Russia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, held on 30 April 1994 at the Point Theater in Dublin, Ireland. The Russian broadcaster RTR organised a public selection process to determine its entry for the contest. Held on 12 March 1994 in Moscow, the event saw nine songs compete to be the Russian entry; the results were determined by the jury panel. The song "Vechny strannik" (given the title "Eternal Wanderer" in Eurovision), written by Lev Zemlinski and Piligrim, and performed by Youddiph received the most votes and was selected to represent the nation. Russia performed 23rd out of the 25 countries competing in the contest and at the close of the voting process, finished in 9th place, receiving 70 points.
| Eurovision Song Contest 1994 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Russia | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | National final | |||
| Selection date(s) | 12 March 1994 | |||
| Selected artist(s) | Youddiph | |||
| Selected song | "Vechny strannik" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 9th, 70 points | |||
| Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Background
editOn 26 February 1994, the Russian national broadcaster, RTR, confirmed their intentions to debut at the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 for the first time.[1] The nation had previously planned to debut at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993, however, the broadcaster later withdrew their application for unknown reasons.[2][3] RTR, which broadcast the 1992 and 1993 contests in Russia, organised the selection process for the nation's entry in addition to broadcasting further events within the nation. Along with the participation confirmation, the broadcaster confirmed that the Russian entry for the 1994 contest would be selected through a national selection.[1]
Before Eurovision
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National final
editTo select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, RTR hosted a national final on 12 March 1994 at the Shabolovka Studios in Moscow during the television programme Programma A.[4][5][6] National final was hosted by Vadim Dolgachev.[5][6] Prior to the event, RTR opened a submissions window for Russian citizens to submit their original songs for consideration.[1] By the close of the submissions window, more than 30 songs had been submitted; eleven candidate entries were then selected by a jury panel from the received submissions.[4][5][7] Two songs were later disqualified prior to the competition: "Oi oi oi" performed by Alena Apina was disqualified after being performed on Russian TV channel 2x2 prior to the competition and "Kogda vernus v Rossiyu" performed by Vika Tsiganova, which was withdrawn after Tsiganova wanted to change her contest song, which was not allowed by the rules.[4][7][5] The disqualified songs were performed as part of the interval act.[5] Nine remaining entries competed with the winning song chosen by a 17-member jury.[5][6] At the close of voting, "Vechny strannik" performed by Youddiph received the most votes and was selected as the Russian entry.[4][7]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Megapolis | "Pushkin" (Пушкин) | 0 | 8 |
| 2 | Youddiph | "Vechny strannik" (Вечный странник) | 9 | 1 |
| 3 | Andrey Misin | "Russkaya liricheskaya" (Русская лирическая) | 4 | 3 |
| 4 | Tatyana Martsynkovskaya | "Raspyatiye" (Распятие) | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | Sergey Penkin | "Vspomni" (Вспомни) | 1 | 5 |
| 6 | Nogu Svelo! | "Sibirskaya lyubov" (Сибирская любовь) | 7 | 2 |
| 7 | Kvartal | "Prileti ko mne" (Прилети ко мне) | 1 | 5 |
| 8 | Alyssa Mon | "Va-banque" (Ва-банк) | 0 | 8 |
| 9 | Elena Kirii | "Devki pesni raspevayut" (Девки песни распевают) | 3 | 4 |
At Eurovision
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 took place at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, on 30 April 1994.[8] According to the Eurovision rules, the 25-country participant list for the contest was composed of: the winning country from the previous year's contest and host country Ireland, highest placed 18 countries, other than the previous year's winner, from the previous year's contest and any eligible countries who didn't participate in 1993 contest.[9] As Russia was one of the eligible countries which did not compete in the 1993 contest, it was thus permitted to participate.[10] Russia performed 23rd at the 1994 contest, following Hungary and preceding Poland.[11] Eurovision Song Contest 1994 was televised in Russia on RTR with the commentary by Sergey Antipov.[12]
Ahead to the contest Russia was considered by bookmakers to be the twenty-fifth most likely country to win the competition.[13] The Russian performance featured Youddiph on stage wearing a red dress designed by Pavel Kaplevich.[14][15][16] During the performance, Youddiph was joined by two guitarists: Igor Khomich and Vadim Chebanov.[14][17] After the voting concluded, Russia scored 70 points, and placed 9th in a field of 25. The Russian conductor at the contest was the composer of the song, Lev Zemlinski.[13]
Voting
editThe same voting system in use since 1975 was again implemented for 1994 contest, with each country providing 1–8, 10 and 12 points to the ten highest-ranking songs as determined by a jury panel, with countries not allowed to vote for themselves.[18][19] The Russian spokesperson, who announced the points awarded by the Russian jury during the final, was Irina Klenskaya.[6] Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Russia and awarded by Russia in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Ireland in the contest.
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References
edit- ^ a b c "Впервые Россия будет участвовать в международном конкурсе эстрадной песни, который ежегодно, вот уже в 39-раз проводит Европейский Вещательный Союз". Rossiyskiye Vesti (in Russian). No. 35. 26 February 1994. Retrieved 1 November 2022 – via Integrum (Russian news database). (registration required)
- ^ Roxburgh 2020, p. 131.
- ^ Koppel, Annika (22 February 1993). "Eesti eurolaul olemas". Päevaleht (in Estonian). p. 6. Retrieved 26 December 2022 – via DIGAR Eesti artiklid.
- ^ a b c d e "После небольшого скандала в Дублин на конкурс песни Евровидения поедут "Вечный странник" и Юдифь". RIA Novosti (in Russian). 24 March 1994. Retrieved 1 November 2022 – via Integrum (Russian news database). (registration required)
- ^ a b c d e f g "Первое российское «Евровидение»: Кто из звезд проиграл неизвестной Маше Кац". kp.ru. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d Mikheev, Andy. "Eurovision 1994 Youddiph". ESCKaz. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^ a b c "РОССИЯ ВПЕРВЫЕ УЧАСТВУЕТ В КОНКУРСЕ ПЕСНИ ЕВРОВИДЕНИЯ. Москва - Дублин. Далее везде?". aif.ru. 27 April 1994. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ^ "Dublin 1994 – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
- ^ Roxburgh 2020, pp. 168–181.
- ^ "Millstreet 1993 – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
- ^ "Final of Dublin 1994". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
- ^ "Лучшие певцы Европы" (PDF). Rossiyskaya Gazeta (in Russian). No. 77. 22 April 1994. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
- ^ a b Moroz, Oleg (11 May 1994). "Европа. Дублин. "Пойнт"". Literaturnaya Gazeta (in Russian). No. 18-19 (5499). p. 7.
- ^ a b Eurovision Song Contest 1994 (Television programme). Dublin, Republic of Ireland: Radio Telefís Éireann. 30 April 1994.
- ^ "Самые незабываемые наряды «Евровидения»: в чем звезды выходили на сцену".
- ^ O. Sorokina (13 July 1994). "Юдифь покорила Дублин". Gudok (in Russian). No. 128. p. 4. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ^ "Rusia Eurovisión 1994". eurovision-spain.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
- ^ "In a Nutshell – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. 31 March 2017. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
- ^ Roxburgh 2020, pp. 178–180.
- ^ a b "Results of the Final of Dublin 1994". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
Bibliography
edit- Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84583-163-9.