Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005


Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 in Kiev, Ukraine. The Russian entry was selected through a national final, organised by the Russian broadcaster Channel One Russia. Natalia Podolskaya represented Russia with the song "Nobody Hurt No One", which placed 15th and scored 57 points at the contest.

Before Eurovision

Evrovidenie 2005

Evrovidenie 2005 was be the national final format developed by C1R in order to select Russia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2005.

Format

The format of the competition consisted of three semi-finals which took place on 4, 11 and 18 February 2005 with ten acts competing in each show. The top three were selected to advance to the final on 21 February 2011. All shows in the competition were hosted by Andrey Malakhov and Yana Churikova.
The results of all shows were determined by public televoting. All shows were broadcast live three times on the day they were scheduled to air in order to cater to the different Russian time zones, requiring all artists to perform their songs three times. All regions participated in the televote during their broadcast with the final results being revealed in the final live broadcast for the Western part of Russia.

Competing entries

In early January 2005, C1R announced via television adverts a submission period for interested artists and composers to submit their entries. A jury panel evaluated the received submissions and selected 30 entries for the competition from 57 shortlisted entries. The selection jury consisted of Konstantin Ernst, Yuriy Aksyuta, Igor Matvienko, Maxim Fadeev, Viktor Drobysh, Alexei Charykov, Ilya Bachurin, Artur Gasparyan, Vladimir Polupanov, Maxim Kononenko, Larisa Havkina, Vladimir Matetsky, Maxim Dunayevsky, Larisa Dolina, Alexander Malinin and Larisa Sinelshikova.

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final took place on 4 February 2005 and featured ten songs competing for three qualifier spots for the final. After the televoting results were revealed, Jam and Elena Terleeva, Anastasia Stotskaya and Dima Bilan qualified to the final.
2000 Russian entrant Alsou, 2004 Russian entrant Julia Savicheva and Alexander Malinin were the interval acts for the show.

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final took place on 11 February 2005 and featured ten songs competing for three qualifier spots for the final. After the televoting results were revealed, Natalia Podolskaya, Varvara and Chai vdvoem qualified to the final.
Larisa Dolina, Leonid Agutin and Anzhelika Varum were the interval acts for the show.

Semi-final 3

The third semi-final took place on 18 February 2005 and featured nine songs competing for three qualifier spots for the final. Sergey Mazaev was due to compete in this semi-final, but was disqualified for being late for the Siberia run of the live show. After the televoting results were revealed, Irina Schott, Slava, and Aleksandr Panayotov and Alexey Chumakov qualified to the final.
2001 Russian entrants Mumiy Troll and 2002 Russian entrants Prime Minister were the interval acts for the show.

Final

The final took place on 25 February 2005 where the nine entries that qualified from the preceding three semi-finals competed. The final also featured an expert jury who provided commentary and feedback to the artists, but had no voting stake. Natalia Podolskaya was selected as the final winner, while Dima Bilan was the winner of the non-binding jury vote.
Bonnie Tyler, Philipp Kirkorov, Valeriya and Afric Simone were the interval acts for the final.

At Eurovision

Since Russia placed within the top 10 countries in the 2004 Contest, Russia pre-qualified to compete directly in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2005. On 22 March 2005, Russia was drawn to perform 20th in the final on 21 May 2005, following Greece and preceding Bosnia and Herzegovina.
For the Russian performance, Podolskaya was joined on stage by bassist Toni Hintikka, guitarist Valeriy Drobysh, drummer Teijo Jamsa, and backing vocalists Yana Kozlova and Olga Belaya. After the voting concluded, Russia scored 57 points and placed 15th. Since Russia was not among the top 10 countries, Russia did not qualify to compete directly in the final of the 2006 Contest and would have to compete in the semi-final.
The semi-final and final were broadcast on Channel One, with commentary by Yuriy Aksyuta and Elena Batinova. The voting spokesperson for Russia was Yana Churikova.
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  • Points awarded by Russia

    Points awarded in the semi-final:
    Points awarded in the final: