Lazarev's Glass Illusion Second Attempt Finishes Third

MAY 15 2019 · 12:45

Sergey Lazarev · "Scream" · Russia · 2019 Placement: 3 · Score: 370 · Language: English · Composers: Dimitris Kontopoulos, Philipp Kirkorov · Venue: Expo Tel Aviv · Host: Tel Aviv, Israel · Type: return · Broadcast: streaming era Lazarev returns to Eurovision three years after his 2016 3rd-place finish. 'Scream' opens with him apparently trapped inside a transparent glass tube that shatters on cue, then expands across the Expo Tel Aviv stage with projection-mapped mirrors that multiply his image across apparent infinite corridors. 370 points for 3rd place — again. Duncan Laurence wins for the Netherlands. Context Dimitris Kontopoulos was Greece's dominant Eurovision-adjacent composer; Philipp Kirkorov was Russia's most famous pop producer. They had written Lazarev's 2016 entry too. Lazarev's 2019 return was Russia's attempt to finally break through for a win — the infrastructure investment was enormous. Legacy The double third-place finish solidified Lazarev as Russia's most successful 21st-century Eurovision performer. 'Scream' is frequently cited as one of Eurovision's most technically accomplished staged performances. Russia's subsequent 2020-2021 entries continued the big-staging strategy. After Russia's 2022 expulsion, the Lazarev arc became the closing chapter of a specific Russian Eurovision era.