Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 explained

Year:2000
Country:Russia
Preselection:Internal selection
Preselection Date:11 March 2000
Entrant:Alsou
Song:Solo
Final Result:2nd, 155 points
Prev:1997

Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000, held on 13 May 2000 at the Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. Public Russian Television (ORT) returned to the Eurovision Song Contest after a two-year absence following their relegation in 1998. ORT first announced that the Russian entry for the 2000 contest would be chosen through a televised national final, however, they later opted to choose the nation's representative internally by jury. The selected song was "Solo", written by Andrew Lane and Brandon Barnes and performed by Alsou.

Prior to the contest, the entry was promoted by a music video and live performances in Riga, Tallinn and Saint Petersburg. Russia performed ninth out of the 24 countries competing in the contest and finished in second place, receiving 155 points and full 12-point marks from four countries. This marked the nation's highest placement in the contest at that time.

Background

See main article: Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest. Prior to the, Russia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest three times since its first entry in 1994.[1] Russia missed the 1996 contest when its selected song "Ya eto ya" by Andrey Kosinsky failed to qualify from the qualifying round, was relegated from the 1998 contest due to a poor average score from the preceding contests, and was unable to partake in the 1999 contest after ORT didn't air the previous contest on television, which was a requirement for participation in 1999.[2] [3] By 2000, the country's best placing was ninth, which it achieved in 1994 with the song "Vechny strannik" performed by Youddiph.[1]

The Russian national broadcaster ORT broadcasts the event within Russia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry.[4] ORT confirmed their intentions to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 on 18 December 1999. Along with their participation confirmation, it was announced that a national final would be held to select the Russian entry; this aspect was later discarded.

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

On 18 December 1999, ORT announced that a national final would take place on 19 February 2000 to select the Russian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 and opened a submission period for interested artists and composers to submit their entries through 15 February 2000.[5] [6] The broadcaster received over 2000 applications at the conclusion of the deadline.[4] [7] Among the submissions received by ORT included the song "Desyat mysley" by Chay Vdvoyom,[8] as well as the entries from "Fonograph-Jazz-Band", Alla Sidorova, "Yula Frolova", and Andrey Misin.[4] Plans for the national final were later abandoned by the broadcaster due to financial problems.[9]

On 11 March 2000, ORT announced that they had internally selected Alsou to represent Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with the song "Solo".[4] Alsou's selection as the Russian representative was decided upon by a jury panel selected by ORT.[10] Written by Andrew Lane and Brandon Barnes,[7] the song became Russia's first entry to be performed in English at the contest.[11] David Junk, managing director of Universal Music Russia, stated: "This is a great opportunity for us to introduce Alsou to Europe. She has already reached No. 1 in Russia with several songs, and now she has a chance to captivate European audiences."[7] Following Alsou's selection, ORT announced that "Solo" would undergo remastering for the Eurovision Song Contest.[12]

Promotion

To promote the song as the Russian Eurovision entry, a music video for "Solo", directed by Debbie Bourn, was filmed in London.[13] Alsou promoted "Solo" through live performances at Vernisazh Hall in Riga, Latvia on 8 April 2000,[14] Decolte Club in Tallinn, Estonia on 9 April,[15] and Oktyabrsky Concert Hall in Saint Petersburg, Russia on 10[16] and 11 April.[17] On 4 May 2000, an online conference with Alsou was set up through official website of ORT.[18] Besides Alsou, the conference was attended by Alsou's producer Valery Belotserkovsky, ORT music broadcasting producer Oleg Volnov and ORT CEO Konstantin Ernst.[18] The singer also appeared in print media, having been interviewed by the Estonian newspaper Molodezh Estonii.[15]

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2000 took place at the Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, on 13 May 2000. Twenty-four nations participated, including the previous year's winning country and host nation Sweden, the "Big Four" countries, the 13 countries which had obtained the highest average points total over the preceding five contests, and any eligible countries which had not competed in the 1999 contest. As Russia did not compete in the 1999 contest, it was thus permitted to participate in 2000.[19] The running order for the contest was decided by a draw held on 21 November 1999;[20] Russia was assigned to perform 9th at the 2000 contest, following Norway and preceding Belgium. The contest was televised in Russia on ORT live on 13 May,[21] [22] with a delayed broadcast on 9 June.[23]

