Russia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 23 times since their debut in 1994. Russia won the 2008 contest with Dima Bilan performing the song "Believe". One of the most successful countries in the contest in the 21st century with a total of ten top five placements, Russia finished second with Alsou in 2000, Dima Bilan in 2006, Buranovskiye Babushki in 2012 and Polina Gagarina in 2015; third with t.A.T.u. in 2003, Serebro in 2007, Sergey Lazarev in 2016 and 2019, and fifth with Dina Garipova in 2013. In 2018, they failed to qualify for the final for the first time in their history. The Russian entry has been chosen through both internal selections and a televised national final titled Evrovidenie, with their most recent entry (2021) being chosen by the latter.
Ukraine has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 17 times since making its debut in 2003. Ukraine has won the contest three times: in 2004 with "Wild Dances" by Ruslana, in 2016 with "1944" by Jamala, and in 2022 with "Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, thus becoming the first country in the 21st century and the first Eastern European country to win the contest three times. Ukraine hosted the 2005 and 2017 contests in Kyiv.
Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, Finland. Despite early indications that the Russian participation for 2007 would be organised by Rossiya Channel (RTR), Channel One Russia (C1R) remained in charge of selecting the Russian entry and retained the broadcast rights for the 2007 Contest. The Russian entry was selected internally by C1R. Serebro represented Russia with the song "Song #1", which placed 3rd in the final, scoring 207 points.
Australia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest seven times since its debut in 2015 and has been in the top ten four times. It is the second country outside of the Eurasia region to take part in the contest since Morocco competed in 1980. The country's best result in the contest is a second-place finish for Dami Im in 2016. Australia also finished in the top ten in three of its other appearances in the contest, with Guy Sebastian finishing fifth in 2015, and both Isaiah and Kate Miller-Heidke finishing ninth in 2017 and 2019.
Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "A Million Voices", written by Gabriel Alares, Joakim Björnberg, Katrina Noorbergen, Leonid Gutkin and Vladimir Matetsky. The song was performed by Polina Gagarina, who was selected by Russian broadcaster Channel One Russia (C1R) in March 2015 to represent the nation at the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. In the first of the Eurovision semi-finals "A Million Voices" placed first out of the 16 participating countries, securing its place among the 27 other songs in the final. In Russia's nineteenth Eurovision appearance on 23 May, "A Million Voices" finished in second place, receiving 303 points and full marks from five countries.
Russia announced its participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, in Kyiv, Ukraine. The Russian broadcaster Channel One Russia organised their entrant internally. Russia was planned to compete in the first half of the second semifinal on 11 May 2017, until the announcement of their withdrawal on 13 April 2017.
The Netherlands originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Grow" written by Jeangu Macrooy and Pieter Perquin. The song was performed by Jeangu Macrooy, who was internally selected to represent the Netherlands at the 2020 contest. In addition to its participation, the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS was also set to host the contest in Rotterdam, after winning the competition in 2019 with the song "Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. Macrooy's appointment as the Dutch representative was announced on 10 January 2020, while the song, "Grow", was presented to the public on 4 March 2020.
Austria originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Alive" written by Vincent Bueno, David "Davey" Yang, Felix van Göns and Artur Aigner. The song was performed by Vincent Bueno. On 12 December 2019, the Austrian broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) announced that they had internally selected Vincent Bueno to compete at the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands, while "Alive" was presented to the public on 5 March 2020.
Belarus originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Da vidna" written by Uladzislaŭ Paškievič, Valeryja Hrybusava and Mikita Najdzionaŭ. The song was performed by the band VAL. The Belarusian entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands was selected through the national final Nationalny Otbor, which was organised by the Belarusian broadcaster National State Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus (BTRC). The national final consisted of twelve competing acts participating in a televised production where "Da vidna" performed by VAL was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a jury panel and public televoting.
Belgium originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Release Me" written by Alex Callier and Luca Chiaravalli. The song was performed by the band Hooverphonic, which was internally selected by the Flemish broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT) in October 2019 to represent the nation at the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The song, "Release Me", was presented to the public on 17 February 2020.
North Macedonia originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "You" written by Nevena Neskoska, Kalina Neskoska and Alice Schroeder. The song was performed by Vasil, who was internally selected by the North Macedonian broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) to compete for North Macedonia at the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Vasil's appointment as the North Macedonian representative was announced on 15 January 2020, while his song, "You", was presented to the public on 8 March 2020.
Ireland originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Story of My Life", performed by Lesley Roy and written by herself, Catt Gravitt, Robert Marvin, and Tom Shapiro. The song and the singer were internally selected on 5 March 2020 by the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to represent the nation at the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the contest was cancelled.
The United Kingdom originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "My Last Breath" written by James Newman, Ed Drewett, Adam Argyle and Iain James. The song was performed by James Newman, who was internally selected by the British broadcaster BBC to represent the United Kingdom at the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Newman and "My Last Breath" was announced as the British entry on 27 February 2020.
Azerbaijan originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Cleopatra" written by Luuk van Beers, Alan Roy Scott and Sarah Lake. The song was performed by Efendi, who was internally selected by the Azerbaijani broadcaster İctimai Television (İTV) to represent the nation at the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Efendi's selection as the Azerbaijani Eurovision entrant was announced on 28 February 2020, while the song "Cleopatra" was presented to the public on 10 March.
Italy originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The winner of the "Campioni" section of the 70th Sanremo Festival, Diodato with "Fai rumore", would have represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, which was planned to be held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. However, the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bulgaria originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Tears Getting Sober" written by Victoria Georgieva, Borislav Milanov, Lukas Oscar Janisch and Cornelia Wiebols. The song was performed by Victoria, which is the artistic name of singer Victoria Georgieva. In October 2019, the Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) announced that they would be returning to the Eurovision Song Contest after a one-year absence following their withdrawal in 2019 due to financial difficulties. On 25 November 2019, the broadcaster announced that Victoria had been selected to compete at the 2019 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The song that Victoria competed with, "Tears Getting Sober", was also internally selected and was presented to the public on 7 March 2020.
"Uno" is a Spanglish language song recorded by Russian rave group Little Big. It was due to represent Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 before its cancellation. The song was released as a digital download and for streaming on 13 March 2020.
Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The Russian broadcaster Channel One Russia (C1R) organised a national selection to determine the Russian representative. As of 2022, this was Russia's final entry at the contest, before the country was excluded the following year.
Belarus had originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. They internally selected Galasy ZMesta as their representative, initially with the song "Ya nauchu tebya ", but the entry was deemed ineligible to compete by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) due to violation of the contest's rules against political entries. After their replacement entry "Pesnyu pro zaytsa " was also deemed ineligible, Belarus was disqualified from the contest on 26 March 2021. This was the first time Belarus was absent from the contest since the country's debut in 2004. Belarus was originally set to compete in the first half of the first semi-final on 18 May 2021.
Evrovidenie. Nacionalny Otbor, Nacionalny Otbor na Evrovidenie or simply Evrovidenie is a Russian televised musical competition organized by Russian public broadcasters Channel One in odd years and Russia-1 (RTR) of VGTRK in even years. The competition is used to select Russia's representative in the Eurovision Song Contest. Since 2005, it has been streamed live online through the respective websites of the broadcasters. Throughout its history, the competition has been held using different names, including Evrovidenie "Pesnya-95" (1995), Pesnya dlya Evropy (1996), Evrovidenie – Vybirayet Rossiya (2005), Kto? (2014), but has been known for most of its history as Evrovidenie. Nacionalny Otbor.
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