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About Russia...
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2005 Result
Points in Semi Final: N/A
Position in Semi Final: N/A
Points in Final: 57
Position in Final: 15th
2006 Contest: Must compete in Semi Final
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History (1956 to 2004)
Russia's previous appearances: 8 year(s) out of 49
Years participated: 1994-1995; 1997; 2000-
Best result: 2nd (2000)
Russia made its Eurovision début in 1994, when Youddiph achieved a creditable 9th place. Subsequent entries were memorable - 1995's for its bizarre title, 'Lullaby for a volcano', and 1997's for Alla Pugacheva's unfeasibly big hair - but neither performed terribly well, finishing 17th and 15th respectively. Since 2000, Russia's record has been much improved, due to some strong songs and the decision to perform most of them in English. Alsou and her song 'Solo' finished a strong 2nd in 2000, and the country has avoided relegation ever since, achieving 12th place in 2001 and 10th in 2002.
Russia had high hopes for victory in 2003, sending the controversial 'lesbian' duo t.A.T.u to Eurovision. Fresh from a massive international hit with 'All the things she said', it was inevitable that t.A.T.u's song, 'Ne ver', ne bojsia', would do well. However, like Baccara before them (whose 1978 Eurovision entry for Luxembourg - 'Parlez-vous français?' - followed their international hit 'Yes sir, I can boogie'), global success prior to Eurovision failed to translate into victory, and t.A.T.u had to be content with 3rd place. It was very close, though - t.A.T.u finished just one point behind 2nd-placed Belgium, and three behind Sertab's winning song for Turkey. Interestingly, the UK was one of only two countries (the other being Ireland) to give Russia no points at all, despite 'All the things she said' already topping the UK charts earlier in 2003 - points from either country would almost certainly have given t.A.T.u victory. To be fair, the studio recording of 'Ne ver', ne bojsia' is fantastic, but t.A.T.u's performance on the night was second only to Jemini's in terms of tunelessness; 3rd place was about as much as it deserved. Nevertheless, it was quite enough to secure Russia's place in the Final for 2004.
Following up t.A.T.u was always going to be difficult, but Russia had a good try by sending its own Avril Lavigne lookalike, Julia Savicheva. Delivering a tuneless performance worthy of her predecessors, Julia was the beneficiary of 2004's most localised voting - picking up at least 8 points for 'Believe me' from all the former Soviet countries (making up 48 of its total of 67), but only 19 from all the others put together. However, it was probably due - at least in part - to her existing popularity within the former Soviet nations than overtly political voting. Whatever the reasons, it was quite enough to propel her to 11th place, narrowly securing Russia's direct participation in the 2005 Final in the process.
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This year's entry
Position in Semi Final draw: N/A
Position in Final draw: 20
What I said prior to the Semi Final:
"Another year, another angsty female performer representing Russia (though Natalia Podolskaya is in fact Belarussian), and another song that does little for me. My view is perhaps tainted by the grammatically flawed title 'Nobody hurt no one' - even assuming it really is meant to be in the past tense (which I doubt), nobody hurting no one surely equates to everybody hurting someone? Or maybe I'm the only person who finds these double negatives irritating... The song's rocky backing track is strong, and the verses are OK, but the chorus - mostly involving the title being repeated over and over - is just too much to bear. Surely it is better to sing in ones owen language and do a good job, than try to sing in English but make a complete hash of it?"
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What I predicted...
My prediction for Semi Final: N/A
My prediction for Final: 21st to 23rd
What I predicted prior to the Semi Final:
"What can I say? It will be a travesty if this song reaches the Top 10, and unless Russia's neighbours once again vote for it en masse, it must have little to no chance of securing the country's direct entry to the 2006 Final. 'Nobody hurt no-one' is not completely dreadful, it's just that there are likely to be 20 or more better songs taking part in the Final. Someone, I'm afraid, has to come last, and this song is certainly a contender for this year's wooden spoon."
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What you thought...
Final Poll Ranking: out of 39 ()
(Updated 22 May 2005; change refers to movement over final week)
In the run up to the Contest, 27,998 visitors to this site voted for their favourite song in the Soult.com Eurovision Poll (up from 5,000 in 2004!)
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What actually happened...
Maybe I'm going soft, but I seem to be saying quite nice things about all the songs this year, even the ones that I'd slated prior to the Contest. Naturally, I still take umbrage at the dodgy grammar in 'Nobody hurt no one', but Natalia's live vocal performance was very good indeed, and she came across as a striking and confident performer on the stage. However, these things are never sufficient to rescue what is essentially a repetitive and not very interesting song, and despite picking up 57 points - all from countries bordering Russia - 15th place fell well short of gaining Russia direct entry to the 2006 Final.
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What the bookies thought...
 | Russia to win: | 21/05/05 (prior to Final) | 50-1 |
| | 19/05/05 (after Semi Final) | 50-1 |
| | 19/05/05 (prior to Semi Final) | 40-1 |
| | 16/05/05 | 40-1 |
| | 15/05/05 | 40-1 |
| | 08/05/05 | 33-1 |
| | 02/05/05 | 33-1 |
| | 24/04/05 | 25-1 |
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With Natalia's odds drifting to 50-1 prior to the Final, her unremarkable 15th place came as little surprise to the bookmakers. 'Nobody bet no one', as it were.
(Odds quoted here were those offered by Coral.co.uk. 'F' indicates favourite, 'JF' joint favourite.)