Prior to the contest, Russia was considered by bookmakers to be the twelve most likely country to win the competition.[24] The Russian performance was choreographed by Sandra Dukes[25] and featured Alsou, dressed in a pink glittery outfit designed by Maria Grachvogel, performing a choreographed routine with two male dancers. The stage featured LED screen projections of blue smoke. During the performance, Alsou and the dancers were also accompanied by three backing vocalists.[26] [27] After the voting concluded, Russia scored 155 points, including four sets of the highest score of 12 points, from Croatia, Cyprus, Malta and Romania;[28] the nation placed second.[29] At the time, this result was Russia's best placing in its competitive history, and was the nation's first finish in the top three.[1] Following the contest, the Russian delegation petitioned for contest winner Denmark's disqualification due to the use of a vocoder during their performance, however, the EBU did not pursue action and the results remained.[30]

Voting

See also: Voting in the Eurovision Song Contest. The same voting system in use since 1975 was again implemented for 2000 contest, with each country providing 1–8, 10 and 12 points[31] to the ten highest-ranking songs as determined by a jury panel or the public through televoting, with countries not allowed to vote for themselves.[20] Russia opted to assemble a jury panel to determine which countries would receive their points.[32] The Russian spokesperson, who announced the points awarded by the Russian jury during the final, was Zhanna Agalakova.[26] [33]

After Eurovision

Reception

Russia's success at the contest was greeted with positive reactions in the Russian press; Vechernyaya Moskva proclaimed the result "a matter of national pride",[35] while Kommersant opined that Alsou "has regained the national prestige that was ruined by Russian hockey" and labelled the result "near-triumph".[9] Alsou herself stated that she was "immensely happy that [she] was able to support the musical glory of the country."[36] On May 26, a press conference dedicated to Alsou's participation in Eurovision was held in Moscow. At the conference, a film about Alsou's preparation for the contest and behind-the-scenes reports were shown.[37] Following the contest, "Solo" was released as a single.[38] In August 2000, it became the best-selling single of the year, with 64,000 copies sold, and earned a diamond certification from Universal Music.[39]

Impact and legacy

In their book Performing the 'New' Europe: Identities, Feelings and Politics in the Eurovision Song Contest, Karen Fricker and Milija Gluhovic credited Russia's success in the contest that year for starting the nation's "more focused and concerted pursuit of Eurovision gold", which included "consciously modeling their singers and musical material on Europop."[40] Vitaly Gizzatulin from Argumenty i Fakty wrote that Alsou's result "returned the interest of the domestic public to this song contest".[41] Yana Nevskaya from Amurskaya Pravda expressed that after Alsou's participation, "Eurovision has become an important and iconic contest for most Russian viewers." Aleksey Kryzhevsky of Expert noted that Alsou's success "strengthened the foreign reputation of Russian pop,"[42] while Leonid Pavlyuchik from Trud stated that Alsou's second-place finish "brought her unprecedented popularity".[43] In a 2022 interview, former Universal Music Russia president David Junk said:

I wanted our artist Alsou to represent Russia at Eurovision because I was hoping it would help promote her new album in Europe. Access to 300 million television viewers across 24 countries – what a great opportunity. It was the first TV performance for this young 16-year-old girl. After a few poor placings, she brought prestige back to the country on an international stage.[44]

Various Eurovision participants, such as 2011 Eurovision winners for Azerbaijan Ell & Nikki[45] and 2018 Russian representative Yulia Samoylova,[46] cited the performance as an influence for their own participations in the contest. A number of publications have retrospectively listed the Alsou's performance as one of the best Russian Eurovision performances; it has been included in unranked lists of the best Russian Eurovision Song Contest performances by Voice, STB, TV Centre and the Russian edition of Glamour magazine.[47] [11] [48] [49] MTS included the performance on their list of "Most Iconic Eurovision performances,"[50] a 2016 Wiwibloggs poll resulted in "Solo" being chosen as the third-best Russian Top 5 Eurovision song,[51] and in 2021, music critic Artem Makarsky, in an article for The Village, ranked the performance as the ninth-best Russian Eurovision performance.[52]

