Countries participating in the Eurovision finals. Russia: Sergey Lazarev - "You Are The Only One"

A few minutes ago, Eurovision 2016 ended in Stockholm. The winner was Jamala from Ukraine. The representative of our country, Sergei Lazarev, became third.

Musicians from 26 countries met in the Eurovision 2016 final. According to bookmakers' forecasts, places in the top five should have been distributed as follows: Russia, Australia, Ukraine, France, Sweden - in that order. The live broadcast, live emotions, the excitement of the artists and the excitement of the audience made their own adjustments - the forecasts were only partially justified. By the way, the intrigue remained until the last minutes of the show. And all thanks to innovations regarding the calculation and announcement of points. If in previous years the results of the audience vote and the jury's scores were presented as a single result, this time they were announced separately. First, the jury's scores were announced, and then the result of the audience vote was announced. This made it possible to keep the name of the competition favorite a secret until the last minutes!

As a result, the places were distributed as follows:

Final table of points for Eurovision 2016 (total votes of the jury and spectators):

1st place - Ukraine, 534 points
2nd place - Australia, 511 points
3rd place - Russia, 491 points
4th place - Bulgaria, 307 points
5th place - Sweden, 261 points
6th place - France, 257 points
7th place - Armenia, 249 points
8th place - Poland, 229 points
9th place - Lithuania, 200 points
10th place - Belgium, 181 points
11th place - Netherlands, 153 points
12th place - Malta, 153 points
13th place - Austria, 151 points
14th place - Israel, 135 points
15th place - Latvia, 132 points
16th place - Italy, 124 points
17th place - Azerbaijan, 117 points
18th place - Serbia, 115 points
19th place - Hungary, 108 points
20th place - Georgia, 104 points
21st place - Cyprus, 96 points
22nd place - Spain, 77 points
23rd place - Croatia, 73 points
24th place - Great Britain, 62 points
25th place - Czech Republic, 41 points
26th place - Germany, 11 points

A Swedish musician won the right to host the competition in Stockholm last year - he captivated the audience not so much with a song as with a bright, stylish number with memorable special effects. According to tradition, it was with a flashback - Zermerlev's number - that the Eurovision final this year began.

Mons Zelmerlev

As viewers could note immediately after the first stages of Eurovision, the competition has noticeably become younger. The singer from Belgium, who had the opportunity to open the final, is one of the representatives of the “singing youth”. At 19 years old, Laura Tesoro is a real star in her home country. She has released several successful hits, acted in films and performed a role in a musical. Laura took to the Ericsson Globe stage in Stockholm with the incendiary hit What's the Pressure? and eventually took 10th place.

Laura Tesoro, Belgium

At number two, 22-year-old Gabriela Guncikova from the Czech Republic took the stage. The artist came to success using the classic scheme - posting her videos on YouTube, after which American producers noticed her and invited her to work in Los Angeles. Gabriela did not use Hollywood special effects in her act; she stood alone in the middle of the stage, singing loudly and soulfully about love. For which I received... 25th place.

Holland has won the competition four times and is among the top ten participating countries. This year, the country's representative, 23-year-old Daue Bob, failed to win gold, but he definitely managed to be remembered by the audience. People started talking about the handsome young man with sad eyes long before the start of the race. Dawe is known outside his native country thanks to his father, the legendary psychedelic artist, founder of the design company The Fool and bosom friend of The Beatles lead singer Simon Posthumus. At Eurovision, Daue, despite being practically related to the Beatles, took 11th place.

Dawe Bob, Holland

21-year-old Semra Rahimli performed under the flag of Azerbaijan at Eurovision. The song Miracle was written for her by a team of Swedish authors who led Greek Elena Paparizou to victory in 2005. According to Semra herself, her creative idol is Beyoncé, and the song Miracle is an anthem of female courage, and it will inspire those who have experienced drama in their personal lives. At the competition, the pretty Azerbaijani managed to take 17th place.

At number five, the handsome and athletic Gabor Alfred Fehervary, or, in short, Freddy from Hungary, took to the stage. He devoted most of his life to basketball - he played it at a professional level until he was injured. And then suddenly he started singing. It’s so good that he became one of the leaders of the Rising Star song competition. Freddie went to Stockholm with the fiery song Pioneer ("Pioneer"), as if hinting that he could be the first in history to bring Eurovision to Budapest. Hints are hints, but the audience and the jury awarded Freddie only 19th place.

Last year, the Italian team Il Volo climbed to third place in the ranking, almost overtaking the Russian representative Polina Gagarina. This year, an attempt to get ahead of a competitor from our country, again unsuccessful, was made by the Italian Francesca Michielin. Having performed the song No Degree of Separation, she took 16th place.

Francesca Michielin, Italy

The performance of the Israeli contestant Howie Star did not become the best in the opinion of the audience and the jury, but he could definitely claim the title of the most “radiant”. From the sequined suit and gloves to the holographic stars above his head, Howie had no chance of going unnoticed. By the way, Howie managed to clearly announce himself to Russian viewers even before the start of Eurovision. While attending an event dedicated to the competition in Moscow, he became involved in a loud scandal motivated by homophobia. Hovey accused Russian border guards of insulting him at the Moscow airport and ruining his passport. The European public turned out to be more tolerant of Howie and awarded him 14th place.

Bulgarian singer Poli Genova managed to reach the Eurovision final only for the fourth time. The first two times she didn’t even pass the national selection, the third time she didn’t score enough points to get out of the semi-finals. The stubborn girl had the right time to sing about “the impossible, what is possible,” but she preferred to sing a pop ballad about love. The jury and television viewers rated it not for a gold medal, but worthy - in the end - 4th place.

At number nine, one of the favorites of Eurovision 2016, as well as the youngest participant in the competition, France, took the stage. Over the past few years, Sweden can easily be called the main supplier of hits - just remember Loreen and its Euphoria. Time will tell whether If I Were Sorry will sound from “every iron,” but viewers rated the ballad of the 17-year-old Swede well - 5th place.

Australia joined Eurovision last year, and this year the competition is broadcast in America for the first time. The show has not yet reached Asia. But after the performance of the German performer Jamie-Lee, a fan of the Japanese youth style Decora kei and the popular K-pop music genre in South Korea, little remains to be done. 18-year-old Jamie-Lee arrived at the competition in Sweden with a ton of bright concert costumes and accessories and the song Ghost. Unfortunately, Jamie-Lee didn’t have as many points as she had stage performances - she ended up in last, 26th place.

Over the past few years, France could not boast of success at Eurovision and many accused the local committee of sending deliberately losing options to the competition. In 2016, the country changed its tactics - from the first days of rehearsals, the Israeli-French singer Amir became the bookmakers' favorite. Well, congratulations to those who managed to place bets - the song J "ai cherché brought the artist to a well-deserved 6th place.