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Links
 http://www.podolskaya.info/
 http://www.1tv.ru/eurovision/
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Notes (see 'History' above)
- The 1956 Contest (where each country had two songs) is counted as a single appearance;
- Countries eliminated in the 1993 preliminary heat (EE, HU, RO, SK) ARE NOT counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest;
- Countries eliminated in the 1996 preliminary heat (DE, DK, HU, IL, MK, RO, RU) ARE NOT counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest;
- Countries eliminated in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 Semi Finals ARE counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest.
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Your comments (49)
From manolis, Greece
Added 19:42:44 2006-06-10
the song was so powerful and full of energy and for me Russia is the winner
From Damian, United Kingdom
Added 10:14:30 2005-12-18
How to simulate the effects of this song in 5 easy steps:
1. Go to the kitchen and find your cheese grater.
2. Place the utensil firmly against your left ear. Move either the grater or your head up and down rapidly.
3. Repeat step 2 using your right ear.
4. Apply salt liberally to both ears.
5. Sit there for approximately 3 minutes.
I shouldn't be so scathing, but this song truly is rough, grating and offensive to listen to. Russia can and have done way way better than this.
From melanie, MALTA
Added 13:58:23 2005-9-20
nice song and nice singer well done russia
From european_serb, --
Added 21:55:11 2005-5-27
A nice song! Ziveli! :-)
From Charlotte, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 19:0:37 2005-5-27
I agree with Amy from England, I really think that is song is awful! How many times do you need to say "Nobody hurt no-one in one song"!?! Annoying, and a depressing song - not what eurovision is all about, sorry Russia!!
From giedre, LITHUANIA
Added 17:38:44 2005-5-24
l think it's good song... =]
From savina, BULGARIA
Added 13:12:18 2005-5-24
your song was amazing and very powerful..respect!
From Krutas, MOLDOVA
Added 23:29:18 2005-5-22
Sorry, Russia... The performance was poor... Actually, the song is Not so bad, but all the other songs were much better.
From Alex, RUSSIA
Added 21:53:18 2005-5-22
Natasha! Ekaterinburg is with you!!!! You were amazing! 10 points from Latvia! Good effort, Latvia! Thank you! We believe in you Natasha! You were much better than 15 place!
From Vadim, UKRAINE
Added 21:40:1 2005-5-21
Have no fear!
Ukraine is with you, Russia!
From Ruben, BELGIUM
Added 10:13:44 2005-5-21
It's a nice song, maybe not a winner. but also not a looser. much luck Natalia!!
From Julia, RUSSIA
Added 22:5:44 2005-5-20
I don't know what's happening but things are the same year after year! It's something horrible! This Podolskaya has been chosen by ONLY because of taking part in the Star Academy, and it's MORE then simply unfair! The same was for Savicheva! 'Oh, what a talanted girl! What a treasure!' PFFFF! NOTHING CLOSE! A DREADFUL SONG, A RATHER ORDINARY SINGER, A LOSS. COMPLETELY A LOSS!
From MANTE, LITHUANIA
Added 10:30:18 2005-5-18
HELLOW NATALIJA,I THINK YOU WIN,BECOUSE YOUR SONG ARE VERY NICE
AND SHE LIKE ME.BYE
From Charlotte , SWEDEN
Added 22:25:22 2005-5-17
Last year Russia had a good song, but this is so repetitive and terrible that it drives me up the wall! Hearing it onc is more than enough, thank you! Surely, there must be lots of better songs (and singers) to choose from in Russia?
From Juha, FINLAND
Added 20:40:49 2005-5-17
Russia can expect quite a few points from Finland simply because three of the band's musicians are either Finnish or live in Finland and the second lyricist J.P. Chase is also Finnish, despite his English alias. And Belarus may also give points, because the good-looking lead singer Natalya Podolskaya is Belarussian. Keep an eye on Russia, at least the video is good!
From Maria, GREECE
Added 22:25:30 2005-5-16
I agree with Paul from the UK. Russia is the only country that sent a song with a modern sound and with a bit of work this can actually do well outside Eurovision.
From ALINA, MOLDOVA
Added 16:40:20 2005-5-12
The russians would really win ...only if they sent DIMA BILAN!!He had such an awesome song.I don't know how people could choose this thing!But still...russia will get points 4 sure from Moldova :)
From amy, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 12:59:31 2005-5-12
she should just give up now.
From Sébastien, FRANCE
Added 15:26:41 2005-5-11
RUSSIA you won't pass your exam lol! Even if the Russian spies from the music industry discovered that there is currently a rock trend to exploit, they didn't manage to create a good song! But I'm sure that RUSSIA will get a lot of points from its neigbours who are still under the Russian influence. I mean UKRAINE, POLAND, BULGARIA, ROMANIA and even the baltic countries. It's a shame...
From Eve, GERMANY
Added 13:42:3 2005-3-23
I think russia is unworthy to win, unless it wins becose russia is important to many countries.
From Howie, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 13:40:35 2005-3-23
Come back Alla Pugacheva, all is forgiven . . .
From Jurga, LITHUANIA
Added 8:6:16 2005-3-23
Very nice song, although I like Dima Bilan more. His song "Not that simple" was better! But Natalia's song is very nice too. Her's voice is very good!
So good luck to Russia from Lithuania!
From Shazira, GEORGIA
Added 12:34:54 2005-3-22
You have my vote. But I think that this will be the only vote you'll get and it will be out of pity...
From kissa, LITHUANIA
Added 13:52:0 2005-3-21
I love Dima Bilan very much and i think his song was the best ;]]~
But yor song is very nice too!
Good luck Natalia!
Best wishes from Lithuania ;)
From noah, MOLDOVA
Added 13:11:48 2005-3-21
Well... We'll support Russia just because it's Russia. Nice voice, bad song... Sorry...
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