Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. The Russian entry was selected through a national final, Evrovidenie 2008 (Евровидение 2008) organised by the Russian broadcaster Rossiya Channel (RTR).

Dima Bilan Dima Nikolayevich Bilan (russian: Ди́ма Никола́евич Била́н; born Viktor Nikolayevich Belan, russian: Ви́ктор Никола́евич Бела́н, links=no; 24 December 1981) is a Russian singer, songwriter and acto ...

represented Russia with the song " Believe", which qualified from the first semi-final of the competition and won the contest, placing 1st in the final with 272 points.

Before Eurovision

Evrovidenie 2008

''Evrovidenie 2008'' was the fourth edition of Evrovidenie, the music competition that selects Russia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The show took place on 9 March 2008 at the Akademicheskiy 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 ...

and hosted by

Oxana Fedorova Oksana Gennadyevna Borodina (russian: Оксана Геннадьевна Бородина, Oksana Gennad'yevna Borodina; née Fedorova, russian: Фёдорова, Fyodorova; born 17 December 1977), known professionally as Oxana Fedorova, is a ...

and

Oskar Kuchera Oskar Aleksandrovich Kuchera (russian: Оскар Александрович Кучера, born ''Bogolyubov'' (russian: Боголюбов); 11 August 1974) is a Russian actor, TV presenter and radio host. He was born in Moscow. He has made app ...

. Twenty-seven artists and songs participated and the winner was selected through a jury and a public televote. The show was broadcast on

Russia-1 Russia-1 (russian: Россия-1) is a state-owned Russian television channel, first aired on 14 February 1956 as Programme Two in the Soviet Union. It was relaunched as RTR on 13 May 1991, and is known today as Russia-1. It is the flagship ch ...

RTR-Planeta RTR-Planeta is the international service of VGTRK, a state-owned broadcaster in Russia. It is available throughout the world via cable and satellite. Broadcasting RTR Planeta is the only provider of Russian-language programming to the Asia-Paci ...

as well as online via the broadcaster's website ''rfn.ru''.

Competing entries

On 8 December 2007, RTR announced a submission period for interested artists and composers to submit their entries between 15 December 2007 and 1 February 2008. The broadcaster received 167 submissions at the conclusion of the deadline. A jury panel evaluated the received submissions and selected the twenty-five finalists for the national final. The competing acts alongside an additional two finalists were announced on 4 March 2008 and among the competing artists were 2002 Russian Eurovision entrants

Premyer-Ministr Premyer-Ministr (russian: Премьер-министр, lit. ''Prime minister'') is a Russian musical group. The idea behind the band was to form a boy band, though not especially for teenagers. Four men came together to form Premier Ministr in ...

, 2006 Russian Eurovision entrant

, and 2006 Belarusian Eurovision entrant

Polina Smolova Polina Petrovna Smolova ( be, Паліна Пятроўна Смолава, translit=Palina Piatroǔna Smolava, ; born 3 September 1980) is a Belarusian pop singer and the Belarusian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song '' M ...

. A documentary programme about the Eurovision Song Contest was produced and aired on Russia-1 in the lead up to the national final, while

Muz-TV Muz-TV (russian: Муз-ТВ, from Музыкальное телевидение - Music Television) is a Russian music TV channel, broadcasting since 1996. It is largely modelled after western MTV and predates launching of MTV Russia in 1998. Mu ...

and Love Radio presented the finalists to the public and covered the preparations of the national final.

Final

The final took place on 9 March 2008. Twenty-seven entries competed and the winner, " Believe" performed by

, was determined through a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and public televoting. The jury consisted of

Igor Krutoy Igor Yakovlevich Krutoy (russian: Игорь Яковлевич Крутой) or Ihor Yakovych Krutyi ( uk, Ігор Якович Крутий, born on July 29, 1954), is a Ukrainian and Russian music composer, performer, producer and musical p ...

(composer), Sergey Arhipov (deputy director of

Radio Mayak Radio Mayak is a radio broadcasting company in Russia, owned by VGTRK. Mayak is the Russian word for "lighthouse" or "beacon". As well as Radio Mayak proper (which broadcasts news, talk shows, and popular music), the company is also responsible f ...

