Russian national  broadcaster C1 (Channel 1 Russia) has confirmed that Russia will participate at the forthcoming 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon next year.

Russia is back in the game next year after having missing out participating at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. The Russian national broadcaster is yet to reveal its Eurovision plans for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon.

Russia’s withdrawal in 2017

Last year, Russia selected Yulia Samoylova via an internal selection with her entry Flame is burning to fly to Kyiv. Unfortunately, the singer didn’t make it to Eurovision as Channel 1 pulled out of the contest.

Russia withdrew from the competition due to Yulia Samoylova’s ban from entering Ukraine. The broadcaster didn’t broadcast the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, thus the Russians were unable to watch the show from Kyiv.

Channel 1 and RTR share Eurovision participation

Russia has 2 national broadcasters, RTR (Rossija 1) and Channel 1: Both are members of the EBU and partake in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Like in Belgium, both the broadcasters compete in Eurovision on alternate years: RTR (Rossija 1) participates in Eurovision in even years whilst Channel 1 partakes in odd years.

Russia in Eurovision

Russia debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 and has won the event once in 2008 with Dima Bilan’s Believe. The country successfully hosted the contest in 2009 in Moscow.

The Russians have enjoyed massive success in the Eurovision Song Contest with 1 victory (2008), 4 2nd placings (2000, 2006, 2012, 2015), 3 3rd placings (2003, 2007, 2016) and 1 5th placing (2013). The country has never missed a Eurovision final since the introduction of the semifinals in  2004.

Eurovision 2018

The 2018 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 8, 10 and 12 May in Lisbon, Portugal.

The deadline for broadcasters to officially apply for Eurovision 2018 concluded on 15 September. Hereafter, countries had a grace period until 10 October to confirm their participation or withdraw their application without a penalty.

The final list of the 2018 Eurovision participating countries is expected to be released by the EBU in due course.