Through an advertisement broadcast on Channel One recently, the deadline for submitting songs to the Russian selection was announced to be 1 March. The number of entries is expected to be very high as the national broadcaster last year received as many as 11 742 songs!
It is commonly known that money and personal contacts is a main factor in the choice of Russian Eurovision participants. The general manager Konstantin Ernst plays an important role in this game.
Artists rumoured to have shown interest in the national preselection this year include former member of Prime Minister, Dmitri Lanskoy, in a duet with Yuliya Nachalova, and Kristina Orbakayte, daughter of Alla Pugacheva, the Russian participant in the 1997 Eurovision. She also tried to qualify to Tallin last year. Even Prime Minister themselves, the Russian entrants in the Eurovision Song Contest last year, has been mentioned in the gossips. The blind singer Diana Gourtskaya, the gay artist Boris Moiseev, more known for his entertaining shows than his voice, the boyband Smash!!, Ariana and the band Oni are other names which has been linked to the Russian preselections of 2003.
