Here we go again. For the second year in three, Dima Bilan will represent Russia at Eurovision and my visitor numbers are about to go through the roof again! I'm watching the webcast of the Russian final now, while chatting on Messenger to friends in Moscow and, er, Coventry. (The one is Moscow is Ukraininan and is pretending not to be interested in what the Ruskies are doing, but failing.) Dima won the jury vote and the televote with his Timbaland-produced song, which is called 'Believe', 'Believe Me' or 'Believing', depending where you read it. Two weeks ago, he lost the right to use the name Dima Bilan, when a court ruled it belonged to his former management company. His real name is Derek Bloggs, so he will have to use that from now on.*

More people come to this blog because I wrote about him in 2006 (when I inadvertently also became 'big in Russian media' for a few days too, through something I wrote in a magazine about him) than through any other searches, so I would just like to say, again, 'Privyet' to my Russian visitors.

Dima's crying now, doing a Halle Berry. He has a nice goatee today and has removed those horrible tendrils from his haircut too. Very nice. However, I have fallen in lust with another competitor, Sergey Lazarev, so Dima is old news, sorry. Mr Lazarev should have won tonight with his disco stomper, which obeyed the Eurovision fire/desire rule and extended the genre with its title 'Flyer'. Sergey previously came to my attention as 50% of Russian pop duo Smash!! (two exclamation marks), but I didn't recognise him tonight at first. He looks pretty good shirtless (below) but in a black shirt, black tie and tight, black leather trousers tonight, he made me come over all unnecessary.



It gets better! Here is Sergey Lazarev on Russian TV earlier in the week, rehearsing 'Flyer' in a sweaty white vest. Swoon.



It was a good show from Moscow tonight, with 27 songs but the bare minumum in padding and waffling. Other countries could learn from that. Cough. Spain. Cough.

*It's Viktor Belan really.

Labels: Dima Bilan, Eurovision 2008, Russia

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