Dima Bilan Loses to Lordi, Returns to Win for Putin

MAY 15 2006 · 12:15

Dima Bilan · "Never Let You Go (2006)" · Russia · 2006 Placement: 2 · Score: 248 · Language: English · Composers: Dima Bilan · Venue: OAKA Indoor Hall · Host: Athens, Greece · Type: return · Broadcast: digital hd Bilan takes the Athens OAKA stage with elaborate choreography for 'Never Let You Go'. The performance includes a grand-piano-as-stage-set concept and professional ballet dancers. Bilan sings with full chest-voice commitment. 248 points for 2nd place. Lordi win for Finland with 'Hard Rock Hallelujah'. Two years later Bilan returns with 'Believe', bringing Russian-Hungarian violinist Edvin Marton and Olympic gold medalist figure skater Evgeni Plushenko on stage — and wins with 272 points. Context Russian state interest in Bilan's Eurovision trajectory was intense. Reports in Russian press suggested direct Kremlin encouragement for his 2008 return. The 2006 2nd place had been a near-miss that Putin's cultural office reportedly felt Russia deserved. The Plushenko casting was coordinated at cultural-ministry level. Legacy Bilan's 2008 win in Belgrade brought Eurovision to Moscow 2009 — the largest-budget hosting ever to that point. Moscow 2009 under Bilan's umbrella was a Putin-era Russian soft-power high-water mark. Bilan continued as one of Russia's biggest pop stars through the 2022 expulsion, which ended his Eurovision relationship.