He recently teased a big announcement on his Instagram Stories, sending fans into overdrive as they speculated whether he’ll return to Eurovision in 2019. As it turns out, Sergey’s December 7 reveal was about his new single “P’yanym, chem obmanutym” rather than renewed participation in the song contest.
But as we count down the final days of 2018, we keep hope in our hearts and a fire in our belly that maybe — just maybe — the “You Are The Only One” hitmaker will make our Christmas wishes come true and hop on a jet to Tel Aviv. After all, when releasing his new single he revealed it was part of a journey of self-discovery and experimentation, a way of playing with his sound and diving into something new. Eurovision is a massive platform to do all of that and gives him the perfect opportunity to present his new vibe to millions at home and abroad.
So, without further ado, here are ten reasons we would like to see Sergey Lazarev back at Eurovision in 2019.
1. Because we want to see him fully upside down this time.
At Eurovision 2016 Sergey brought some of the most advanced and eye-popping staging the fandom has ever seen, literally scaling an LED wall as he tried to climb toward his beloved. But one of the best moments, no doubt, was when he appeared to be spinning in outer space on an icy asteroid. The cast of Gogglebox UK even reacted to that moment with one viewer asking aloud, “Where is he going?” The answer, of course, was to the top of the televote.
If Sergey attempts a return in 2019, perhaps he can go full on upside down, completing the circle he began to spin in Stockholm.
2. The world deserves another Eurovision video opening showcasing his physique for at least 30 seconds.
He’s got it and he’s ready to flaunt it. The official music video to his Eurovision 2016 song started with a half minute montage of him lying shirtless in bed with his lower half hidden by a white sheet. His body slowly opened up and the camera seemed to zoom in through his chest, which was been blacked out through digital effects. Pop music and celebrity have never been solely about the voice and he worked all of his assets to great effect.
And any of you moaning can park your shade to the side because we’re just voicing what you’re already thinking. Puritans log off now. BYE.
3. He’s got the resources and team to make magic happen.
Teamwork makes the dream work, and he’s got the squad to bring it all together. Just look back at 2016. His song was produced by Eurovision veteran Philipp Kirkorov who assembled a dream team of music professionals to work on Sergey’s entry, including songwriter Dimitris Kontopoulos and choreographer Fokas Evangelinos. The music video featured Sergey and Miss Russia 2015 Vladislava Evtushenko. He took Måns’ projection mapping and BLEW IT UP. Sergey jumped on pillars, sang beneath water and finished standing tall and proud atop the screen. He brought the heat and we all felt the fire. He is the only one.
4. Reactions from his young son would be priceless.
By the time Sergey performed at Eurovision, he was already one of Russia’s most recognised public figures, known for his show-stopping performances, numerous roles in the theatre and general charm and good humour. And — unknown to fans — he had already been a father for two years.
Sergey had hoped to keep his child out of the spotlight and to shield him from all the chatter and negativity that floats around the media. “Public life is always seen through a magnifying glass, sparking a lot of conversation,” he said. “This kind of attention is a difficult test, especially for a small child.”
But, at the end of 2016, a Russian tabloid published photos of Sergey taking his son Nikita to church. And while that was surely unpleasant for the pop star, it ultimately freed him to be more open. Since then we’ve all been gifted to young Nikita’s admiration and love for his father, which comes through clearly in so many Insta pics. So how nice would it be to see Nikita cheering for his father at the ESC?!
5. One aspect of the jury vote in 2016 was criminal.
Ukraine’s Jamala was definitely a deserving winner of Eurovision 2016. But a case can be made for Australia’s Dami Im, Bulgaria’s Poli Genova and, of course, Russia’s Sergey Lazarev too. Sergey — who managed to top the televote — was the unfortunate victim of anti-Russian jury voting. Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea months earlier was a major international talking point. With Russia regarded as the belligerent by Western powers, it’s not outlandish to think many jurors passed Russia over for reasons other than music.
When Philipp Kirkorov called it out, it wasn’t a matter of sour grapes, but a fair summation of what had gone down. Sergey received zero points from 21 juries. Yes, that’s half of them. That means half of the juries didn’t put Sergey in their Top 10, which surely can’t be down to his performance alone.