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Russia . European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 30 September 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230204160140/https://eurovision.tv/country/russia . 4 February 2023 . live.
  2. News: Чем грозит России пропуск «Евровидения». What threatens Russia with missing Eurovision?. Arefyev . Egor. 20 April 2017. Komsomolskaya Pravda. ru . 28 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211206204657/https://www.kp.ru/daily/26669.4/3690488/ . 6 December 2021 . live.
  3. Web site: Евровидение по-русски: представители России и их победы. Eurovision in Russian: representatives of Russia and their victories. 8 March 2021. news.ru. ru. 28 April 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230413165013/https://news.ru/music/evrovidenie-po-russki-predstaviteli-rossii-i-ih-pobedy/ . 13 April 2023 . live.
  4. Web site: Алсу ждёт Стокгольм. Alsou is waiting for Stockholm. Aptekareva . Marina. 11 March 2000. Trud. ru . 20 November 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221004104520/https://www.trud.ru/article/11-03-2000/3184_alsu_zhdet_stokgolm.html . 4 October 2022 . live.
  5. Web site: По пути. On the way. Nezavisimaya Gazeta. ru. 27 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20071222092205/http://www.ng.ru/tv/1999-12-18/12_bytheway.html . 22 December 2007 . live.
  6. Web site: Эксклюзив у ОРТ. Exclusive at ORT. 2 February 2000. Telesputnik. ru. 27 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20170610201750/https://old.telesputnik.ru/archive/52/article/30.html . 10 June 2017 . live.
  7. Global Music Pulse. Kruzin. Aleksey. Williamson. Nigel. Nigel Williamson. 20 November 2022 . . 15 April 2000 . 57.
  8. News: Мнение. Чай? Кофе? Потанцуем?. 30 June 2000. Moskovskaya Pravda. ru .
  9. Web site: Алсу спасла Россию. Alsou saved Russia. Maltsev . Igor. 16 May 2000. Kommersant. ru . 20 November 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220704203220/https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/147905 . 4 July 2022 . live.
  10. Web site: Лолиточка против Гейзихи: кто победит?. Ded ZVUKAR. 17 March 2000. zvuki.ru. ru . 6 August 2023 .
  11. Web site: Самые яркие выступления России на "Евровидении". The brightest performances of Russia at Eurovision. TV Center. ru. 28 April 2023. 14 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210617180809/https://www.tvc.ru/news/show/id/210745 . 17 June 2021 . live.
  12. News: Пустите Алсу в Европу! . Let Alsou into Europe!. . 9 March 2000 . ru.
  13. Web site: Наши барышни распелись. Our ladies are singing. Chebysheva . Ksenya. 20 May 2000. Trud. ru . 20 November 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220930084437/https://www.trud.ru/article/20-05-2000/6413_nashi_baryshni_raspelis.html . 30 September 2022 . live.
  14. News: Алсу живее всех живых . 10 April 2000 . . ru . 6 August 2023. registration.
  15. Web site: Алсу, или Русская Тони Брэкстон. Alsou, or the Russian Toni Braxton. Nikolenko . Pavel. 12 April 2000. Molodezh Estonii. ru . 27 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220930084437/http://www.moles.ee/00/Apr/12/5-1.html. 30 September 2022 . live.
  16. News: "Solo" Алсу понравилось питерцам. 13 April 2000. Vesti. 4. Saint Petersburg, Russia. ru.
  17. Web site: У неё все впереди. 14 April 2000. Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti. Tumasova . Olga. 3. ru. 12 August 2024. Vivaldi.
  18. Web site: Общественное Российское Телевидение (ОРТ). Официальный сайт. ПРОМОУШН . http://web.archive.org/web/20000511171306/http://www.ortv.ru:80/owa/ort_win/ORT_PROMO.info_page_press?InId=2303 . 11 May 2000 .
  19. Web site: Jerusalem 1999 – Eurovision Song Contest . European Broadcasting Union (EBU) . 29 June 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220621202249/https://eurovision.tv/event/jerusalem-1999 . 21 June 2022 . live.
  20. Web site: Rules of the 45th Eurovision Song Contest, 2000 . European Broadcasting Union (EBU) . 3 September 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220928040050/http://www.myledbury.co.uk/eurovision/pdf/esc2000.pdf. 28 September 2022 . live.
  21. News: Программа телевидения с 8 по 14 мая. TV program from May 8 to May 14. 19 November 2022 . . 10 . ru. https://web.archive.org/web/20230405102102/http://tvp.netcollect.ru/tvps/iowbijvwielu.pdf . 5 April 2023 . live.
  22. Web site: Российская победа на "Евровидении". Russian victory at Eurovision. Nezavisimaya Gazeta. ru. 25 September 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20080315003218/https://www.ng.ru/style/2000-05-17/16_eurovidenie.html . 15 March 2008 . live.
  23. News: Программа телевидения с 5 по 11 июня. TV program from June 5 to June 11. 18 December 2022 . . 15. ru. https://web.archive.org/web/20230430153256/http://tvp.netcollect.ru/tvps/ogkxkgkrxbzq.pdf. 30 April 2023 . live.
  24. Web site: Irland favorit till schlagerseger. Salomonsson. Claes. eurosong2000.com. Sveriges Television. sv . 6 August 2023. http://web.archive.org/web/20000510025936/http://www.eurosong2000.com:80/swedish/nyheter/arkivet/0504oddsen.htm . 10 May 2000 . dead.
  25. News: Euro joy for dance expert Sandra. 15 May 2000. Cambridge Evening News.
  26. 13 May 2000 . Eurovision Song Contest 2000 . Television programme . en . . Sveriges Television (SVT).
  27. Book: Maitland . Jonathan . Flop Idol . Simon & Schuster . 2003 . 93. 9780743430258.
  28. Web site: Results of the Final of Stockholm 2000 - Eurovision Song Contest . European Broadcasting Union (EBU) . 30 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230406151124/https://eurovision.tv/event/stockholm-2000/final/results/russia. 6 April 2023 . live.
  29. Web site: Final of Stockholm 2000 . European Broadcasting Union (EBU) . 10 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210410194017/https://eurovision.tv/event/stockholm-2000/final . 10 April 2021 . live.
  30. Web site: Stockholm 2000 . European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 30 September 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230326034156/https://eurovision.tv/event/stockholm-2000 . 26 March 2023 . live.
  31. Web site: In a Nutshell – Eurovision Song Contest . European Broadcasting Union . 8 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220626052301/https://eurovision.tv/history/in-a-nutshell . 26 June 2022 . 31 March 2017 . dead.
  32. Web site: Алсу прорубила окно в европейскую попсу . Alsou has cut a window into European pop music. Argumenty i Fakty. ru. 17 May 2000. 30 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230208052018/https://archive.aif.ru/archive/1638870 . 8 February 2023 . live.
  33. Web site: Собкором российского Первого телеканала в Нью-Йорке стала Жанна Агалакова . Zhanna Agalakova became the anchor of the Russian Channel One in New York. runyweb.com . ru . 10 January 2013 . 30 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221130090622/http://www.runyweb.com/articles/leisure/tv-radio-press/janna-agalakova-became-the-correspondent-of-russian-first-channel-in-new-york.html. 30 November 2022 . live.
  34. Web site: Results of the Final of Stockholm 2000 . European Broadcasting Union (EBU) . 11 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210411063534/https://eurovision.tv/event/stockholm-2000/final/results/russia . 11 April 2021 . live.
  35. News: Алсу пришла второй. Alsou came second. 19 May 2000. Aleksandrova . Yulia. Vechernyaya Moskva. ru. 12 August 2024. National Electronic Library.
  36. News: 16-летняя Россиянка прорубила "окно" в Евровидение. 16-year-old Russian girl cut a "window" into Eurovision. 16 May 2000. 71. Segodnya. ru. 4 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230104064630/https://www.segodnya.ua/oldarchive/c2256713004f33f5c22568e00050a299.html. 4 January 2023 . live.