Playing behind the leader of the bookmakers is not easy, but not for Michal Szpak from Poland. From the first days of the competitive race, the self-confident young man won the reputation of the most shocking competitor. Dressed like a hussar and with a hairstyle like Jesus, he performed the song Color of Your Life and won 8th place.

Last year, Australia performed at Eurovision for the first time; the country was invited to participate as an exception, in honor of the anniversary of the competition. Then the rules stated that Australia would be able to re-take part in the show only if it won. This, as we know, did not happen. But that’s why rules are meant to be broken, the Eurovision organizing committee decided, allowing a participant from this country to try their hand at the competition again. As a result, it was not a native Australian who flew to Stockholm, but a Korean woman, Dami Im, who performed a loud song about silence, Sound of Silence. At the competition she managed to take an honorable 2nd place.

Fourteenth to take the stage were perhaps the most brutal competitors - the rock band Minus One from Cyprus. In the official video for the competition song, the artists howl at the moon, race across a field with a wolf and drive an old Jaguar. However, they managed to immerse the audience in the right atmosphere even without all these “special effects”, but in the end only 21st place.

The theme of rough and heavy music has not been fully explored - the organizers of Eurovision decided by placing the Serbian punk rocker Sanja Vucic to perform immediately after the rocker Cypriots. By the age of 22, the founder of her own rock band ZAA had traveled all over Eastern Europe with concerts. I also made it to Scandinavia. I got there relatively successfully - 18th place.

From black to white. Immediately after Sanja Vucic, a sweet-voiced representative of the Lithuanian pop industry, Donny Montell, took the stage. In 2012, he already tried his hand at Eurovision and, by the way, then received 5 points from Russia, but took only 14th place. Having arrived with the goal of improving the result, Sanya received a gift from the jury and viewers of Eurovision 2016. This time he is in 9th place. There is progress.

Sending the winners of the show “The Voice,” which has its own variation in many countries, to Eurovision is a proven method. But not to say that it is effective - no one has yet managed to defeat them. This year, an attempt to break the system was made by 24-year-old Nina Kraljic, a rising star in Croatia. As a result, she managed to become only 23rd.

Number 18 in the final was the Russian singer and guest editor of the HELLO.RU website in May Sergey Lazarev. Sergei exclusively told us about preparations for participation in the competition, what role Philip Kirkorov played in his decision to go to Stockholm, and about his favorite artists at Eurovision in past years in his recent author’s column. Is 3rd place good or bad? The philosophical answer is in a new column.

Sergey Lazarev, Russia

Following Sergei Lazarev, the Spaniard Barbara Gonzalez-Aller or, as she is also called, Barei, took the stage. She perfected the moves for her fiery number at discos in Miami, where she spent the last few years of her life. Sending the audience into dancing ecstasy, she took 22nd place.

Most of the competition is behind us, which means that the participants who have already performed are again filled with excitement - the results will soon be announced. Among the last to take the stage, at number 20, was the Latvian Justs Sirmais. There was some extra sentimentality: by the end of the song Heartbeat, Yusts was almost in tears. The audience was moved exactly to 15th place.

Justs Sirmais, Latvia

The performance of the Ukrainian performer Jamala was shrouded in scandals from the very beginning. According to the press, the singer spent the last few days surrounded by security, protecting herself from Russian reporters. At the competition, Jamala presented a song of her own composition, “1944,” about the deportation of the Crimean Tatars. According to the results of the jury's voting, Jamala was second, losing to Australia. But after the audience vote was announced, she became the first.

Jamala, Ukraine

The next self-presentation was organized by the country that bet on an experienced contestant - Malta. 34-year-old Ira Losco already went to the competition 14 years ago and even took second place. She was only twelve points short of victory. She didn’t waste any time, releasing several dozen hits and 3 albums, becoming one of the most financially successful stars in her country. Years later, listeners rated her 153 points, Ira took 12th place.

This year, contrary to usual, several countries are responsible for the direction of rock at Eurovision. Thus, the rock group Nika Kocharov & Young Georgian Lolitaz performed from Georgia at the competition, performing the song Midnight Gold. As a result, the country took 20th place.

As proof that the country is famous not only for “freaks,” Austria sent a simple girl, as they say, from next door, to Eurovision 2016. Zoe is the youngest participant in the first semi-final and one of the youngest finalists, she recently turned 19. At the competition, she decided to sing about her, girlish - about love, dreams and dreams, she did it in French. As a result - 13th place.

The UK was represented at the competition this year by the duo Joe & Jake. In front of an audience of millions, British The Voice graduates Joe Woolford and Jake Shakeshaft performed the song You're Not Alone and took 24th place.

The next contestant, 29-year-old representative of Armenia Iveta Mukuchyan, grew up in Germany, and returned to her homeland, Yerevan, to receive a higher musical education. In addition to the “crust” from the Yerevan Conservatory, Iveta received the title of “the sexiest girl in Armenia” according to Elle Style magazine. At the competition, she performed a song that is not quite typical for Armenian representatives - LoveWave in the electro-pop style. After the first semi-final, the media especially noted the technical equipment of the performance, which included elements of burlesque, pyrotechnics, and holograms that created the effect of “cloning” the singer. In the final, Iveta managed to take 7th place.

Ukraine won!

The competition, which Eurovision fans have been waiting for all year, has come to an end. Ukraine was represented by Jamala, who performed the song "1944", Russia - Sergey Lazarev with the song "You are the only one". As usual, a real musical battle broke out between all the participants, from which the Ukrainian performer emerged victorious. Jamala became the winner of Eurovision 2016!

Eurovision 2016 results:

Who gave Ukraine 12 points?

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Denmark, Israel, Latvia, Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia.

12 points from TV viewers: Hungary, Italy, Poland, San Marino, Finland, Czech Republic.

Who gave Russia 12 points?

12 points from the national jury: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Greece, Cyprus.

12 points from TV viewers: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Germany, Latvia, Moldova, Serbia, Ukraine, Estonia.

This year the competition has undergone changes, the main one being the voting system. The jury members were the first to announce their results. The Ukrainian received 12 points from the following countries: San Marino, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Moldova, Latvia, Israel, Serbia, Macedonia, Poland, Slovenia.

Next, the ratings that were formed as a result of audience voting were announced. As usual, the country from which the artist came could not vote for their contestant. Using the new method, these scores were announced not by representatives from different parts of the world, but by the presenters themselves. A total of 4,988 votes were cast. According to this indicator, Sergey Lazarev scored the most points, but in total he could not overtake the Australian, who took second place, and the Ukrainian.

Video of the announcement of the results of the audience voting, as well as the overall results:

Well, as a result - the emotions of the winner! Jamala is the best at Eurovision 2016:

All participants in the Eurovision 2016 final have been identified, and final preparations for the main show are taking place in Stockholm. Europe will find out which country will win and host the competition next year this evening.

Let us remind you that representatives of 26 states are participating in the final: these are the five founding countries of the European Broadcasting Union - Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Sweden as the host and 10 countries each selected in two semi-finals.

