This year, Sergey Lazarev will represent Russia at the Eurovision 2020 international song contest with a new strong song. Many people believe that the performer wants to make up for a past loss, is this true? What will he sing and how many times has the artist participated in the competition before? The latest news from our editors.
About victory and return
On the thirtieth of April, on the birthday of Philip Kirkorov, artists and fans of the singer gathered in the studio of the “Live Broadcast” program to support the participant, wish him good luck and make a worthy farewell to the competition in Israel. For the second time, the “king of show business” Philip Kirkorov presents the singer on the European stage.
Shot from the program “Live Broadcast”
“Based on the results of 2020, Sergei won the competition based on the results of audience voting, but if the rules had not been changed and secret voting of five people in different countries had not been introduced, then Sergei would not have had to go again,” says Philip Kirkorov.
Shot from the program “Live Broadcast”
“I’m not going there to prove that I’m the best. In general, I took third place and gained great popularity in Europe and Russia. Now I want to show myself again from the other side,” says Sergei Lazarev.
The country sees off Sergei Lazarev to Eurovision // video
“Too good for Eurovision.” Reviews of the song by Sergei Lazarev
On the evening of Saturday, March 9, singer Sergey Lazarev presented “Scream”: the song with which he will perform at the Eurovision 2019 music competition. The authors of the composition were Greek composer Dimitris Kontopoulos , American Sharon Vaughn and Philip Kirkorov , who is also preparing Lazarev for the competition.
“I am happy to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest again, this time showing a different musical side of myself. I want to thank you all in advance for your likes and even dislikes, for your reposts and comments, for downloading and listening to the song. Because everything we did as a team was for you,” Lazarev wrote on Instagram.
In two days, the video clip for the composition collected over 2.6 million views on YouTube, earned 83 thousand likes and aroused many rave reviews. Of course, there were critics, and the number of dislikes (about 16 thousand) surprises some commentators. AiF.ru collected different opinions of network users about “Scream”.
Question answer
Who and why is against sending Sergei Lazarev to Eurovision in Israel?
Rock tone:
“It’s too heavy for Eurovision, the audience there is different, I think they won’t appreciate it.”
Gray Skelly:
“Have you heard the song #Lazarev for #Eurovision? In my opinion, it really sucks. He screams and puffs up, but does not evoke any emotions. I think he’ll take 5th place.”
Panda Sasha:
“In 2020, I didn’t like the song at all, although I don’t deny Sergei’s vocal abilities. I didn't expect anything better this year, but the song is strong. I don’t know about winning, so far I still have some mixed impressions, as if something is missing, but if it’s performed live in the same way, then there are chances.”
InadequateCat:
“Lazarev’s song for Eurovision is good. It was two years ago."
Sergey Lazarev: “I blacklisted sugar and bread a long time ago” Read more
Alexa:
“I don’t really like such songs myself, but with a good number, I think it will take its rightful place: there is something in it.”
Fedor Makashov:
"In short, this: I don’t really like the drawn-out songs at Eurovision. But Lazarev’s is normal. I liked the melody during his long [notes], and if at a live performance he adds a little more strain to these notes, then it will be good. Basically, reading the comments on Instagram, I thought it would be worse.”
just_empty:
“I’m sick of comments like “this is not a winner’s song.” Yes, but does that make her any less beautiful? It's a pity that you only think about first place. How are you better than the competition that was wasted by politics? Enjoy the music, not the victory."
Question answer
How many performers have performed at Eurovision more than once?
alexushka4:
“How can such art be “not powerful”? Armchair critics, it’s time for you to go home because of your limitations. All these music critics and honored artists of Russia, I just can’t.”
Yury Antonenko:
“The song is good, I would even say, too good for Eurovision.”
Lappi:
“This song is too good for Eurovision. It doesn't have the usual catchy chorus, it's quite gloomy. If you haven’t noticed, now all the participants are trying to get away from the Eurovision “format”. This is Lazarev’s style, he’s like a duck to water in it!”
wonder_violin:
“I have a couple of questions about the song. Although no, one: why are you so good?! Many people have already expressed the opinion that Eurovision does not deserve this song. And the devil, it seems, really doesn’t deserve it. I'm delighted, thank you for it. And the clip is just amazing."
You will strangle and kill this song. Ukraine refused Eurovision More details
Pavlik whiskey:
“I haven’t felt such delight for a long time as after listening to this masterpiece. My soul is screaming."
browsandbrownie:
“Within a day from the song’s release, the video has already received 2 million views. More than 5 thousand comments. And not a single indifferent person. This is exactly what everyone needed to hear, see, and Sergei needed to imagine. Our hero, we are with you!”
Article on the topic
I feel sorry for the country. Ukrainians talk about their artists’ refusal from Eurovision
Anastasia Andreeva:
“Goosebumps run in droves from the strongest vocals and the most powerful melody of the orchestra!! Very strong, powerful, to tears, to goosebumps!!! I can already imagine how cool and even more powerful it will sound when performed live on stage!”
rrrrrrinaaaaaaa:
“I cannot express all my love for Sergei Lazarev. He put his whole soul into singing this song. You can hear it. The song is incredible. The clip is chilling. A beautiful story of courage that inspires courageous actions.”
Olga Orlova:
“Magic, just magic. It's not just pop music that makes a man full. Magical song and performance. "Eurovision 2020" - to Russia!!!"
What is the name of the song
This year's song for the Eurovision Song Contest is unconventional and original. Its premiere took place in March. After all, interesting compositions usually win. The Dream Team and Philip Kirkorov prepared the music and lyrics for the competition song “Scream,” which means “Scream” in English. She is completely different in vocal, musical and genre performance. Unlike the song “Let the whole world wait”, which the singer sang in 2020.
Not only the team of Philip Kirkorov, but also the Greek composer Dimitris Kontopoulos worked on the song “Scream”. A new song was recorded in the Greek co-author's studio.
New video for Eurovision // video
Lyrics of the song “Scream” in English and translation of the text into Russian.
Interesting fact: The Russian version of the song “Scream” had not yet been released at the time of the Eurovision Song Contest.
What's wrong with Lazarev's Eurovision song?
At an international music competition, the artist will perform the song “Scream” Photo: Sergei Lazarev’s official page on VKontakte
Singer Sergei Lazarev, who will represent Russia at Eurovision this year, presented a composition for the song competition. His song “Scream”, which tells about the unrequited love of a guy for a girl, was watched by almost two million people on video hosting on Youtube within 24 hours. The video collected 68 thousand “likes” and 12 thousand “dislikes”. In the comments to the video, social network users criticized Lazarev’s hit, and the musician’s colleagues called his song unmemorable.
Sergey Lazarev presented a hit that he will perform at Eurovision
“The song needs to be listened to several times to be fully appreciated,” wrote Youtube user alex789. “It’s a very weak song, the video, the music, and the words are all clichés,” added user Arkadiy59361658. “Failure... We need a hit! A hit that can be played on the radio every day. And even I won’t listen to this tops a second time and for money,” noted PojeroSenatoff.
Music critic Sergei Sosedov shares the opinion of Russian listeners that Sergei Lazarev’s new song is not a hit. However, the critic is sure that Lazarev will be able to adequately represent Russia at the music competition.
“Only an idiot can call this song lame,” Sosedov said emotionally. — The song was performed interestingly, but it will not take first place. This composition won’t surprise anyone.”
Victor Drobysh believes that the song “Scream” is not memorable
photo: alenushka_med_ Instagram
In his opinion, Lazarev could claim victory with the hit “Scream” 15 years ago. “Now Eurovision has become more diverse in styles and genres, and the ballad that Lazarev will perform is quite simple,” Sosedov clarified. According to his forecasts, the song “Scream” may get into the top ten of Eurovision 2019.
Viktor Drobysh shares the same point of view . “The song is not memorable, despite the talented performance of Lazarev. It’s a fact that he will perform it cool,” Drobysh noted in a conversation with a URA.RU correspondent.