Kirkorov shot back a day later, suggesting that something was amiss.
“As the composer and producer of the Russian entry I fully respect the result. I knew the rules and I accepted them. As a fan of this contest I am sad that a song, an entry and an artist like Sergey Lazarev was given zero points from 21 juries! When at the same time, the audience all over Europe voted for him with 3 points and above. 29 countries gave him 8, 10 and 12 points!! I really believe that EBU should reconsider the way juries are voting. Maybe take them down to 25%? Something needs to be done for Russia to take part again. This is my opinion.”
And just a note: the crime here isn’t that Australia won the jury vote, or that Ukraine came second. It’s simply that half the juries blanked Russia. As I’ve said multiple times elsewhere, Australia was my personal favourite of the year, with Ukraine and Russia just behind her. Saying Russia’s treatment was a crime doesn’t mean I’m anti-Australian or anti-Ukrainian. No need to try and spin that tale….
Anyway, Russia has had two difficult years with Eurovision — first withdrawing in 2017 and then missing out on the final for the first-time ever in 2018. Sergey could use Eurovision 2019 to get Russia back on track and back in the game.
So what do you think? Are you holding out hope that Sergey Lazarev will return to Eurovision in 2019? Do you think the time is right? And if not Sergey, then who? Let us know in the comments box down below.
I’d love to see him again on Eurovision and win with a GREAT song. He was my fave in 2016 and became my favorite singer afterwards, and even though I love YATOO (I love the tune of that song), he has way better songs (I mean, regarding the lyrics) than it. If you check out his latest work v-epitsentre (just to put an example) you can see there are a lot of amazing songs to choose from. One song that I’m sure would have been great for Eurovision is tak krasivo. I’d like a song like one of those songs… Read more »
It is true, Sergey has the team to fabricate a song and a clip / stage performance that will knock you out of your socks. But as some of the other commentators also mention, it does not mean that the song is good! This song in 2016 was a cheap disco tune with ludicrous lyrics: all too easy in my view.
Yes, we all know Eurovision can not stay away from politics throughout the decades, but you should not turn it around either. It should still be about the song, correct?
Dear Sergey! If you bother to come back with a horrible song again, hoping to sail to the victory just because of your fame and looks, we will make sure you will end up like Alexander Rybak.
I seriously lost it at claiming that Sergey was the victim of “anti-Russian” jury voting. It’s like the article came straight out of RT or Sputnik News.
First, the Russian annexation of Crimea happened in early 2014 after the Euromaidan Ukrainian revolution and not a few months before May 2016 as the article claims. In fact, by the time Eurovision was being held in Stockholm, more than two years had happened since the first Russian troops landed in Crimea.
Then, when people said Sergey was given a bad deal because 21 juries didn’t award him any points, you forget the fact that Jamala was shut by 18 juries as well. So, it’s not like the juries were targeting Sergey or anything, almost all juries preferred Australia (and time has shown us that juries always prefer the English over-produced generic pop entries of Australia both in ESC and JESC) definitely. So, the argument that juries weren’t feeling Sergey is off the table. And then there’s the fact that all of Russia’s 12 in jury voting became either from Russia-friendly/dependent countries… Read more »
It’s true, because the “anti-Italian” squad did the same to Il Volo, not to mention the “anti-Estonian” group that dragged Elina and Stig down ^^
One of the most overrated personalities in the history of Eurovision.
he’s not even that hot tho
Sorry but some of the reasons why you want Sergey Lazarev back are just shallow… His “physique” or being “fully upside down” shouldn’t really be reasons to pick someone for Eurovision… There is nothing wrong with Sergey coming back but some of your reasoning for wanting him back is just ridiculous.
another reason you forgot to mention.. russia pays wiwiblogs good money for publicity
As much as I love Sergey (and I do really love him, his recent work has been amazing), I don’t really want to see him back at Eurovision. It would be so hard to top his result from 2016 and I think it’s better to just leave his legacy as it is rather than returning and achieving a worse result
I want Russia to win so bad I know you all probably hate me but yeah I want them to win it’s true.