In, which took place on May 10, the top ten included participants from Austria, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Malta, Russia, Croatia and the Czech Republic.

On May 12, performers from Latvia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Australia, Ukraine, Serbia, Poland, Israel, Lithuania and Belgium qualified. Belarusian participant Ivan qualification.

The show will be broadcast on the Belarus 1 TV channel. Starts at 22:00.

1. Belgium. Laura Tesoro - What's The Pressure

19 year old Laura has Italian roots, her parents devoted many years to musicals, so it is not surprising that a girl who grew up in such an environment also became interested in music.

Laura sings, dances, plays on stage, and tries herself on television. She has experience participating in musicals and television series.

Laura prefers funk - this is the style of the group Level 6, in which the young Belgian sings.

The final stage of work on the competition composition What's The Pressure took place in London with the participation of Peter Gordeno, keyboardist of the Depeche Mode group.

2. Czech Republic. Gabriela Gunchikova - I Stand

22 year old Gabriela Gunchikova was born and raised in the Czech Republic, but has extensive experience performing abroad.

In 2011, she took second place in the Czech-Slovak show SuperStar, received the Czech Breakthrough of the Year award and released her debut album, which almost immediately entered the top 10 of the national chart.

In 2013, Gabriela contacted one of the most famous vocal coaches in the world, Ken Tamplin, who agreed to work with her after seeing her performances on YouTube. Soon Gunchikova moved to California and after some time became one of the best students at the Tamplin Vocal Academy.

In 2014, she was offered cooperation by Paul O'Neill from the metal band Trans-Siberian Orchestra, with which the singer participated in two tours in the United States.

Now Gabriela has decided to pursue a solo career.

3. Netherlands. Doue Bob - Slow Down

23 year old Douet Bob Postuma born and raised in a family of Amsterdam artists. At the age of 6 he began playing the piano - he was fond of jazz and classical music, and at the age of 14 he first picked up a guitar. As a singer, he is inspired by country, folk and pop music from the 1950s-70s.

In 2012, Doue Bob was named the best singer-songwriter in the Netherlands.

Slow Down is a protest song against the demands of modern life. According to the singer, you need to relax and pay attention to what is really important.

4. Azerbaijan. Semra - Miracle

Semra Rahimli got to Eurovision the second time. She first tried to break into the competition in 2012, when she was only 16 years old. Having impressed the audience as the youngest contestant, she entered the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts.

Semra also participated in the Turkish and Azerbaijani versions of the show “The Voice”.

A team of Swedish authors wrote her Eurovision entry. According to the singer herself, this composition is the anthem of a strong and brave girl, which will inspire those who have lost their love, help them make the right decision and move forward.

5. Hungary. Freddy - Pioneer

26 year old Gabor Alfred Fehervary(Freddie) was a professional basketball player until he suffered a serious injury. He was interested in music since childhood, wrote poetry in Hungarian and English and returned to creativity after retiring from sports.

As a singer, Freddie became famous in his country in 2014 when he took part in the Rising Star competition. After the show, his song Mary Joe became very popular and was named the hit of the year.

When Eurovision ends, Freddie plans to start working on a solo album.

6. Italy. Francesca Michielin - No Degree Of Separation

Four years ago Francesca won the Italian version of the talent show X Factor, becoming the youngest winner in the show's history. At the competition, she performed many covers of famous compositions, as well as her debut single Distratto, written for her by singer Eliza. After winning the show, this song instantly became a hit - 60 thousand copies of the single were sold in Italy.

In the same 2012, the singer released her debut album, after which she began working with the Italian rapper and producer Fedets. The duo released a very successful joint single, Cigno Nero. Their track Magnifico, recorded in 2014, was even more successful.

In 2014, Francesca wrote the song “Amazing” for the soundtrack to the film “The Amazing Spider-Man. High voltage".

This year, the 21-year-old singer took second place at the Sanremo music festival.

7. Israel. Howie Star - Made of Stars

29 year old Hovav Sekulets(Howie Star) was born near Haifa, but his family moved frequently as his stepfather was a professional basketball player and played for different teams.

From the age of six, Hovav took part in various castings. He even dropped out of school for the sake of music, but then finally graduated. While serving in the army, he performed with the Israeli Armed Forces, after which he was the lead singer of the group Mozaica, performed a solo program, and hosted the music show Star life.

In 2010 he released his first album and moved to the USA, but two years later he returned to Israel and began working on recording new singles. Howie also writes songs for other performers and has voiced cartoons for Pixar and Disney.

His entry was re-written four times until Howie and his team found the perfect one.

8. Bulgaria. Paulie Genova - If Love Was A Crime

The 29-year-old Bulgarian singer and actress began singing at the age of 4, and at the age of 8 she was already performing with the children's vocal group "Bon-Bon".

The girl graduated from a music school with a degree in clarinet, studied at the theater academy, and participated in many Bulgarian television projects. She is currently involved in three musicals.

From 2004 to 2007 he performed with the Meldi group, but then left it and began a solo career. Together with the group, she participated in the selection for Eurovision in 2005-2006, but without success. In 2011, Poly already won the national selection solo, but in her Eurovision semi-final she took only 12th place and did not reach the final.

9. Sweden. France - If I Were Sorry

Frans Osifuch Jeppsson Wahl- one of the youngest performers at the competition. He is only 17 years old and still goes to school.

The young man became famous at the age of 7 when he dedicated a song to football player Zlatan Ibrahimovic during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

After 10 years, France returned to the stage and took part in the selection for Eurovision. His competition song If I Were Sorry is very popular in Sweden and tops the charts.

10. Germany. Jamie-Leigh - Ghost

The 18-year-old is also still in school. But last year she already won the German “Voice” competition, and then qualified for Eurovision.

Jamie-Lee is a vegetarian and a fan of Asian culture. She loves the Japanese style of Decora kei, which is reflected in her costumes. She also loves popular South Korean K-pop music and dreams of traveling to Korea.

In Stockholm she will sing as a Japanese comic book heroine.

11. France. Amir - J"ai cherche

31-year-old Israeli-French singer and one of the Eurovision 2016.

Haddad was born in France, but at the age of 8 he moved to Israel with his parents. Since childhood, he sang in the synagogue and at public events.

Amir worked as a dental surgeon, but then decided to take up music professionally. In 2014, he took part in the French version of the show “The Voice”, where he took third place. In 2015, he released a hit single for Oasis under the pseudonym Amir.

The competition composition J"ai cherché was written by Amir himself in collaboration with Nazim Khaled and Yohan Errami. The song is performed in French and English.

12. Poland. Michal Szpak - Color of Your Life

The 25-year-old Polish musician was born into a creative family and has been studying music since childhood. At the age of 9, he won his first award in a young talent competition.

Michal became famous in 2011: he took second place in the X-factor show, performed at the Orange Warsaw Festival, took part in the show “Dancing with the Stars”, where he took fifth place, and also released a mini-album, which included five songs.

In 2013, with the song “Black Eyes” he won the Russian song festival “Golden Samovar”, which is held in the Polish city of Zielona Gora; in 2015 he received the main prize in the SuperPremieres competition.

Špak's first full-length album, Byle Być Sobą, was released in 2015.

Even at the stage of preparation for the competition, a scandal broke out around the composition Color of Your Life. The authors were suspected of plagiarism. Like, the melody is similar to the composition “Come on for...” by the Russian group “Lube”. The Sony music label, which owns the rights to Michal Szpak's compositions, organized an examination that found no signs of plagiarism.

13. Australia. Demi Im - Sound Of Silence

Australia is participating in Eurovision for the second time. This year, a completely non-European country will be represented for the first time by a girl - 27-year-old Demi Im.

Demi was born in South Korea, her parents moved to Australia when she was 9 years old. She learned English from the songs of the Spice Girls and Mariah Carey. Demi plays the piano very well and was called a child prodigy as a child. In 2012, the girl won the Australian show X-factor.

14. Cyprus. Minus One - Alter Ego

Group Minus One plays everything from classic rock and pop music to modern hits. They started out as a cover band, but as a side project they released their own songs - under a different name.

The group consists of five people: Francois Micheletto, Harris Paris, Konstantinos Americanos, Antonis Loizides and Chris Gee.

15. Serbia. Sanja Vucic - Goodbye

A 22-year-old Serbian singer, she graduated from a music school in opera vocals, after which she performed with various groups and sang in a church choir. Her parents are also musicians and taught her to sing folk songs from childhood.

Since 2012, Sanya has been performing with the punk rock band ZAA, which brought her first fame.

The girl studied Arabic language and culture in Belgrade and speaks five languages ​​- Serbian, English, Italian, Spanish and Arabic.

At Eurovision, the girl will perform the song Goodbye, dedicated to the topic of combating violence against women.

16. Lithuania. Donnie Montell - I've Been Waiting For This Night

28-year-old Donatas Montvydas has already participated in Eurovision - in 2012 he took 14th place in the final. Then Donny promised himself to return to the competition again.

Participated in many television projects in Lithuania. In 2008, he won the international competition of pop song performers “Vitebsk” at the “Slavic Bazaar” festival, and in 2011 he participated in the “New Wave” in Jurmala.

17. Croatia. Nina Kraljic - Lighthouse

The 24-year-old has been interested in music since childhood. She first appeared on Croatian television in 2009 in the Supertalent competition, where she took 10th place in the final. Last year she took part in the first season of the Croatian show “The Voice” and won it.

The girl watched Eurovision since childhood and dreamed of taking part in this competition.

Nina will perform the song Lighthouse in English, although before the presentation of the composition the Croatian version was also discussed, in which it would be easier for the singer to convey sensuality.

18. Russia. Sergey Lazarev - You Are The Only One

The 33-year-old is a Russian singer, former member of the group Smash. He is also known as a TV presenter and actor, and has received various music and theater awards.

As a child, he sang in ensembles named after Vladimir Loktev and Fidgets. Together with the latter he participated in famous television programs and festivals. In addition, he played in the Boris Pokrovsky Theater and starred in the television humor magazine “Yeralash”.

Sergei Lazarev's first solo album was released in 2005.

Rarely mistaken, bookmakers call Lazarev the main contender for victory in the competition.

19. Spain. Barei - Say Yay!

34 year old Barbara Reyzabal Gonzalez-Aller(Barey) - singer and songwriter. Since childhood, she has been interested in music, studied at a music school, plays guitar and piano. Her professional musical experience spans over 15 years.

At the age of 18, Bareil took part in a music festival in Benidorm, after which she moved to Miami and recorded her first studio album there, Billete para no volver. After returning to Spain in 2012, the girl decided to write songs only in English, since they are most comfortable for her to perform.

To develop her career, Barbara chose the single-by-single method and released a new song every three months. Her second album Throw the Dice was released in 2015.

The girl co-wrote the song for Eurovision with Ruben Villanueva and Victor Pua.

20. Latvia. Yusts - Heartbeat

Justs Sirmais(Justs) is a 21-year-old Latvian singer, for whom participation in Eurovision was the beginning of a professional solo career.

Yusts started out as a street musician in Riga. I hitchhiked from Riga to Paris and back with a guitar. Collaborated with various groups.

Justs is currently studying at the Riga Academy of Teacher Training and Educational Management to become a vocal coach for jazz and pop musicians, and in the future he would like to open an alternative music school.

The singer's competition song Heartbeat was written by Aminata Savadogo, who represented Latvia at Eurovision 2015.

21. Ukraine. Jamal - 1944

32-year-old Ukrainian singer of Crimean Tatar origin Susanna Jamaladinova(Jamala) will perform the song “1944” at Eurovision, which tells about the deportation of her family from Crimea. The singer will perform this composition in English and Crimean Tatar languages.
The girl grew up in Crimea, near Alushta, where her family returned after deportation. Since childhood, she has been interested in music and at the age of 9 she professionally recorded a collection of children's and folk Crimean Tatar songs.

Jamala graduated from a music school in piano in Alushta, a music school in Simferopol and the National Academy of Music in Kyiv in opera vocals. Having received a honors diploma from the academy, the girl had the opportunity to get into the Milanese opera La Scala, but became interested in jazz, soul and oriental music.

Jamala has won many festivals and competitions, and her victory in the “New Wave” competition in Jurmala in 2009 brought her fame. In 2011, she participated in the selection for Eurovision, but only took third place.

In 2013, she played the main female role in the historical drama “The Guide” - the highest-grossing film in Ukraine in 2014.

22. Malta. Ira Losco - Walk on Water

The 34-year-old performed in the group Tiara in the late 1990s, and then started a solo project. She opened Elton John's concerts twice and performed with such artists as Katie Melua, Maroon 5, Akon, Enrique Iglesias and others.

The girl has stormed Eurovision more than once. In 2000, she participated in the selection with two songs, in 2001 - with four, but all attempts were unsuccessful.

The girl managed to win the selection in 2002. Moreover, Ira reached the Eurovision final and took second place, 12 points behind the winner. The singer achieved the best result for Malta in the entire history of the country's participation in the competition (in 2005, her achievement was repeated by Chiara Siracusa, who also took second place).

During the selection for Eurovision 2016, Ira also did not limit herself to one song; in the semi-finals of the qualifying round, she performed two compositions - Chameleon and That’s Why I Love You, but only the first was able to qualify for the final. With the song Chameleon, the singer won the final of the national selection, but then the competition composition was replaced.

23. Georgia. Nika Kocharov and Young Georgian Lolitaz - Midnight Gold

Despite the name, Young Georgian Lolitaz- This is a purely male team. It was founded in Tbilisi back in 2000. Now the group consists of Nika Kocharov (vocals, guitar), Giorgi Marr (bass guitar), Levan Shanshiashvili (guitar) and Dima Oganesyan (drums).

