Country Russia Selected entrant Alla Pugacheva Final result 15th, 33 points | Selection process Internal selection Selected song "Primadonna" 1997 • 2000► | |
Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 in Dublin, Ireland. The Russian entry was selected internally by the Russian broadcaster Russian Public Television (ORT). Alla Pugacheva represented Russia with the song "Primadonna", which placed 15th and scored 33 points at the contest.
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Internal selection
ORT held an internal selection in order to decide the artist and song that would represent Russia. 53 songs were submitted to the production company Programma A, which selected the Russian entry by assembling a jury panel that included Yury Saulsky, Maksim Dunaevsky, Alexander Kutikov, Yuri Aksyuta and Sergei Arhipov. The jury selected the song "Primadonna" performed by Alla Pugacheva. The head of the jury, Konstantin Ernst, revealed that second place went to the song "Angel" performed by the duo Chai vdvoem. Other artists that submitted songs included Nogu Svelo, Zhanna Dobrovolskaya and Andrei Kosinsky.
After being selected, Pugacheva stated that she was not the intended performer for the song. She had written the song for a male vocalist and the lyrics were written from a male perspective. However, the male singer, Valery Meladze, was ill for the internal selection and Pugacheva took the song on as her own.
At Eurovision
Russia performed 20th at the 1997 Contest, following Hungary and preceding Denmark. After the voting concluded, Russia scored 33 points and placed 15th.
The Russian conductor at the contest was Rutger Gunnarsson. The voting spokesperson for Russia was Arina Sharapova.
Points awarded by Russia
Points awarded by the Russian jury: