In June they debuted their duet “Prosti menya” (Forgive Me) at the Muz-TV Awards in Moscow, before jetting off to Portugal to film the music video.

And this morning Eurovision 2008 winner Dima Bilan and Eurovision 2016 televote winner Sergey Lazarev unveiled the fruits of their Iberian labour.

A mid-tempo pop ballad with a nostalgic feel, “Prosti menya” can be read in many ways. To some it sees the singers pleading for a woman’s forgiveness. It drips with pain and regret — not to mention a quietly powerful melody. “Well, make me pretend for a moment that I’m yours,” they sing. “How can I believe again, in these subtle worlds?”

At the same time there is a subtext about their actual friendship and history with each other, which they detail below. Regardless of your reading, they bring their emotions to life in the ancient city of Sintra, having filmed at or along its beaches, forests and rock outcrops.

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“For me, this is a special story that stands out from the stream of my music videos,” Dima said in a statement sent to wiwibloggs. “Several powerful energies converged here: the creative work of top professionals Mozgi production —I was glad to work with them again, Sergey’s acting charisma, and quite another — mine.”

“And most importantly, these elements did not sink each other, but merged into a single stream of creativity. We were united and inspired by this noble, dramatic story and inimitable poetry of the surroundings of the city of Sintra, with its windswept, wild coastal beauty.”

“In the story itself, you can search for many subtexts. And there is a subtext, which, perhaps, is heard by everyone. The track is called ‘Forgive me’ — and, perhaps, it’s some kind of our meeting at ‘zero latitude’ with Sergey. We were ‘pushed headlong’ in different periods of time. And in this video we can say to each other: ‘Sorry, dude, it’s okay!'”

Sergey was as thrilled with the collaboration. He said:

“Such duets happen infrequently — they have a high concentration of nerves, feelings and emotions. And so it happened that our creative paths with Dima started in one year, in one place — we were both participants of the New Wave 2002 contest in Jurmala. Our paths were parallel, sometimes crossing, sometimes moving away from each other. We were compared, confronted, quarrelled, but, in the end, time put everything in its place. Each of us became an independent successful solo artist with his multimillion audience of fans, each of us went through many trials, ups and downs, and this video is about our way.”

“Prosti menya” is the song Russian fans have been waiting for for years. Dima and Sergey have built massive solo careers, and for them to perform together has sent fans to pop heaven.

Naturally the reactions have been overwhelming. At the Muz-TV Awards, the audience greeted Sergey and Dima with enthusiastic applause and plenty of screaming as the two performed in front of a thunder-and-lightning backdrop.

In just one day, the single went straight to No. 1 on the Russian iTunes chart, pushing past global chart-toppers “2U” from David Guetta and “Despacito” from Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee.

Fans weren’t the only ones excited. After the performance Dima posted a picture of the pair performing, along with the following caption.

“It was so nice and fun to work with you! You are a great professional and an example of how you should treat music, and more generally, your business! Thank you — a pleasure working with people like you. Not the last time.”

Sergey later re-posted the photo, writing: “Dear, Dima! Thanks, this is mutual! It was exciting and interesting! And we’ll light it up!”

What do you think? Is the “Prosti menya” video all you hoped for? Do you love their voices together? Let us know below!

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Backstage photos courtesy of Ana Ray.

Sergey Lazarev and Dima Bilan — “Prosti menya” lyrics

Original lyrics

Vdokh, vdol’ potoka slov
Mozhet promolchat’, khotya
Net, nichego smeley etikh sinikh glaz v menya
Ty menya ne prostish’ i ya ne proshchu
V sekundy ne stalo nas
Skvoz’ tolshchu vody ya tikho ko dnu
V pustotu, v tishinu
I net somneniy

Prosti moya lyubov’, kusaya guby v krov’
Ya sdelal vso, chto mozhno, vso chto nel’zya

Prosti lyubov’ moya, vso dal’she polyusa
Ves’ mir na chasti i unosit voda

Prosti menya, prosti menya
Prosti menya – slyshish’?
Prosti menya, prosti menya
Prosti menya – moya lyubov’
Prosti menya v posledniy raz
I v unison dyshim
Prosti menya, prosti menya
Prosti menya – moya lyubov’