Maxim Fadeev Maxim "Max" Aleksandrovich Fadeev (russian: link=no, Макси́м Алекса́ндрович Фаде́ев) (born 6 May 1968) is a Russian singer-songwriter, composer and producer. Biography Early life and career Maxim Fadeev was born on ...

(composer and producer), Gennady Gokhshtein (executive entertainment producer of Russia-1) and

Vladimir Matetsky Vladimir Leonardovich Matetsky (russian: link=no, Владимир Леонардович Матецкий; born May 14, 1952, in Moscow) is a Russian and Soviet composer, producer, and radio presenter. Matetsky is a member of the Russian Authors ...

(singer-songwriter and producer). In addition to the performances of the competing entries,

Eurovision Song Contest 2007 The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Helsinki, Finland, following the country's victory at the with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" by Lordi. Organised by the European Broadcasti ...

winner

Marija Šerifović Marija Šerifović ( sr-cyr, Марија Шерифовић, ; born 14 November 1984) is a Serbian singer. Born in Kragujevac as the daughter of Verica Šerifović, she rose to prominence in 2003 with her debut album ''Naj, Najbolja''. Šerifo ...

, 2008 Belarusian Eurovision entrant

Ruslan Alekhno Ruslan Fyodorovich Alekhno (russian: italic=yes, Руслан Фёдорович Алехно, Ruslan Feodorovich Alekhno, be, italic=yes, Руслан Фёдаравіч Аляхно, Ruslan Feodaravich Alyakhno) (born October 14, 1981) is a B ...

and 2008 Ukrainian Eurovision entrant

Ani Lorak Karolina Myroslavivna Kuiek, russian: Каролина Мирославовна Куек (born 27 September 1978), popularly known as Ani Lorak,, russian: Ани Лорак is a Ukrainian singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur and former UN ...

performed as guests.

At Eurovision

Russia in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest

With changes to the format of the Eurovision Song Contest coming into effect in 2008, Russia was required to compete in one of two semi-finals in order to qualify to compete in the final. In the allocation draw on 28 January 2008, Russia was drawn to compete in the first semi-final on 20 May 2008. On 17 March 2008 during the draw for running order, Russia was drawn to receive the third of three wildcards for the first semi-final, allowing the Russian head of delegation to select the starting position for the nation. Russia chose to perform 18th in the first semifinal, following

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

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 ...

. Bilan was joined on stage by

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

Evgeni Plushenko Evgeni Viktorovich Plushenko (, born 3 November 1982) is a Russian former figure skater. He is a four-time Olympic medalist (2006 gold, 2014 team gold, 2002 & 2010 silver), a three-time World champion (2001, 2003, 2004), a seven-time European ...

, who performed on a mobile ice rink placed on stage specifically for the Russian performance, and

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist

Edvin Marton Edvin Marton (born Lajos Edvin Csűry, 17 February 1974, Vylok, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian-born Hungarian composer and violinist. He became known as the violinist of the skaters, mainly because Evgeni Plushenko, Stéphane Lambiel, Yuzuru Hanyu (a ...

, who performed with a

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the violins, violas, cellos and other string instruments built by members of the Italian family Stradivari, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), during the 17th and 18th centuries. They are co ...

. Russia qualified from the first semi-final, placing 3rd and scoring 135 points. During the winners' press conference following the conclusion of the first semi-final broadcast, Russia was drawn to perform 24th in the final following

and preceding

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Russia won the 2008 Contest placing 1st and scoring 272 points. As the winning nation of the 2008 Contest and the host of the forthcoming contest, Russia pre-qualified to compete in the final of the

Eurovision Song Contest 2009 The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Moscow, Russia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Believe (Dima Bilan song), Believe" by Dima Bilan. Organised by the Euro ...

. The first semi-final and final were broadcast on

Rossiya 1 Russia-1 (russian: Россия-1) is a state-owned Russian television channel, first aired on 14 February 1956 as Programme Two in the Soviet Union. It was relaunched as RTR on 13 May 1991, and is known today as Russia-1. It is the flagship cha ...

, with commentary by Dmitriy Guberniyev and Olga Shelest. The voting spokesperson for Russia was

Voting

Points awarded to Russia

Points awarded by Russia

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2008

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; ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...