In 2007, the band, playing indie and alternative rock, performed at the Be2gether festival, which takes place annually in Lithuania, practically on the border with Belarus.

The team transformed several times, the composition and musical directions changed, and the musicians moved on to other projects. But one day the leader of the group Nika Kocharov realized that the new compositions he wrote could not be performed by anyone except Young Georgian Lolitaz. One of these compositions - Midnight Gold - became the winner of the national selection for Eurovision.

24. Austria. Zoe - Loin d'ici

Zoe made it to Eurovision on her second attempt. The first time she auditioned for the competition was last year with the song Quel filou, which she wrote with her father. Then she took third place in the selection.

In October 2015, Zoe presented her debut album Debut, recorded entirely in French. She will also sing in French at Eurovision in Stockholm.

25. Great Britain. Joe & Jake - You're Not Alone

Joe Wolford And Jake Shakeshaft They met on the British show “The Voice” and have been performing as a duet since 2015.

Joe is 21 years old and originally from Wales. From 9 to 13 years old, the young man sang in a church choir, then became interested in rap and experimenting with music. In 2013 he reached the finals of the British Open Mic competition.

Jake is 20 years old, he grew up in Staffordshire (England), always dreamed of performing on stage and at the age of 14 he taught himself to play the guitar. Since 2013, the guy has performed solo concerts.

26. Armenia. Iveta Mukuchyan - LoveWave

After 20 years, she returned to Armenia and studied at the Yerevan State Conservatory. Participation in the Armenian version of the show Idol in 2010 brought her great popularity, and in 2012 she also participated in the German version of the show “The Voice”.

Who won Eurovision 2016 in the final and what place Lazarev took at Eurovision became known on the night of May 14-15, during the online broadcast of Eurovision 2016 from Sweden.

The final of Eurovision 2016 in Stockholm (Sweden) took place on May 14. Representatives from 26 countries competed in the finals. Sergey Lazarev performed at number 18 with the song You Are The Only One. He became one of the main contenders for victory, but ultimately took third place.

Eurovision 2016, voting results

Eurovision 2016, final results (see table)

Winner of Eurovision 2016

Singer Jamala, representing Ukraine, took 1 place at the 61st Eurovision Song Contest 2016, held in the capital of Sweden - Stockholm. She scored the maximum amount of points based on the professional jury voting and audience voting: Jamala performed the song “1944” and ultimately received 534 votes.

Meanwhile, according to the results audience vote first place occupied by the representative of Russia Sergey Lazarev, and the Ukrainian took second place.

first place went to Jamal,

second – representative of Australia,

third - Sergei Lazarev.

Second place occupied by singer Australian singer Dami Im, who performed the song Sound Of Silence, receiving 511 votes.

https://youtu.be/2EG_Jtw4OyU

Third place took Sergey Lazarev at Eurovision 2016 - representative of Russia, with the song You Are the Only One (“You are the only one”), with a total score of 491 votes.

https://youtu.be/GXT7ZL8rctk

Jamala sang the song “1944” about the Crimean Tatars. The singer called the composition “a very personal song.” She noted that she should be heard by as many people as possible not only in Ukraine, but also outside the country. Jamala composed this song herself. Real name: Susanna Alimovna Jamaladinova. Jamala became famous for her performance at the International Competition of Young Performers “New Wave 2009” in Jurmala, where she received the Grand Prix.

Jamala - winner of Eurovision 2016 in the final with the song “1944”

When the invaders come...
They're breaking into your house
They kill everyone
And they say:
"We are not to blame
not guilty."
Where is your mind?
Humanity is crying.

You think you are gods.
But everyone dies.
Don't consume my soul.
Our souls


I couldn't enjoy my youth

We could build a future
Where people are free
To live and love.
Happy time.
Where is your heart?
Humanity, rise up!

Do you think you are gods
But everyone dies.
Don't consume my soul.
Our souls
I couldn't enjoy my youth
I couldn't live on this earth
I couldn't enjoy my youth
I couldn't live on this earth.

The best songs of Eurovision 2016 Top 10 performances from a music competition

10. Belgium

LIVE – Laura Tesoro – What’s The Pressure (Belgium) at the Grand Final / Eurovision Song Contest

9. Lithuania

LIVE Donny Montell – I’ve Been Waiting For This Night (Lithuania) at the Grand Final / Eurovision Song Contest

8. Poland

LIVE – Michał Szpak – Color Of Your Life (Poland) at the Grand Final / Eurovision Song Contest

7. Armenia

LIVE – Iveta Mukuchyan – LoveWave (Armenia) at the Grand Final – Eurovision Song Contest / Eurovision Song Contest

6. France

LIVE – Amir – J’ai Cherché (France) at the Grand Final of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest / Eurovision Song Contest

5. Sweden

LIVE — Frans — If I Were Sorry (Sweden) at the Grand Final 2016 Eurovision Song Contest / Eurovision Song Contest

4. Bulgaria

LIVE – Poli Genova – If Love Was A Crime (Bulgaria) at the Grand Final / Eurovision Song Contest

3. Russia

LIVE — Sergey Lazarev — You Are The Only One (Russia) at the Grand Final / Eurovision Song Contest

2. Australia

LIVE – Dami Im – Sound Of Silence (Australia) at the Grand Final / Eurovision Song Contest

1. Ukraine

LIVE — Jamala — 1944 (Ukraine) at the Grand Final of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest / Eurovision Song Contest

"Eurovision"

Eurovision has been held annually since 1956. Russia first took part in the competition in 1994 and won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008, when singer Dima Bilan won first place. According to the rules, Eurovision 2017 will be held in Ukraine, the homeland of the winner of Eurovision in 2016.

The competition is open to countries that are members of the European Broadcasting Union or the Council of Europe. Also participating in the competition are states located in Asia: Israel and Cyprus (they send participants to the competition almost every year from the beginning of participation), as well as partially located in Europe and Asia: Armenia, Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Non-European and not a member of the EMU or CoE, Australia has been participating since 2015.

Yesterday, May 14, the Eurovision 2016 song contest ended in Stockholm. The whole of Europe voted with bated breath for their favorite participants from various countries. The winner was the Ukrainian performer Jamala, who performed number 21 with the song “1944”. This composition tells the story of her family’s deportation from Crimea in the middle of the last century. The Ukrainian star, who had difficulty holding back tears on stage, received a standing ovation from the audience.

Russian singer Sergey Lazarev with the song “You Are the Only One” (“You are the only one”) became 3rd. Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Belarus and Greece gave him the highest score. In addition, he became the best according to the results of the audience vote. The audience gave the Ukrainian a place behind him.

The Eurovision 2016 final was held in Stockholm, Sweden, at the Globen concert and sports arena with a capacity of more than 10 thousand spectators. 26 participants reached the finals.

Before the start of the final of the competition, a scandal occurred, during which the Ukrainian side threatened to refuse to participate in Eurovision in 2017 if Russia won this year.

Broadcast

From the beginning From the end

Don't update Update

All. Russia is third. Jamala from Ukraine won, Australia came in second place

Ukraine is in second place among the spectators, Russia is in first place, but it all depends on the points given by the judges.

But viewers included Poland, Russia and Ukraine in the top three. The number of points is unknown. And the Bulgarians ended up somewhere at the top.

We support you in biathlon, and you give us 12 points in Eurovision. In general, all this should have been brought out live, and not hidden in the depths of statistics after summing up the results.

Things are changing really quickly. But at some point, the top 5 bookmakers emerged, albeit in a different order - Australia was the leader. Let us remind you that these are professional juries of countries, then we are waiting for ratings from the audience. In general, this format is not as exciting as the old one, when a combined score from each country was announced.

Innovations in the voting procedure and announcement of results. The votes of the jury and the audience are taken into account separately, then everything is summed up and taken into account again. The Russian jury includes Gennady Gladkov, Denis Maidanov, Lipa, Oscar Kuchera and Stanislav Duzhnikov. Russia is still in second place, but everything is changing very quickly.

But not so fast. First you will have to listen to all the best songs of Måns Selmerlöw.

Sweden confesses its love for Eurovision. Not for the first time this week.

Admittedly, Justin Timberlake predictably destroyed the entire Eurovision production in all respects. Well, his new song “Can’t Stop The Feeling” will soon be as hard to escape as “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, Justin’s co-author. And that’s good.

Justin Timberlake quickly prepared. And he shows the Eurovision audience completely different music. I wonder if he was also banned from using instruments on stage?

During the repetition of the numbers, it became clear that the Polish number in some places was also similar to “Green-Eyed Taxi”.

Now the presenters will slowly introduce viewers to the idea of ​​voting for their favorite artists - with the help of a certain amount of jokes. For Russia - translated by Guberniev and Matskevičius. No, everything was fast. Vote. And watch excerpts from the performances of the contestants. They will be shown several times.

And the last number in the program of the current Eurovision. Iveta Mukuchyan from Armenia managed to get into the center of a scandal at the competition: during the first semi-final, when the audience was voting, she showed the flag of Nagorno-Karabakh in the green room (one of the symbols banned by the Eurovision organizing committee). Naturally, they were outraged in Azerbaijan (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of this country will even write a note of protest to the EBU), the Armenian delegation was put on notice and warned that another such prank would lead to disqualification, but the case itself would be sorted out in June, when this year’s competition will become history. Meanwhile, Iveta with the song “Love Wave” is one of the favorites of the competition and claims a high place in the final table.

The British were once very friendly with Eurovision. They have five wins, 15 second places and three thirds. But the last time a victory happened was in 1997, and in the recent history of the competition the representatives of Great Britain have not shown any miracles - it’s not a miracle to call the Jemini group’s last place in 2003 a miracle, when they did not score a single point at all, which happens very often at the competition and very rarely. Even the landings of the honored masters of the pop scene Engelbert Humperdinck (in 2012) and Bonnie Tyler (in 2013) did not help. This time, the honor of standing up for Britain fell to the pop duo Joe & Jake, in which two graduates of the British “Voice” sing. Their composition is called “You"re Not Alone,” and no, it’s not a Michael Jackson song, it’s not even close.

Austria made a splash at Eurovision two years ago by sending Conchita Wurst to the competition, who won due to the lack of clear rivals of comparable caliber. The following year, the Austrians did not claim victory, especially since they reached the final immediately, without preliminary selections. And this year Austria decided to surprise the audience again. The pretty singer Zoe has already released her first album - consisting entirely of songs in French, and came to Eurovision 2016 with a composition from this record called "Loin d"ici". It was possible to surprise - the Austrian, cheerfully singing in French, captivated spectators, and Zoe easily made it to the finals. Here she, however, is not among the favorites, but she will clearly leave a memory of herself.

The Georgian group Nika Kocharov & Young Georgian Lolitaz are also one of those responsible for shocking this year. There is one name from “lolitas”, they usually play rock, but at Eurovision for some reason they decided to insert a disco part into their song “Midnight Gold”, which probably did not add points to them. But a clever trick with mirrors, as well as a provocative name, allowed the Georgian rockers to reach the final - although it was hardly as easy as for the Maltese.

Maltese Ira Losco is also one of the favorites, although she is only in the top ten contenders for victory. She has already performed at Eurovision before - in 2002, she was second, but now her performance of the song “Walk on Water” did not cause much excitement. However, she made it to the finals, it seems, without any particular difficulties.

A lot of things were also said to Jamal about Ukraine and its representative at Eurovision 2016 - both good and bad. Her song “1944” is dedicated to the deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944, although only the title directly indicates those events. Someone accused her of trying to politicize the competition, but EBU experts did not find any violations of the rules. After rehearsals last week, Jamala rose to second place in the bookmakers' rankings, but after the second semi-final she dropped to third, losing a head-to-head duel to the Australian. How the competition will end, of course, no one will say now, but the general director of the Ukrainian First Channel has already stated that if Lazarev wins, Ukraine will boycott next year’s competition.

To be honest, we don’t remember if someone joked during the second semi-final about the “Eustace to Alex” encryption, but that doesn’t matter. The Latvian singer Yusts was extremely serious on stage, his image was thought out to the smallest detail in its carelessness, and the song “Heartbeat” was too typical for Eurovision - which, on the one hand, is good (Yusts still made it to the final), but on the other hand the other is bad (because it is very difficult to win the final with such a poor composition).

Spain sent a singer to the competition under the pseudonym Barei (her real name is Barbara Reyzabal Gonzalez-Aller) and with the song “Say Yay!” The choice is completely justified - if you don’t get carried away with the national flavor (that is, don’t sing in your own language), then it’s best to send to Eurovision a musician who at least isn’t irritated by English. Barei has released two solo albums, both recorded in English, so from this side everything is in order.

Sergey Lazarev with the song “You Are the Only One”. Over the past weeks, so much has been said about him that it is perhaps even impossible to come up with anything new. He is the clear favorite of the competition, which he refused to attend for a long time, and he has been ranked first in the preferences of all possible experts (except Yuri Loza) for several months now. He has the most complex and most colorful number at this year's show, quite fitting for a song that, by his own admission, has a specific addressee. His leadership at the end of the first semi-final was undeniable, but Sergei and his producer Philip Kirkorov promised to improve it even more - but where else? In general, there is every reason for optimism - Russia can win again, eight years after Dima Bilan’s triumph, and Channel One will have to think about organizing next year’s competition. But the musician himself and his producer take the predictions calmly (although they admit that they are pleased with this opinion), and when asked about who will win Eurovision 2016, they advise waiting for the results of the final voting. That’s what we’ll do.

