RUSSIA

The Russian entry was unveiled on March 5th first via a video first shared online then premiered on the RTR news broadcast. Back in December it was announced that Sergey Lazarev had been internally. His song is “You’re the only one”.

This is a up-tempo pop song with a strange beat. The beginning is a little odd and random but if he starts off from the gong it would make a much better start. The verses have a good structure and they key is very interesting to your ear. The ‘pre chorus’ is probably the stand out part of the song as the chorus proper is a little too predictable. At about 2.30 there is a slow part which goes on a bit too long and seems a little out of place but this is followed by a final chorus with a key change.

Sergey is one of Russia’s biggest stars having been involved in many singing, dancing and acting projects. As a youth he appeared in many plays, concerts TV shows and singing competitions. He was half of the duo Smash!!, formed in 2000 and having huge success around many ex-soviet states and most of Asia. However they split in 2004 releasing just two albums. His solo career then took off and has since released numerous singles and albums in Russian and English. Back in 2008 he tried to enter Eurovision but was beaten into 4th place, with Dima Bilan winning the national final.

Although this was a video presentation, there are a few clues as to the stage performance might be. There is the use of projections over his body which could be quite tricky to replicate but I really enjoy the overhead shots so you can see the video wall on the floor. Although some of these ideas might not be viable they themes, like the crumbling floor and falling, might be used in other ways. All in all this is a very slick and polished show. Obviously one has to take into account whether he will be able to pull this off live.

My main reservation is that this sounds like a song that was given to Sakis Rouvas first, he rejected it then was given to Sergey. In some ways it is quite reminiscent to Sakis’s 2009 Greek entry. Sergey even looks a bit like him in the video. Also from beginning to end it is about 10 seconds too long and by eliminating the start and possibly truncating the slow but it should come under 3 minutes .This is a very serious contender and will probably win semi-final 1 and is almost a definite top 5, if not top 3. Stylistically I would prefer this not to win but in the line up of past Russian entries, this sits much more comfortably with me.

ARTIST – Sergey Lazarev

SONG –You’re the only one

MUSIC – Philipp Kirkorov, Dimitris Kontopoulos, John Ballard, Ralph Charlie

LYRICS – Philipp Kirkorov, Dimitris Kontopoulos, John Ballard, Ralph Charlie