| Eurovision Song Contest 2022 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Russia | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Excluded | |||
| Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Russia was scheduled to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy. However, on 25 February 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) excluded Russia from participating. [1] Russia was originally set to perform in the second half of the first semi-final on 10 May 2022. [2]
Prior to the 2022 contest, Russia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 23 times since its first entry in 1994. Russia has won the contest on one occasion in 2008 with the song "Believe" performed by Dima Bilan. In 2016, Russia finished third with the song "You Are the Only One" performed by Sergey Lazarev, who would later return to represent his country again in 2019 with the song "Scream", also finishing in third place. In 2018, Russia placed fifteenth in the second semi-final with the song "I Won't Break" performed by Yuliya Samoylova, making it the first time Russia did not qualify for the final since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004. [3] In 2021, "Russian Woman" performed by Manizha qualified for the final and ultimately finished ninth with 204 points. [4]
No official announcement was made by national broadcaster VGTRK regarding the Russian selection for 2022. According to non-confirmed rumors, shortlisted acts included Aleksandr Panayotov, Danya Milokhin, Egor Kreed, Vanya Dmitrienko, Klava Koka and Yaroslava Simonova. [5] [6] [7] Later, the number of artists on the shortlist was reduced to three: two women (Klava Koka, Yaroslava Simonova) and one man, among whom VGTRK selected a representative. [8] Ultimately, Yaroslava Simonova was reportedly selected as the Russian representative. [9] [10] [11]
In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022, Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC appealed to suspend Russian EBU member broadcasters VGTRK and Channel One from the union, and to exclude Russia from competing in the contest. The appeal alleged that since the beginning of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine in 2014, VGTRK and Channel One had been a mouthpiece for the Russian government and a key tool of political propaganda financed from the Russian state budget. [12] The EBU initially stated that Russia as well as Ukraine would still be allowed to participate in the contest, citing the non-political nature of the event. [13] [14] Gustav Lützhøft, editor-in-chief of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix for Danish broadcaster DR, stated: "we find it incompatible with Eurovision's values that Russia is participating." [15] [16] [17] Sweden's SVT, [18] Iceland's RÚV, [19] Lithuania's LRT [20] and Norway's NRK [21] also called on the EBU to exclude Russia from the contest, while the Netherlands' AVROTROS, [22] Poland's TVP [23] and Ukraine's UA:PBC [24] additionally called on the EBU to suspend Russia's membership of the union. Estonia's ERR [25] and Finland's Yle [26] stated that they would not participate if Russia were invited. Latvian representatives at the 2022 contest, Citi Zēni, called on the EBU in an email to reconsider their decision to allow Russia to compete. [27]
On 25 February 2022, the EBU announced that Russia would not compete at the contest, stating that "in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year's Contest would bring the competition into disrepute." [1] The following day, all EBU members from Russia, including VGTRK and Channel One, announced their withdrawal from the union; however, the EBU itself had yet to receive a confirmation. [28] [29] On 1 March, a further statement from the EBU announced that it had suspended its Russian members from its governance structures. [30]
On 26 May 2022, the EBU made effective the suspension of its Russian members, causing Russia to indefinitely lose broadcasting and participation rights for future Eurovision events. [31] [32]
The humanitarian crisis resulting from Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip led to calls for the EBU to exclude Israel from taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. [33] [34] The EBU's decision to maintain Israel as a participant was compared to its decision to exclude Russia in 2022, with some accusing the EBU of "hypocrisy" and exhibiting "double standards". [lower-alpha 1] On 12 December 2023, the Association of Composers and Lyricists of Iceland (FTT) and activists of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, joined by the Icelandic branch of OGAE, sent formal requests that the Icelandic broadcaster RÚV withdraw from the event unless Israel was excluded "on the same grounds as Russia in the last competition"; [37] [42] [43] [44] meanwhile, a week later, Finnish broadcaster Yle commented that the war was not comparable to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [45] In early March 2024, Walloon minister of culture and media Bénédicte Linard announced that she would formally request local broadcaster RTBF (responsible for Belgium's participation in 2024) to push for the exclusion of Israel from the contest, citing –among others –the exclusion of Russia in 2022; her Flemish counterpart Benjamin Dalle expressed support for the reasoning. [46] [38]
The European Broadcasting Union is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the Council of Europe. As of 2024, it is made up of 123 member organisations from 56 countries, and 31 associate members from a further 20 countries. It was established in 1950, and has its administrative headquarters in Geneva.
Russia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 23 times since its debut in 1994. Russia won the 2008 contest with Dima Bilan performing the song "Believe". In 2018, the country failed to qualify for the final for the first time in its history. The Russian entry has been chosen through both internal selections and a televised national final titled Evrovidenie, with its most recent entry (2021) being chosen by the latter.
Ukraine has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 19 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. The 2005 and 2017 contests were held in Kyiv, while the 2023 contest was held in Liverpool, United Kingdom, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine has participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest since 2006. Ukrainian public broadcaster UA:PBC, has been responsible for the participation.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Moscow, Russia, following the country's victory at the 2008 contest with the song "Believe" by Dima Bilan. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Channel One (C1R), the contest was held at the Olimpiysky Arena, and consisted of two semi-finals on 12 and 14 May, and a final on 16 May 2009. The semi-finals were presented by Russian model Natalia Vodianova and television presenter Andrey Malakhov, while the final was presented by Russian television presenter Ivan Urgant and former Russian contestant Alsou Abramova, becoming the first and to date only time that two different sets of presenters had hosted the semi-finals and finals.
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"You Are the Only One" is a song recorded by Russian singer Sergey Lazarev with music composed by Philipp Kirkorov and Dimitris Kontopoulos and English lyrics written by John Ballard and Ralph Charlie. It represented represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 held in Stockholm. The song was released as a digital download on 5 March 2016. On 28 July 2016, Lazarev released a Russian version of the song, entitled "Pust' ves' mir podozhdyot".
Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, a pan-European music competition, from 1994 to 2021, while Ukraine has participated since 2003. Russia and Ukraine had positive relations for several years, and have exchanged top-3 points with each other several times over the years. Barring a minor dispute over Ukraine's 2007 entry "Dancing Lasha Tumbai", notable conflicts began to emerge between the two countries at Eurovision in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Natsionalnyi Vidbir, informally known as Vidbir, is a Ukrainian musical competition originally organized by Suspilne and STB, which determines the Ukrainian representative at the Eurovision Song Contest. In late August 2021, it was announced that the two broadcasters had terminated their partnership, and that Suspilne was looking for a new selection format for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, thus bringing an end to the original concept for Vidbir. In October 2021, Suspilne announced that the 2022 edition of Vidbir would be organized by it alone under a new format.
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