Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008


Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia. The Russian entry was selected through a national final, Evrovidenie 2008 organised by the Russian broadcaster Rossiya Channel. Dima Bilan 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

For the 2008 Contest, Rossiya Channel was responsible for the selection of the Russian entry, opting to organize a national final. The final took place on 9 March 2008 at the Akademicheskiy Concert Hall in Moscow, hosted by Oxana Fedorova and Oskar Kuchera.

Competing entries

On 8 December 2007, RTR announced a submission period for interested artists and composers to submit their entries from 15 December 2007 until 1 February 2008. A documentary about the national final would also be produced, and Muz-TV and Love Radio would follow the preparations of the participants through special diary presentations. On 16 February 2008, RTR announced in a press conference that 25 entries would be selected by a jury panel for the competition. The jury evaluated the 167 received submissions and selected 25 entries for the competition, which were announced on 25 February 2008. An additional 2 entries were announced on 4 March 2008.
Among the competing artists, Dima Bilan represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006; Premyer-Ministr represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 and Polina Smolova represented Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. Alexey Vorobyov and Sergey Lazarev would later represent Russia in 2011 and 2016 and 2019 respectively.

Final

The final took place on 9 March 2008. Twenty-seven entries competed and the winner, "Believe" performed by Dima Bilan, was determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and public televoting. The jury panel consisted of Igor Krutoy, Sergey Arhipov, Maxim Fadeev, Gennady Gohstein and Vladimir Matetsky.
2007 Serbian entrant Marija Šerifović, 2008 Ukrainian entrant Ani Lorak and 2008 Belarusian entrant Ruslan Alekhno were the interval acts for the show.

At Eurovision

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 and preceding Greece.
Bilan was joined on stage by figure skater Evgeni Plushenko, who performed on a mobile ice rink placed on stage specifically for the Russian performance, and violinist Edvin Marton, who performed with a Stradivarius. 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 Serbia and preceding Norway. 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 first semi-final and final were broadcast on Rossiya 1, with commentary by Dmitriy Guberniyev and Olga Shelest. The voting spokesperson for Russia was Oxana Fedorova.

Points awarded to Russia

12 points10 points8 points7 points6 points

  • 5 points4 points3 points2 points1 point

  • Points awarded by Russia

    Semi-final 1

    Points awarded in the first semi-final:
    12 points
    10 points
    8 points
    7 points
    6 points
    5 points
    4 points
    3 points
    2 points
    1 point

    Final

    Points awarded in the final:
    12 points
    10 points
    8 points
    7 points
    6 points
    5 points
    4 points
    3 points
    2 points
    1 point