Ex-member of the Leningrad group Stas Baretsky called Lazarev’s song “Scream” nonsense. “For the second time he is going to represent the country at an international competition because he is trying to maintain the image of a “20-year-old naughty man,” Baretsky clarified in a conversation with a URA.RU correspondent.
Sergei Lazarev has nothing to do with Russia, Yuri Loza is convinced
Photo: Yuri Loza’s personal Facebook page
Yuri Loza remained dissatisfied with Lazarev's new composition . “Lazarev has nothing to do with Russia. He will sing a song in English at a British competition. Why on earth are Russians discussing his song?” — Loza was indignant in a conversation with a URA.RU correspondent. He also emphasized that the performer is faced with the task of reaching the international level, and the Eurovision Song Contest can help him with this.
Sergey Lazarev himself has already responded to the criticism that fell on his song on his Instagram account. He admitted that the song really is not in the competition format.
“Is it bad to create a song that stands out, that is original and unique?” — Lazarev wrote.
So far, the musician has been supported by foreign Eurovision viewers. Poland and Ukraine are already ready to give their votes to Lazarev. Also, viewers from Britain confess their love for the musician.
Eurovision 2019 will be held in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. The first semi-final is scheduled for May 14, the second on the 16th of the same month, and the final will take place on May 18. Sergey Lazarev has already represented Russia at an international competition in 2020, when he took third place.
Why not a new singer
This is the most popular question on the Internet now: why is Sergey Lazarev going to Eurovision again for the second time, aren’t there other good performers in Russia? In fact, the singer was chosen by the VGTRK channel and the “king of show business” Philip Kirkorov, who prepared the song for the performer. There was no public selection for the competition.
“I worry and root for Seryozha. He is a worthy candidate and there is no one more professional than him. Let him win. When we went for the second time to the competition with Dima Bilan, second place was a loss for us,” says producer Yana Rudkovskaya.
Shot from the program “Live Broadcast”
The art group Soprano Turetsky, the singer Alexander Panayotov and, of course, Olga Buzova would captivate with her charm. After all, Buzova manages to record popular tracks and videos.
What are Sergei Lazarev's chances of winning?
Now it is much more difficult to win because the rules have changed, the system has become not as transparent as before. A strange jury has appeared, voting in secret.
Interesting fact: The 2020 secret jury did not include professional musicians, but rather working-class people. No one still knows by what criteria they were selected for the jury.
“For me he is a real winner. He gives himself everything and is a great hard worker,” says Lena Katina, a participant in the 2003 competition.
Shot from the program “Live Broadcast”
“In 2020, Sergei Lazarev was condemned by the judges, when according to televoting the artist had from 8 to 12 points, then twenty-three jury members pointedly gave zero points. There was a political demarche against Russia, and the singer became a bargaining chip,” says Philip
Shot from the program “Live Broadcast”
“I would like there to be no politics at the wonderful Eurovision contest and at press conferences not to push back on political issues. Politics interferes in sports and music, and the participants are already fed up with this,” says Sergei Lazarev.
Roles in the theater
In 2002, Sergei Lazarev took time away from touring in Smash!! and played in the play “Romeo and Juliet” on the stage of the Alexander Pushkin Theater - after all, he studied at the acting department of the Moscow Art Theater School. Of course, he got the role of Romeo.
A year later, he played the main role in the production of “A Few Days in the Life of Alyosha Karamazov” on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater.
After leaving the group Smash!! Sergei returned to the Pushkin Theater and took part in the play “Borrow a Tenor.”
At the end of 2005, the jury of the Chaika theater award awarded Lazarev two statuettes at once: for “Breakthrough of the Year” and for “Best Love Scene.”
Sergei’s talent was also recognized by maestro Oleg Tabakov. From his hands in 2005, Lazarev received the “Talented Fusion of the Art of a Comedy Character Artist with Musical Talent” award for his performance in the play “Borrow a Tenor.”
Who are Russia's rivals at Eurovision?
