Russia’s Eurovision 2018 representative, Julia Samoylova, has revealed more about her thoughts on her participation at the Lisbon-host competition, revealing that at one point she even considered withdrawing from the event during preparations.

Earlier this week, Julia Samoylova appeared on the Russian television show Pust’ govoryat, where the singer revealed her thoughts on her results at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.

With Russian failing to advance to the Eurovision final for the very first time, Samoylova stated that she believed the result was fair, revealing that having watched the performance back, she saw a lot of mistakes on the night.

Withdrawal ahead of Lisbon?

Speaking to reporters following her thoughts on the competition, Samoylova went on to give an insight into lead-up to her participation in Lisbon, with withdrawal even crossing the singer’s mind during preparations.

Speaking to reporters, Samoylova revealed:

I had thoughts of abandoning Eurovision, especially when preparations for the contest were not going as I imagined, perhaps my ideas were too vague […] I thought that I could cope with this task. Still, this is my dream – albeit naïve – but I went for it. And I’m glad that in my life this has happened.

Samoylova added that she noticed the criticism straight away following the announcement that the singer would represent Russia in Lisbon, following last year’s withdrawal from the competition:

I had a lot of free time, and I paid attention to these comments: why? Probably, it was a pendulum: at first there were too many positive emotions, now there must be a counterbalance.

Rewatch Russia’s performance at semi-final 2 of Eurovision 2018

Suggestion for 2019

Journalists and reporters asked the singer who she believed would be the best choice for Russia at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, to which she replied: Manizha.

Manizha Khamraeva, born on the 8 July 1991, is a Russian singer who became known via her social media account on Instagram.

Originally born in Dushanbe (now the capital of Tajikistan), the artist moved to Moscow in 1994 where she went on to study at a music school, becoming a pianist in the process.

Manizha has been competing in competitions since the age of 12, however the singer show to fame more recently following short publications of videos via her Instagram account.

What do you think of Julia Samoylova’s suggestion? Do you think Manizha would be a good choice for Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest?