EUROVISION 2017: The 43 Countries. XXV: RUSSIA. Continues tomorrow.

Caffe` Latte` previews…

EUROVISION

2017

As countries begin selecting their entries for the Eurovision Song Contest in May, this blog will look back on the stats and the best from each of the 43 participating nations.

UKRAINE

ITALY

FRANCE

GERMANY

UNITED KINGDOM

SPAIN

BELGIUM

SWITZERLAND

THE NETHERLANDS

DENMARK

AUSTRIA

SWEDEN

NORWAY

FINLAND

PORTUGAL

IRELAND

MALTA

ISRAEL

GREECE

CYPRUS

ICELAND

CROATIA

SLOVENIA

ESTONIA

RUSSIA

Since its debut in 1994, Russia has sent a song to Eurovision 20 times. Dima Bilan's "Believe" finished in 1st place in 2008. The years following that victory has seen Russia finish as runner-ups twice - in 2012 and 2015. The 2016 Russian entry "You Are The Only One" came 3rd and featured an innovative stage presentation. Sergey Lazarev's performance and the technology has set a new benchmark for the ESC.

Of course, Russia's participation remains controversial in light of policies and acti0ns under Vladimir Putin's rule. This will be tested further in 2017 with Ukraine hosting the Contest.

WINS: 1

BEST ENTRY EVER:

YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE Sergey Lazarev

HONOURABLE MENTION(S):

PARTY FOR EVERYBODY Buranovskiye Babushki

NEVER LET YOU GO Dima Bilan

To get you in the mood for Eurovision in Kiev, check out Caffé Latté’s special ESC playlist on Spotify.

https://open.spotify.com/user/alanrosscaffelatte

spotify:user:alanrosscaffelatte