According to the bookmaker's office, the main rivals at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 are the Netherlands, followed by Switzerland, Italy and Sweden.
Shot from the program “Live Broadcast”
“It all depends on how the artist performs his song and shows the number. Now the rates are very approximate because none of the countries have yet shown their presentation of songs,” says Lazarev.
Preparation for Eurovision
Singer Sergei Lazarev, together with Philip and the team, flew two weeks in advance to Israel, where they presented the number. After all, you need to prepare thoroughly for a performance. The reaction from the contestants at the first rehearsal was clear. On the sidelines of the competition they began to say that he was the absolute favorite and would win. The Eurovision Song Contest has never seen such a performance. What are the room details? On stage during Lazarev’s performance there will be eight of his own holograms filmed in advance and rain will pour on them.
Shot from the first rehearsal
In one song he will simultaneously pray, speak and look for a way out. The whole indescribable gamut of childhood fears of an adult’s soul will be shown. The song “Scream” shows how a grown man fights and overcomes childhood fears.
Still from the Scream video
From the latest news it became known that at the second rehearsal, technical problems were discovered in the performance details. The screens do not burn or leak water. The singer was very upset.
Shot from rehearsal
Sergey Lazarev did not fall
Ukrainian singer Jamala became the winner of the 61st international Eurovision song contest, third place was taken by Sergey Lazarev with the composition You Are The Only One. Places are determined by a combined vote (national juries of the participating countries and SMS voting by viewers). The second place went to the representative of Australia Dami Im. “Thank you for the great support. I think this is an amazing result,” Lazarev said on the Rossiya 1 TV channel.
Sergey Lazarev is pleased with the way he performed at Eurovision 2016, Vesti.ru reports. “Every time I performed a number, there was a risk that I might fall,” tuj quotes Lazarev as saying after the performance on the Swedish TV channel SVT. “But I did it and everything went well.” The author of the composition “You Are The Only One” is Philip Kirkorov together with an international team of authors, including the Greek composer Dimitris Kontopoulos.
The first semi-final, which included Russia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Hungary, Cyprus, Malta, the Netherlands, Croatia and the Czech Republic, took place on May 10th. In the second semi-final on May 12, Australia, Ukraine, Poland, Latvia, Belgium, Serbia, Georgia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Israel qualified for the final.
Ukraine is represented at the competition by singer Jamala with the song “1944”, dedicated to the deportation of the Crimean Tatars. The theme of the composition caused accusations of politicization against the performer - according to the rules of the competition, the texts should not contain political statements, - Fr. However, the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the Eurovision music competition, after checking, stated that it has no complaints about the song.
In general, there was an unusual amount of politics on the eve of the final. If the representative of Russia wins, the head of the National Television Company of Ukraine (NTKU) Zurab Alasania promised to refuse to participate in the competition next year (the performers in the competition are supported by the TV channels of the respective countries). He referred to the fact that in this case the final would have been held in Russia. Now, by the way, it will take place in 2020 in Ukraine.
And the European Broadcasting Union even called the possible victory of Russian singer Sergei Lazarev a “catastrophe,” as the Daily Mirror tabloid newspaper wrote. “One senses that the European Broadcasting Union understands how unpopular a Russian victory would be and is doing everything possible to help the other favorites win,” the British tabloid quoted RNS as saying. The Daily Mirror predicted that Ukrainian singer Jamala would receive a high score from the judges, and Lazarev could beat her in the audience vote.
And so it happened: viewers of Eurovision 2016 gave the maximum number of votes to Sergei Lazarev, but taking into account the points given by the judges, the Russian singer took only third place, RIA Novosti reported. But something else is more interesting. The highest number of points - 12 - was given to the representative of Russia by viewers from Ukraine. Ours, in general, also did not remain in debt. Although the singer from Armenia Iveta Mukuchan turned out to be the most popular among Russian TV viewers, they gave 10 points to Jamala. Friendship won the popular vote (although on Twitter, according to available data, it was still Lazarev, but he himself is clearly in favor of friendship).