  37. Web site: АЛСУ - Можно поглядеть на триумфаторшу - Звуки.Ру .
  38. News: Мультимедийный сингл Алсу. 2 June 2000. InterMedia. ru. 903.
  39. News: За Алсу взялись по-настоящему. They really took up Alsou. 30 August 2000. Kommersant-Dengi. ru. 34. 29 April 2023.
  40. Book: Fricker . K . Gluhovic . M . Performing the 'New' Europe: Identities, Feelings and Politics in the Eurovision Song Contest . . . 2013 . 9781137367976. 113.
  41. Web site: Gizzatulin . Vitaly . «Евровидение 2013»: чем Дина Гарипова собирается удивить зрителей . Eurovision 2013: what is Dina Garipova going to surprise the audience with?. 19 February 2013. Argumenty i Fakty. ru. 30 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230415194434/https://aif.ru/culture/40727. 15 April 2023 . live.
  42. Web site: Kryzhevsky . Alexey . Муси-пуси-бизнес. Musi-pusi-business. 22 March 2004. Expert. ru. 30 April 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230417001925/https://expert.ru/expert/2004/11/11ex-eurovid_30692/. 17 April 2023 . live.
  43. News: Pavlyuchik . Leonid . "Мумий Тролль" намерен покорить Европу . "Mumiy Troll" intends to conquer Europe. . 11 May 2001. ru. 29 April 2023.
  44. Before Russia Invaded Ukraine, They Were Bitter Eurovision Rivals . .
  45. Web site: Победителей "Евровидения" вдохновили Билан и Алсу. The Eurovision winners were inspired by Bilan and Alsou. 16 May 2011. Delfi. ru. 30 April 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230308115102/https://rus.delfi.lv/showtime/news/picsnsounds/sounds/pobeditelej-evrovideniya-vdohnovili-bilan-i-alsu.d?id=38538809&all=true. 8 March 2023 . live.
  46. Web site: Nevskaya . Yana . Участница конкурса «Евровидение» Юлия Самойлова: «Меня не сломить!». Eurovision participant Yulia Samoilova: "I won't break!". 11 May 2018. Amurskaya Pravda. ru. 1 May 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230318055349/https://ampravda.ru/2018/05/11/081845.html. 18 March 2023 . live.
  47. https://www.stb.ua/eurovision/ru/2021/05/18/evrovidenie-2021-luchshie-vystupleniya-rossii-na-konkurse/
  48. Web site: Staff . «Татушки» и бабушки: 10 самых ярких участников «Евровидения» от России . "Tatushki" and grandmothers: the 10 brightest participants of the Eurovision Song Contest from Russia. 18 May 2021. The Voice. ru. 1 May 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230308115103/https://www.thevoicemag.ru/stars/krupnim-planom/desyat-samyh-yarkih-uchastnikov-evrovideniya-ot-rossii/. 8 March 2023 . live.
  49. Web site: Maslennikova . Darya . 9 ярких выступлений России на Евровидении. 9 outstanding performances of Russia at Eurovision. 13 May 2016. Glamour. ru. 1 May 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230308115100/https://www.glamour.ru/glamourama/9-yarkih-vystuplenij-rossii-na-evrovidenii. 8 March 2023 . live.
  50. Web site: Ностальгируем по «Евровидению»: десять знаковых номеров прошлых лет. Nostalgic for Eurovision: ten iconic numbers of the past years. 18 May 2021. MTS. ru. 1 May 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230318050205/https://media.mts.ru/society/186672/. 18 March 2023 . live.
  51. News: POLL: Which Top 5 Eurovision song from Russia is your favourite?. 28 October 2016. Wiwibloggs. 27 April 2023. David Thielen. https://web.archive.org/web/20170901003044/http://wiwibloggs.com/2016/10/28/poll-top-5-eurovision-song-russia-favourite/152012. 1 September 2017 . dead.
  52. News: Makarsky . Artem . Levchenko . Lesha. Музыкальный критик оценивает все номера России на «Евровидении». Music critic evaluates all Russian numbers at Eurovision. subscription. 18 February 2023. ru. The Village. 18 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210518112403/https://www.the-village.ru/weekend/musika/eurovision. 18 May 2021 . live.

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