Participant: Julia Savicheva
Song: Believe me
Writer(s): Brenda Loring
Composer(s): Maxim Fadeev

Since 1994 Russia is a constant participant in the Eurovision Song Contest and was able to surprise the European audience many times. This huge country with over 148 million inhabitants offers an unbelievable variety of cultural and musical aspects. For that reason the Russian Eurovision entries have always been different from year to year. Unforgettable entries were "Primadonna" by Alla Pugachova (Dublin 1997), "Solo" by Alsou (Stockholm 2000) and "Vechni Strank" by Youddiph (Dublin 1994).

The country qualified directly for the final and one year after t.A.T.u, Russia is represented by another smash hit: Julia Savicheva singing "Believe me". She wasn't the first choice though - the country's TV-station ORT had originally chosen a male duo called Smash. The song "Believe me" is definitely not what people imagine having typical Russian music in mind. This song could also have easily been handed in by Iceland, United Kingdom or Estonia. It is fascinating to see what effort especially the new countries put in to represent their country well on an international stage. The song is modern, catchy and might be played by all European radio stations all summer long. A definitive hit!