Sergey can come back to Eurovision as long as he has a good song. Simple!
People still don’t give up 😀
I’m okay with him returning if he competes with a song like “Shepotom”, which is an artistic masterpiece, unlike his generic Eurovision entry in 2016.
No. Thank you.
And people who have claimed that we should get rid of the jury votes should remember 2016. If we had chosen the winner only based on televote, we would’ve had a cheesy, unoriginal and generic song as the winner in 2016. People at home don’t always have better taste.
I love Sergey he’s so sexy and I genuinely loved the song it was my fave, and the staging was mind blowing. Only person who let the side down was the stylist covering him in all black hid his hard won physique and made him look too slimline.
He deserved to win and the song deserved to win, However a Sergey win means a Russian win and they certainly don’t deserve to win and certainly don’t deserve to host.
If the song is good enough…but in eurovision there is no need and no place for politics. It is a singing competition.
We need to minimize the polotics effect.
31 comments for Sergey, when all other articles have from zero to maximum 5-6.
This is why he is a MEGA STAR.
Bingo!. And he has a killer instinct, to know when to come back. Hopping for 2019.
Mostly negative tho.
Three reasons why I don’t want Sergey to return that quick:
1. Weird flex to represent him after Yulia’s failure to reach the grand final
2. You guys want Sergey to suffer like Rybak did this year?
3. He ain’t Dima Bilan too because this isn’t the late 2000s anymore
Wow!
Dear sergey, if you read this:
I want you to come back to eurovision!
You are a great performer, yes you are handsome (i don’t mind 😉 and i think that second chance will do you good. And to russia.
And this year we gonna see a lot of girl power, so we need you. Do us a favour ! Please please
Come back!. Santa were are you??
Stop trying to make Lazarev 2019 happen. It’s not gonna happen and it’s getting cringe now
That would be great if Sergey went to Tel Aviv. In fact, it’d be even better if he brought Russia back to the grand final. 😀
Face it, You are the Only One was lousy. It wasn’t terrible, but if it wasn’t for the OTT staging, it would’ve finished in the lower half of the top 10, maybe even outside it. It seems the only reason people like Sergey is because he’s handsome. As for the jury voting, yes he got shut out by 21 counties, but Jamala was shut out by 18 countries. I don’t know how many times people have to say that for you to stop complaining about Sergey. Russia has plenty of talent, I’d much rather see other singers than Sergey.
Why nobody cries for Kristian Kostov to come back? Or Eric Saade? Both were close to the win, both nice guys. Why only Sergay is the one who’s placement was “injustice”? Give up on it already.
Because nobody else pays for it. Wiwi is a part of the marketing campaign and are paid to do exactly that. Expect more to come shortly
Agree many so much lobby for somec singers and countries with many articles, video . We had so much lobby and ebu sites and YT eurovision channel, especially For Australia 2016
I’d only really want him back because he’s hot.
Russia televoting results were actually quite suspicious, bringing the aura of Dima Bilan’2008/Azerbaijan of the early 2010s. Facebook and youtube was bombarded with pro-Sergey ads and all of the 12 televoting pts were by Soviet bloc/Russian Diaspora countries.
With all we’ve learned about Russian trolls and paid sockpuppet accounts, I’m honestly starting to believe that all the crap about how “Sergey was robbed” and the push for Jamala to be stripped of her win was driven by bots and trolls pissed at the fact that an ‘anti-Russian” song won and beat a song and staging that was designed to win. There was genuine disappointment, sure, but everything about that campaign seemed suspicious, and the ads only make me more suspicious.
I don’t understand this obsession with him returning… have there even been any rumours apart from on this blog? Because it seems clear to me that there is no such suggestion of this happening. The rumours are about Alex Panaiotov and Manizha, not Sergei.
manizha won’t, she doesn’t really deserve it. panaiotov maybe. as russian, i can say that there’s a lot of facts about sergey’s returning in 2019. russia will be represented by sergey or alexander. trust me.
Why does Manizha not deserve to go to Eurovision?