Nu zastav’ menya pritvoritsya na mig tvoim
Kak mne poverit’ vnov’, v eti tonkiye miry
Tak posledniye kapli zhadnykh sekund
Glotayu, kak vozdukh zlyye slova
Bezstrastno priznayut nashu vinu, a posle mir zastynet uzhe navsegda

Prosti moya lyubov’, kusaya guby v krov’
Ya sdelal vso, chto mozhno, vso chto nel’zya
Prosti lyubov’ moya, vso dal’she polyusa
Ves’ mir na chasti i unosit voda

Prosti menya, prosti menya
Prosti menya – slyshish’?
Prosti menya, prosti menya
Prosti menya – moya lyubov’
Prosti menya v posledniy raz
I v unison dyshim.
Prosti menya, prosti menya
Prosti menya – moya lyubov’

Prosti moya lyubov’, kusaya guby v krov’
Ya sdelal vso, chto mozhno, vso chto nel’zya

Prosti lyubov’ moya, vso dal’she polyusa.
Ves’ mir na chasti i unosit voda

English translation

Breathe, along the stream of words
Can remain silent, till
No, do not flash those blue eyes at me
You do not forgive me and I do not forgive
In seconds, we were no more
Through the thickness of the water, I quiet down
In emptiness, in silence
And there is no doubt

Forgive me my love for biting my lips in blood
I’ve done everything I can, everything I cannot

Forgive my love, all the way to the pole
The whole world takes away the water

Forgive me, forgive me
Forgive me – do you hear?
Forgive me, forgive me
Forgive me, my love
Forgive me for the last time
And in unison breathe
Forgive me, forgive me
Forgive me, my love

Well, make me pretend for a moment that I’m yours
How can I believe again, in these subtle worlds?
So the drops last for greedy seconds
I swallow the air as angry words
Disappointingly admit our guilt,
and afterward the world will be frozen forever

Forgive my love for biting my lips in blood
I’ve done everything I can, everything I cannot
Forgive my love, all the way to the pole
The whole world takes away the water

Forgive me, forgive me
Forgive me – do you hear?
Forgive me, forgive me
Forgive me, my love
Forgive me for the last time
And in unison breathe
Forgive me, forgive me
Forgive me, my love.

Forgive me my love for biting my lips in blood
I’ve done everything I can, everything I cannot

Forgive my love, all the way to the pole
The whole world takes away the water

 

 

9 Comments
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Christina
Christina
6 years ago

Come on!The song is really a bomb,one of the best Russian songs this year .Clip perfect too,i love the moment when they show their faces with black background .And Portugal’s nature wow.

coca_cola
coca_cola
6 years ago

Not impressed by neither the song or the video clip

VlaD
VlaD
6 years ago

when it was announced that Bilan and Lazarev will make a duet I was so happy. I am a big fan of both artists. Then the song was released and I was very disappointed.Such an average song. Then I hoped that they will release a very nice clip and now I watched this? BORING!

KellyR
KellyR
6 years ago

Very bad song. If they participated with this song in Eurovision they would not even qualify.

KYLLITO
KYLLITO
6 years ago
Reply to  KellyR

The live version included by William is better than the studio version. The performance is emotional, especially Sergey’s. I only listen to the live version, which I have done for months. Singing live, I think this song would be a Eurovision song. The fans screaming give the song life too.

EscAU
EscAU
6 years ago

Discovered anja’s instrumental posted in 2015 is that breaking the rules? Probably not since her 2016 dmgp song was performed live before by emmelie

https://instagram.com/p/3uW276q6Cx/

anto475
anto475
6 years ago

They’re standing in a closet so transparent that Farid Mammadov borrowed it for his stage performance

Hada
Hada
6 years ago
Reply to  anto475

If they’re in the closet, as transparent as it may be, it’s completely understandable, since they’re from Russia.

Sasha
Sasha
6 years ago
Reply to  anto475

If this is their way of expressing that, then good on them.