Introducing the 2009 entries: Russia

All entries in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest are known, but the actual contest is still about a month away. As a warm-up, we introduce one of the entries every day in random order. Part twenty-nine is dedicated to the entry from Russia.

Basic information

The song

Mamo is a mid-tempo folk pop/rock song performed in Russian and Ukrainian. The lyrics are about a disappointment in lovethe singer has been warned of by her mother:

�амо, а �и ж мен� казала �к не жадай
�амо, а � ж �од� не знала де ж �а б�да
�амо, а �и ж мен� казала �а� �к вода
Ð�амо, мамо, мам, лÑ�бов – бÑ�да

Mum, and you have told me not to desire
Mum, and back then I did not know where worries were
Mum, and you have told me that time is just like water
Mum, mum, mum, love means worries

The singer

Ukrainian Anastasia Prikhodkois a trained musician having graduated from the folk vocal department of the music academy andshe also plays the piano, the guitar and the flute. She became famous as the winner of the Russian talent search Star Factory. In 2009, she tried to represent her native country Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest but she did not pass the internal semi final. She accused broadcaster NTU and the jury of vote rigging, which led to some controversy.

Having been eliminated from the Ukrainian selection process, she was added as a last contestant to the line-up of the Russian national final on short notice. With the song Mamo she could win the selection and will therefore represent the host country of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow. She is the first foreigner to represent Russia in the competition but thethird foreigner already to represent a host country following French Michèle Torr representing Luxembourg in 1966, French Anne-Marie David representing and winning for Luxembourg in 1973 andSwedish Anna Sahlene representing Estonia in 2002.

The national selection

16 acts took part in the Russian national final performing one song each. There were two rounds of voting. In the first first round, the top three were chosen by televoting. From the top three, a jury with eleven members chose the eventual winner giving six points to Anastasia Prikhodko, five points to Valeriya and no points to Kvatro.Anastasia Prikhodkohad also been the winner of the televoting.

Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest

Russia entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 and despite a debutin the top ten, mediocre placings followed in 1995 and 1997 as well as an elimination in the 1996 internal semi final. This turnedwiththe year 2000, whenRussia finished second in Stockholm. In this decade, Russiawon once, finished secondtwice and third twice making it one of the most successful countries in recent years.

Ð�Ñ� желаем ÐоÑ�Ñ�ии и Ð�наÑ�Ñ�аÑ�ии Ð�Ñ�иÑ�одÑ�ко Ñ�даÑ�и и Ñ�Ñ�пеÑ�ов на Ð�вÑ�овидении в Ð�оÑ�кве!

Videos

National final performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x5DTv5ErIs

Harlequin performance:

Bezotvetno (feat. Valery Meladze):

Other parts of this series

1. France
2. Portugal
3. Romania
4. Denmark
5. Netherlands
6. Cyprus
7. Latvia
8. Ireland
9. Malta
10. Armenia
11. Germany
12. Serbia
13. Belgium
14. Greece
15. Croatia
16. Poland
17. Czech Republic
18. Iceland
19. Moldova
20. Switzerland
21. Slovenia
22. Andorra
23. Ukraine
24. Spain
25. Sweden
26. Montenegro
27. Finland
28. Lithuania

Tomorrow, we will take a look at the Turkish entry.

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