Croatian Nina Kraljic also didn’t shine much in the semi-finals. Her song “Lighthouse” was practically not remembered, and only echoes of the timbre of the lead singer of The Cranberries and a transforming suit remained in my memory. With this baggage, Nina reached the finals.

Lithuanian singer Donny Motell is one of the Eurovision veterans. He already performed at the 2012 competition, reaching the finals, where, however, he did not win. His first trip for first place at Eurovision came across an unbreakable combination of the Swede Loin and our “Buranovsky grandmothers” (although his place was, of course, much lower than third), and here the road to the podium was again blocked for him by our Sergei Lazarev, Ukrainian Jamala, Australian Demi Im and many other musicians. What is bad luck and how to deal with it. His song is called “I"ve Been Waiting for This Night,” and Donnie himself looks a little like Justin Bieber in his Lithuanian reincarnation. But not like the Swede. Just similar.

The Serbian participant was probably also brought to the final by the audience’s desire for diversity. Sanya Vulich usually sings punk rock in the group ZAA, which is not the Sex Pistols, of course, but still looks good, and came to Eurovision in the guise of a pop singer. True, she didn’t want to completely get rid of her usual image and went on stage in Stockholm in a leather dress, and while performing the song “Goodbye” she very actively gesticulated. And, most likely, the discrepancy between the image and music played a role in the preferences of the audience. In the finale, however, this will no longer work, but the prank, one might say, was a success.

This year's competition turned out to be too stingy with any performances that could be classified as freak. There are, one might say, no hits, the singers are too similar to seriously choose between them, and the audience demands a show. As a result, the rockers had to take the rap for the show. The first were the Cypriots from the group Minus One with the song “Alter Ego”, who sang covers on dance floors for a long time, and now began to develop their own repertoire. They look alien at Eurovision, but for a change that's not bad.

By the way, you shouldn’t count on the fact that if Demi Im wins, Eurovision 2017 will be held in Australia. Last year, the European Broadcasting Union clarified that the competition would still remain in Europe, but did not outline the procedure for choosing a venue. But let’s hope that officials have everything ready to resolve this hypothetical (or not so hypothetical?) situation.

Australia benefited from the second semi-final. The performance of Korean Demi Im, representing this country farthest from Europe, turned out to be bright enough for her to move from fifth to second place in the list of favorites, displacing Jamala from Ukraine, France from Sweden and Amir from France. However, she has not yet managed to catch up with Sergei Lazarev, but the final provides a chance to try again. The singer performs a song called “Sound of Silence”.

Russian commentators continue to joke that the chorus of the composition is similar to a similar part of the Lyube group’s song “Come on for.” There really are similarities and once again proves how much Russia sets trends at the European Song Contest.

So much so that even the graceful Polish barbel feels like a fish in water in Igor Matvienko’s melodic solutions.

The Russian presenters of the competition, Guberniev and Matskevichyus, joked throughout the second semi-final about the Polish singer and his namesake from Gaidaev’s comedy “Ivan Vasilyevich is changing his profession.” It is unlikely that they intended to offend him, it’s just that everyone who is familiar with this film from the golden fund of Soviet cinema associates Shpak exclusively with a robbed apartment, from which a bunch of very valuable things disappeared. But it is clear that 26-year-old Michal Szpak has nothing to do with that movie character. Viewers of the show compared him with Conchita Wurst, with other celebrities - solely for their external resemblance, but it seems that few people noticed his song “Color of Your Life”. Now there is a chance to correct this and listen to the ballad more carefully, no longer paying attention to what the performer looks like.

France is represented by 31-year-old Amir Haddad with the song “J"ai cherché.” This is the second song in French in this competition (Austrian Zoe also used this language for her composition) and the second Israeli citizen - in addition to Howie Star representing this country. Amir was born in France, repatriated with his parents at the age of eight, but, apparently, he has not forgotten the country he was born in. Let us remind you that he is among the top 5 favorites of the competition according to bookmakers.

Jamie-Lee performs on a stage decorated with trees, and her head is crowned with some kind of gingerbread horns. The song sounds a little boring, but combined with the number, it really does sound like an anime video that ends many manga films. It’s even interesting how European viewers will evaluate the artist.

Apparently, the Big Five countries and Sweden, which joined them, decided to test their youth at this Eurovision, and youth that deserves the attention of the audience. If the German singer Jamie-Lee, a fan of Korean pop and the owner of a specific stage image and a rather strong voice, had performed in any of the semi-finals, she would have confidently qualified for the final without even thinking about it. True, bookmakers have little faith in her abilities, and therefore predict Jamie-Lee one of the last places for her performance of the song “Ghost”.

And the song he performed at the competition (“If I Were Sorry”) is very bright - it is more reminiscent of the work of Justin Bieber than the composition of the Lithuanian Donnie Motell, who is also clearly working in the territory of the Canadian prodigy. But the Lithuanian will speak later.

A very young Swede, France, is 17 years old. This year he is deciding to perform in such a way that Sweden will not be ashamed of him. The country that has won the competition six times and gave the world ABBA, of course, does not want to disgrace itself, and France has every chance to justify the trust of his fellow citizens. Firstly, he did not have to go through the crucible of the semi-finals - thanks to last year's victory by Måns Selmerlöw and as the host of the current competition, Sweden goes straight to the final. And secondly, because France, despite his young age, can already be called a professional. At the age of eight, he recorded the football anthem “Who's da Man” with the group Elias as a soloist. Since then, he has released several singles, and to become a Eurovision participant, he won the traditional Swedish festival Melodifestivalen.

Bulgarian Poli Genova has a standard dance song “If Love Was a Crime” and a funny costume with lights, a little national flavor in her performance - and this was enough to reach the finals. In the final, everything is not so simple, according to the rules of the competition there is only one winner, and Polya’s chances are not so high according to all possible ratings and polls, and it is unlikely that she will be able to overcome the prevailing opinion.

With the Israeli Howie Star (Star is also a pseudonym) everything is more or less clear. He made it to the final on the basis of shocking behavior: Howie is openly gay, has bright makeup and, in general, is not the worst song in relation to the current Eurovision. All in all, Wurst doesn’t look like Conchita, but she looks at least unusual – again, in the context of the current, slightly refined competition.

The song is not outstanding, but the scene is designed coolly. Francesca stands on an island in the middle of magical trees and flowers, with water all around and clouds floating. In general, a fairy tale. Well, after San Remo, perhaps.

Italy goes directly to the final as one of the Big Five countries, and this privilege allows for greater freedom in choosing its representative. 21-year-old Francesca Michielin won the local version of the X Factor show, was second at the Sanremo festival, and came to Stockholm with the song “No Degree of Separation,” which, despite the name, is mainly in Italian. Eurovision, of course, is not San Remo, but there are fans of lyrical and sad Italian songs among the audience of the competition, so Francesca’s number will certainly find its fans.

Hungarian Freddy, of course, is not Freddy at all, he has a normal Hungarian first and last name, and he took this pseudonym literally on the eve of the national selection for Eurovision, and it brought good luck to the singer. Well, in any case, he came to Stockholm and even made it to the finals. Here everything depends not only on luck, but also on the opponents and on the number itself. And the artistic whistle with which the backing vocalists accompany Freddie’s song “Pioneer” may help the singer take a higher place. But not the first, in this case pioneer does not mean “first”.

The Azerbaijani singer’s performance features many flames, geometric fire patterns on the floor, back-up dancers in white and a snake costume on Samra herself. This is an almost typical set for Eurovision, appearing here no less often than boys in jackets and with guitars.

Like the representatives of the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, the singer Samra from Azerbaijan is not very memorable. She performed in the first semi-final, sang a regular song called “Miracle” - “Miracle” and somehow ended up in the final, beating more unlucky competitors. Even before the start of the competition, the bookmakers did not consider her a favorite, and even now they predict her one of the last places - and we will find out which one exactly after the voting results are summed up.

The Dutch singer Dawe Bob is such a sweet-voiced young man with a burning gaze and in a decent suit, which is always present at every Eurovision, despite the fact that this type wins very rarely (or even never). His entry into the finals is not at all surprising: he is also cute, which almost certainly gave him a lot of votes from viewers of the “housewives competition.” Well, his song is like a song. It's called "Slow Down", and that's all you need to know about it.

The next finalist is Gabriela Guncikova from the Czech Republic with the song “I Stand”. Unlike the presentation clip, where the singer even allowed herself to lie on the grass, in the first semi-final (she performed right behind Sergei Lazarev) she simply stood - in accordance with the name of her composition. She stood solemnly, as if on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater or in some other pathetic place, and this favorably set off the performance of the Russian singer. She was remembered, perhaps, only for this, but something similar can be said about the vast majority of this year’s contestants, and even about the finalists. So this is hardly a bad thing - after all, at least something in her room was unique.

In the final, the fact that she had to go on stage first should be written down as a drawback of the draw - for the same reasons. The performance of such an artist must be at least outstanding in order to be remembered, and this happened at Eurovision. But this, of course, is not the case at all - the number looks like a performance by backing vocalists, one of whom, due to a misunderstanding, put on a different costume. Although Laura screams great.

Belgian Laura Tesoro had the least time to prepare for the final. She performed her song “What's the Pressure?” last in the second semi-final on Thursday, and today a ruthless draw put her first. However, it is possible that it was her 18th position in the semi-final that became the ticket to the final - it is well known that spectators best remember those performances that they saw at the end , and are more likely to be voted for than those who came first, and the 19-year-old blonde's energetic disco number was funny, but not at all outstanding.

Everyone passed, and now Petra and Mons greet the audience - not only in the hall, but also with those who are watching all this on the broadcast. There is also China there, which automatically increases the Eurovision audience by several hundred million. China, unlike the United States, is not watching this for the first time, so you can rest assured about the rating.

This is the beginning, live broadcast from Stockholm. The Ericsson Globe will be hosted by last year's winner Måns Selmerlöw and Swedish comedian Petra Mede. They entertained the audience as best they could in the semi-finals. It all begins with a parade of participants, who are accompanied by models in paper.

The Eurovision 2016 final will begin in an hour. In our country, this year it is shown by the Rossiya channel, on which the live broadcast will begin at 21.30 - with inclusions from the studio and from Stockholm. The Russian broadcast will be commentated by Ernest Matskevichyus and Dmitry Guberniev.

All this, of course, does not contribute to the festive atmosphere, but the organizers are trying their best. For example, in the final we can expect a performance from Justin Timberlake - not as a participant, of course, but as a guest from the USA, where Eurovision is broadcast for the first time this year. It is broadcast, however, not on national networks, but on the LogoTV portal, which is designed for an LGBT audience.

Another scandal was the demonstration of the flag of Nagorno-Karabakh by the singer from Armenia Iveta Mukuchyan - it happened in the green room before the announcement of the results of the first semi-final. Due to prohibited symbols (and on the eve of the competition, the EBU published a whole list of what cannot be shown in order to prevent further politicization of the show), she was also threatened with disqualification - all the more offensive since Iveta made it to the finals and is one of the favorites (she is now ranked in sixth place in the bookmakers' rankings, although with a large gap from Sweden). But things worked out well here too - the Armenian delegation was strictly warned about any violations of the rules in the future, and the EBU itself will look into the situation in June.

But in general, Eurovision 2016 may be remembered not for its musical or stage achievements (of which there have always been few at the competition), but for the scandals that occur around it and have nothing to do with the music or performances. Then a member of the Russian jury, Anastasia Stotskaya, decides to conduct a video broadcast of the voting, which is strictly prohibited by the rules - it all ends with her disqualification and replacement with actor Stanislav Duzhnikov (he is known from the TV series “Voronin” and “Kamenskaya” and the films “DMB” and “DMB 002”). It could have ended much worse - for example, the complete exclusion of Russia from Eurovision 2016, but the EBU decided not to take such drastic steps - after all, literally on the eve of the start of the competition, Romania was disqualified due to debts on fees.

And, by the way, the general director of the national Ukrainian broadcaster of Ukraine “UA: Pershiy” Zurab Alasania said on Facebook that Ukraine will refuse to participate in the 2017 competition if Sergey Lazarev wins this year. He explained that the reason for this decision would be relations with Russia. Ukraine did not participate in Eurovision 2015 due to the difficult situation in the country (official explanation), but it broadcast the competition itself.

Russia has already hosted Eurovision - in 2009, after the victory of Dima Bilan. Then it cost $40 million, part of which was allocated by the European Broadcasting Union; but about a third had to be paid to Channel One. If Lazarev wins, Channel One will also have to organize Eurovision 2017 in Moscow, which in turn with the Rossiya channel (VGTRK) will broadcast the competition in our country. According to experts, this organization will cost about the same as it did seven years ago. True, according to sources of the Daily Mirror newspaper, the EBU is afraid of Russia's victory and can help other participants - however, what exactly this help will be expressed in, the publication did not disclose.

Lazarev performs the song “You Are the Only One,” which translated means “You are the only one.” It was written by the Greek composer Dmitris Kontopoulos and the Russian singer Philip Kirkorov, and the text was invented by John Ballard and Ralph Charlie. Kirkorov also became the producer of the Russian participant and one of the authors of the issue, which was quite unusual and stood out at this year’s competition.

Now the favorite of Eurovision 2016 is Sergey Lazarev - bookmakers consider his chances of winning so high that betting on him will not bring any profit. In second place is the representative of Australia, Korean Dami Im - she moved to it after the second semi-final and a head-to-head dispute with Ukrainian Jamala. Jamala's chances dropped slightly after the semi-final performances; she is now in third place. Bookmakers place Amir from France in fourth place, and Swede France in fifth place; they have not yet performed in the competition, and the opinion about their potential is formed by presentation clips and rehearsals.