora". In Russia, show were broadcast on Russia-1 with commentary by Olga Shelest. The Russian spokesperson revealing the result of the Russian vote was Sarina Urman.

Voting

Mikhail Puntov

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Puntov (russian: Михаил Александрович Пунтов; born 23 December 1994,

Krasny Sulin Krasny Sulin (russian: Кра́сный Сули́н) is a town and the administrative center of Krasnosulinsky District in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located in the Donets Basin region. Population: Administrative and municipal status Within the f ...

Rostov Oblast Rostov Oblast ( rus, Росто́вская о́бласть, r=Rostovskaya oblast, p=rɐˈstofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Southern Federal District. The oblast has an area of and a populati ...

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

) competed in the 2008-edition of Junior Eurovision Song Contest with the song ''Spit Angel'' (Sleeping Angel). In the final in

Limasol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

the then 12-year-old Mikhail came 7th out of 15 contestants, scoring 73 points. At that time Mikhail was a member of the group

Street Magic Street magic falls into two genres; traditional street performance and guerrilla magic. Traditional street performance The first definition of street magic refers to a traditional form of magic performance – that of busking. In this, the m ...

just like Vlad Krutskikh who represented Russia in 2005. The background vocals were some other members of Street Magic: Seva Terasov (also one of the writers of Spit Angel) and Andrei Raspopov. Nowadays Mikhail together with Vlad, Seva, and Andrei form the band Geroi.

Notes

References

{{Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008 Junior Eurovision Song Contest

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...