RUSSIA

The Russian entry was eventually released in full on 15th March in the form of its official video clip. Earlier that week it was revealed that Polina Gagarina would be representing the country but due to leaks of part of the song online, the official release was brought forward. Polina will be singing " A million voices" at Eurovision.

Russia was one of the final countries to reveal anything about their Eurovision entry and as time went by it was thought to be done via an internal selection. They released Polina's name on the 11th March but did not give any definite answers on the song, which renewed interest on what she might be singing.

The song is written by part of the team behind Dina Garipova’s 2013 entry "What If" and shares a peace theme that Russian entries have had over the past few years. The start is very atmospheric and has a vibe of Ellie Goulding about it. The song builds up quite nicely and almost seem to have a more soft rock feeling by the end which can make it feel a little dated. The stompy part at around 2:15 is a little out of place as is the repetition of 'singg it out' they would be better just singing the chorus properly.

Moscow born Polina came to fame in 2003 winning the second season of the TV talent show Star Factory and has released singles every year since 2005. She is also a successful actress, songwriter and model. I have watched a few videos of her singing online and have been impressed although most of the live performances I've seen have been in her mother tongue. I did spot a cover of "Rehab" she did which was far too low for her voice and was very breathy but also rather intelligible.

I like Polina's styling in the video and I think this simplistic look would go down well at Eurovision. The video however is a little bit on the worthy side and can't really offer up many clues about what we should expect, although I wouldn't mind the paint throwing effect on the back screens. She will need a decent sized choir for the second half of the song and so I would think having dancers or some kind of 'act' going on would not be required. Being a video it is also hard to judge if she can pull off a performance like that live.

This is one of the higher quality ballads this year. The fact that the backing music is ever changes keeps you engaged with the track. He voice seems very good but does seem very highly produced. This all said I find myself very conflicted. I know that Eurovision is not a platform for political statements and this is almost the opposite. I just cannot hear this song and thing 'this is 2 faced bollocks'. If this had won a fair and square selection show I might not feel so bad but the fact that this has been internally selected and obviously done so almost makes it worse. I can't like this song and won't. This will qualify easily and will probably go top 10 if not top 5. If it wins, there may well be a riot OR a massive boycott next year.

ARTIST - Polina Gagarina

SONG - A million voices

MUSIC - G Alares, J Björnberg, K Noorbergen, L Gutkin, V Matetsky

LYRICS - G Alares, J Björnberg, K Noorbergen, L Gutkin, V Matetsky