Country Russia Selection date(s) 8 March 2007 Selected song "Song #1" | Selection process Internal selection Selected entrant Serebro Final result 3rd, 207 points | |
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Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, Finland. The Russian entry was selected internally by the Russian broadcaster Channel One Russia (C1R). Serebro represented Russia with the song "Song #1", which placed 3rd in the final, scoring 207 points.
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Internal selection
Despite early indications that the Russian participation for 2007 would involve a national pre-selection organised by Rossiya Channel, C1R remained in charge of selecting the Russian entry and retained the broadcast rights for the 2007 Contest.
On 20 January 2007, C1R announced a submission period for interested artists and composers to submit songs until the 1 March 2007 deadline. On 3 March 2007, an appointed Eurovision expert council held a meeting to select the Russian representative for 2007. The meeting did not end with a decision, however, five candidates were narrowed down: Serebro, Gorod 312, Band'Eros, Zveri and Aleksandr Panayotov and Alexey Chumakov. Following a closed audition on 8 March 2007, Serebro were officially selected and announced as the Russian representatives.
On 12 March 2007 during the heads of delegation meeting in Helsinki, the Russian entry details were finalized, revealing that "Song #1" would be the title of the Russian song Serebro would perform. On 14 March 2007, the song premiered on the Europa Plus radio station. The entry was later presented on C1R on 24 March 2007 during the program Vysshaya Liga.
At Eurovision
Since Russia placed within the top 10 countries (excluding the Big Four) in the 2006 Contest, Russia pre-qualified to compete directly in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. On 12 March 2007, Russia was drawn to perform 15th in the final on 12 May 2007, following a slot allotted for a semi-finalist qualifier, which was ultimately filled by Latvia and preceding Germany.
After the voting concluded, Russia scored 207 points and placed 3rd. With changes to the format of the competition coming into effect for 2008, Russia would have to compete in one of two semi-finals for qualification into the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. As Russia was not the winner of the 2007 Contest and was not a member of the Big Four, other results in the previous contest no longer pre-qualified nations to the final of the forthcoming contest.
The semi-final and final were broadcast on Channel One, with commentary by Yuriy Aksyuta and Elena Batinova. The voting spokesperson for Russia was Yana Churikova.