Staging at Eurovision 2016 was slick. Australia’s Dami Im sparkled on a glittery box. Nika Kocharov & Young Georgian Lolitaz from Georgia sent us on a psychotropic trip. And we were even treated to multiples of Armenia’s exquisite Iveta Mukuchyan. Alas, there can only be one victor. After counting 5,038 votes, we can now reveal that the winner of the Vision Music Award 2016 for Best Staging is Russia’s Sergey Lazarev!
With a music video as epic as “You Are the Only One” , Sergey had a lot to live up to with his live performance. Thankfully the live performance was immense. Absolutely no expense was spared here. The production literally had everything: sharp choreography, exciting projections, even a climbable LED screen. It showed that sometimes, more really is more!
And yet, at the centre of it all, Sergey held his own. His vocals were solid, he hit every mark with precision and he really drove the momentum of the song. It’s easy to see why he topped the televote, and came in third place overall.
Sergey has the honour of joining the VMA Hall of Fame for Best Staging, where previous title-holders include Loïc Nottet from 2015, Donatan & Cleo from 2014, and Cezar Ouatu from 2013.
Best Staging: 2016
1. Sergey Lazarev: 1,640 votes (32.55%)
2. Iveta Mukuchyan: 1,023 votes (20.31%)
3. Jamala: 692 votes (13.74%)
4. Dami Im: 665 votes (13.2%)
5. Greta Salóme: 467 votes (9.27%)
6. Ivan: 316 votes (6.27%)
7. Georgia: 235 votes (4.66%)
Total votes: 5,038 votes
Vision Music Awards 2016: The Nominees
This award is just one of a dozen awards we have launched as part of the Vision Music Awards 2016 (VMAs). Our 13 categories—from best dressed to most most wronged at ESC—identify the contestants who left the biggest impression on Eurovision fans, regardless of whether they won the contest or not. You can watch the nominations video below. You can also read more about the awards here.
Ukraine was a real masterpiece….
For me best performance had Belarus.
For me, Iveta nailed it, followed by Donny and then Sergey
@(J)ESC Fanatic
You are never able to stop. NEVER. We’ve already found it once that my opinion differs from yours and that is enough I think. There is nothing for me to sort out and there is no need for you to remind me of your viewpoint at every opportunity since there is nothing new in it.
I propose that you ignore my comments just the way I ignore yours.
@Plum
“You go on insulting people who don’t share your opinion.”
Haha, this is a joke! xD
I never did something like that.
You are the one who starts behaving like a crybaby when people say they don’t like Sergey. You need to sort that out.
Jamala’s and Iveta’s performances were more innovative and interesting in my opinion.
@(J)ESC Fanatic
We are discussing here, like all civilized people do. ????
No. I don’t write much but I still read… You go on insulting people who don’t share your opinion. This is not the way civilized people do. I go on ignoring you, sorry.
@Plum
“There were enough of emotions in his voice”
Umm, no.
And yes, I do appreciate songs with messages. But there are also some songs which don’t have any particular message but at least they have nice lyrics… something that can’t be said for the generic and cheesy “You’re The Only One”. One can understand how cheesy it is from the title alone! 😀
And no, I’m not trying to provoke you. We are discussing here, like all civilized people do. 🙂
@(J)ESC Fanatic
=)))
There were enough of emotions in his voice but there was no message for you in his song. I remember your love for “messages”. Tastes differ.
Do you still hope to provoke me? Nothing will come out of it.
@Plum
Yes, he sang well. But he sang like a robot. No emotions in his voice. He was like “Who cares about the emotions when you can fool the unaware televoters with the staging”? Right? xD
Good staging but the problem is that Russia focused on this instead of focusing on how to make an actual good song… so they ended up with crap…
But how was Lithuania not nominated here? In my opinion, they had the best staging. Armenia, Ukraine, Germany, Bulgaria, Georgia, Czech Republic and Iceland follow.
More than well deserved.
Before judging just try to breathe with your legs up, leave alone perfect live singing.
It was objectively the best staging, but the song remains mediocre trash.
I think Sergey’s staging was really cool but definitely lacked originality. It was also a little dark and too focused on the gimmicks. But, nonetheless, I’m okay with the results. In my opinion the best staging was Iveta (she just looked stunning and she nailed every single move, every camera angle and had such an incredible presence) and Lithuania (Danny was just full of energy and the mix of color lights was just great).
Montenegro confirmed participation for eurovision 2017!! Excited:)
I’m okay with this.
The act’s appeal WAS its staging, moreso than anyother act, and it can be accredited to Russia’s 3rd place finish. Absolutely its a deserved award.
Fokas Evangelinos was the stage director for Russia 2016. Also Russia 2006, Belarus 2007, Ukraine 2008, Azerbaijan 2013 and Russia 2014. It’s not stolen, it’s from the same author. Fokas is a genius.
Good copy of Ani Lorak. Well, I’m not surprised, she’s a good friend with him…
Undeserved
And we are supposed to be surprised or stunned by this …. because?
Sergey’s staging was too inspired by past Esc acts (Sweden 2015, Ukraine 2008, Belarus 2007, even Austria 2014.. wings) However, 2016 was not a memorable year for staging.. specially if we look to some past brilliant stagings such as Heroes, Rise like a phoenix, Calm after the storm, Hold me or Euphoria.
Armenia deserved to win this one: brilliant staging and original as well.
Why? His staging was stolen from Ukraine 2008, and literally everything:
1. The screen
2. Four dancers
3. One back-up
4. Climbing on the screen
5. Four poses in front of screen
I mean, people keep telling how Iceland stole the staging but this may be even worse, I don’t understand why no one notices this.
Well deserved
Sergey really had the best performance.