This year’s most mysterious national selection, Eurovision Russia, has just concluded, with Manizha winning the ticket to Rotterdam with the song Russian Woman.
Listen to their entry here:
Last year’s participants, Little Big, begun the show with a performance of their song Uno, before confirming that they had chosen alongside Channel 1 to not return as representatives this year. They cited feeling the pressure to live up to the hype that Uno had generated and a desire to let another artist have the spotlight as the reasons behind their decision.
As a result, we heard three performances tonight, competing to win the public televote:
- Therr Maitz – “The Future Is Bright”
- 2Mashi – “Bitter Words”
- Manizha – “Russian Woman”
The interval acts were provided by Russian 1995 representative and Eurovision stalwart Philipp Kirkorov, who performed Kolybelnaya dlya vulkana, and Russian 2015 representative Polina Gagarina, who performed A Million Voices. Eurovision winner Dima Bilan performed his entry Believe.
What do we think of Russia’s entry this year?
Jazzi – Rap is a rarity at Eurovision, so straight off the bag I am unsure how this will fare in Rotterdam as the genre has often struggled at the contest, however this is fun and upbeat I can see Televoters really enjoying this however I am unsure on the juries, I am however sure we will be seeing Russia in the final in 2021. Countries really do keep shocking us this Eurovision season by going left field but I am loving it.
Rory – Well, for a national final with zero information, Russia put on a fantastic show and with a diverse range of songs! This is a bit of a left-field choice for Russia, but I really like it – it’s rare we get any kind of rap, let alone in the Russian language. This could be a dark horse for me for sure!
Rosie – Russian Woman was definitely the most stand-out entry in Eurovision Russia and Manizha is a very charismatic performer! I love the folk influences in the song, but the song feels a little messy and could be a borderline qualifier in such a stand out year.
What do you think of Russia’s entry for 2021? Will we see them return to the final once more? Let us know
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