Actually I heard it rumoured about a month ago but everyone on that forum shut it down as being fan fancy. Then I heard it again a couple of weeks ago from a reputable source. Dima Bilan is proof that Russia will send back acts with unfinished business.
it may probably depend on the song at their disposal, if it’s good enough along comes Sergey, if it’s not then it’s Panayotov and a 7-10 place finish at the end.
Wow, I’m a bit surprised William actually wrote point 5. Doesn’t really seem like his character to make a claim like that. He had a great staging performance but a really vapid and empty song, so tying for 5th place in the jury vote was more than what he deserved. The lyrics were generic and went nowhere, which is typical of “Dream Team” songs. There were definitely at least 10 songs that deserved more jury points than him, so 21 countries not giving him any isn’t a surprise. And mentioning Poli…. this is probably more of my opinion, but her… Read more »
Mmhmm. Like how much did Philipp Kirkorov pay William to write this article?
I think one of the main things you are missing is that the contest is the first time many people are seeing these songs. They dont care too much about the lyrics or the vocal quality they just want to see something eye catching. I didnt know any of the songs before I watched 2016 and Sergey and Poli were by far my favourites with noone else even close, heck I’m Australian and have known Dami since her first X factor audition (not personally but you get the point) and I thought her performance was really boring and I was… Read more »
Sergey’s package was good enough for the top 5, but the song was a schlager throwaway from the mid 2000s.
It’s like another Sakis Rouvas attempt, but with Sergey instead.
Last month, a reporter asked Sergey about possible comeback to Eurovision and he said he can’t even think about it right now because he’s very busy with touring and so many other things. Sergey is a master at hiding things, but I doubt that he will ever return. He has achieved a great result. There’s no guarantee it will happen again. He’s considered a winner at home. Why would he need to return? It must be Kirkorov’s dream. Sergey has nothing left to prove.
The jury gave him what he deserved back in 2016, and the other 4 reasons mentioned are useless. Thank you, next.
I dunno. I always thought he was kind of overrated. A big spectacle with an OK song. Jamala was a clear winner ‘cuz she kept the focus on the song above all and still had cool, sensitive staging. I appreciate a fun stage show, but the tune has gotta be there too. It’s not the Eurovision Staging Contest.
no, we don’t want
I like him as an artist, but for God’s sake let’s just admit that his 2016 success was all about that staging. Because the song was as generic as Greece 2017, Azerbaijan 2018 etc. Though it’s not surprising at all that he won the televoting. He’s one of the most famous Russian singers, so of course, Russian diaspora would have his back. Plus some extra points for his looks too. If he won the whole contest in 2016 over Ukraine or Australia, it would just ridicule Eurovision as a song competition, because there’s absolutely nothing positive to say about that… Read more »
Would love it! Although Nyusha is on my wishlist for years, hopefully she will go for Russia in the coming years. (They better send her the next year in 2020)
Russian entry 2016 was hugely overrated averge pop song, nothing special, with no LED nobody would remember it, though Sergey is amazing and charming and talanted artist, third place was amazing result for him, dont think he should come back…
Loved him, loved their entry but Russia has such an enormous music industry that they shouldn’t have to send the same guy twice in such a short period of time.
D
C’mon, Russia’s a big country and they have a lot of talented singers. I’m sure they can send someone else. He got a decent result in 2016 anyway. He has to let other Russian singers experience Eurovision too. I would even advice them to keep Kirkorov away from selection too. Let other people be involved.
No thanks. I didn’t like Sergey in 2016 (Personally thought he was overrated as hell). Give an artist who hasn’t been on a big stage a chance, don’t just repeat artists who have already been there.
“anti-Russian jury voting“? Um no. The song was dated and cheesy with even more cheesy lyrics. The staging while impressive was messy and Far. Too. Much. If anything he revived far too many points then he actually deserved. So be happy with an overrated 3rd place thank you.
Well,I disagree on the “anti-Russian victim”, but he is a talented pop artist and I’d like to see him back, with a modern and better .
*Song lol
1 reason why I don’t want him to: Russia has so much talent to unleash and even though he’s a nice guy, they have better to offer.
If the song will be less outdated, I’m up for it.