He’s among the most successful acts ever to compete at the Eurovision Song Contest, having secured a second-place finish in 2006 before winning it all two years later.
And now Russian singer Dima Bilan has teased Eurovision fans by suggesting he’s open to a return.
As Gazeta reports, the “Believe” hitmaker made his comments on the talk show “Alena, damn it!”.
Dima, one of the most popular and highly-paid pop stars in his country, said that he supports a national final system, whereby the public has a say in choosing the country’s Eurovision act, rather than just handing all the power to the heads of the big television channels.
He said: “If we take the popular vote, then I wonder what the limit is if I go for the third time.”
Life since Eurovision
Dima Bilan is rarely out of the spotlight. His enduring popularity reflects his obvious charisma and singing ability, but also his wise decisions when it comes to choosing and performing music. He’s won countless awards and now counts more MTV Russia Music Awards than anyone else (including gongs for Best Performer, Best Singer and Best Video).
Although his Eurovision winning entry may not be one of the most beloved by fans, there’s no denying that Dima’s career has only continued to grow in the eleven years since his victory.
The Russian signer started off 2019 by releasing “Океан” (“Ocean”). A simple but powerful pop-ballad, the Eurovision 2008 winner’s emotions come across here whether you understand Russian or not, helping to lift it above some of his previous ballads.
The music video sees the star in a number of stunning natural landscapes while he sings to his lover: “You are my ocean, my unbearable / I love you so much I … / You are my ocean, my cosmos / My universe, extraordinary …”
Is Dima YOUR ocean? Do you think that he could secure yet another Top 3 finish? Let us know down below.
Just send MARUV
Sergei and Dima together here. Love this song. Would have made a good ESC song. Love the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m25OSlKfWs
I Like him. Love the song he did with Sergei Lazarev *I’m sorry* in English.
The Netherlands invented “The Voice”.And our First Channel going to send participant of “Voice”.Alexander Panayotov possibly.Possible risk and sending the winner of season 8 Khanieva Ragda.
No.
He’s a coke addict
I’d love to see Russia move away from Kirkorov and his recycled music and stagings. Send someone popular like Egor Kreed. I still think Polina was best Russia representative this decade.
NO.
Dima Bilan is not really a great singer. His victory came at a time when bloc voting was rife and a win for Russia was seeming inevitable.
I would be against this, but I have a feeling he will try Eurovision out again sometime down the line.
No, I want Russia to send someone new like Little Big, XS Project or Katya (Drag Race Queen)
I want Little big representing Russia. They’re amazing.
I’m just tired of Russia reusing artists. I want something fresh.
Yes he, sergey, yulia ….omg
I dont understand how its one of the more hated winners.. the song was not bad and it was an epic performance. Its miles better than Conchita, Salvador and Netta which I consider to be some of the worst.
You have a weird taste. His “epic” performance contained embarrassing, pseudo sexy crawling on the floor with an open shirt while the song had absolutely 0 sexy vibes. Then out of nowhere there was a man on tiny ice that waved his hands more than he could skate. And then there was a violin guy. NO CONCEPT, just a bunch of unrelated elements that don’t even try to make any sense.
At this point someone who will be singing in RUSSIAN finally pls
Dima Bilan is one of the most disliked winners.
And he knows that.
People are not very enthusiastic when he appears on events like Eurovision in concert… or the anniversary shows… He works for that opinion behaving like an ego centric diva (in a bad way).
So… No. Dima should not be back.
Same as Salvador S.
at least he wins fair.. Not like Mans the swedish man that appears on every eurovision since his victory in 2015 .As i remember he won only because of juries, juries that every year boost swedish results.
Considering the rules, Måns won in a fair way 😉 Plus he was clearly the best of 2015 imo. A well deserved winner.
A lot of people don’t like Dima’s song in 2008. This was an average song in an average year.
Russia,Italy,Belgium,Latvia and Estonia was far better than swedish soap.
Mans won only because of juries. Juries that put sweden on first place and italy on 7 .And many people also don’t like that Mans appears every year on eurovision.
At least Heroes is still one of the most famous Eurovision acts to date. Many people still sing that song when the song starts.
vomit incoming.
Russia winning fair? I have my doubts.
You can’t talk about Sergey anymore, so you went for the next best alternative ?.
I’d kinda like it, I like Dima, NLYG is probably my favourite Russian entry, even more than Believe. But winners don’t tend to make it good for a second time, look at Alex.
My bet would be their JESC winner, Polina, if she’s reached 16 already.
And she is already 16, although maybe it’s still a bit too early for her?
I would prefer seeing Alex Sparrow returning. He needs his redemption in Eurovision. His entry in 2011 is so underrated and he has published many bops since.
Also i would love to see Serebro coming back they have amazing songs after another and they can perform.
His problem is his live vocal.
Also, I think Polina was much better than Sergey, Dima etc. The Russian delegation (and fans) underrate her. If Russia insists on sending a returning artist, it should be Polina.
Polina also has the benefit of coming off as likeable and kind- while Dima just seems arrogant.
If Russia continues their boring and predictable formula and sends Dima with a Kirkorov song, I will, with no shame at all, say that Russia’s best entry is the Babushkas. I doubt they will ever again send something like that.
Bilan and Kirkoroff won’t work together I tell you!
They hate each other…
😉
Agree and I am from Russia. Babushkas were the best entry by far! The only sad part is that it was 100% for the show and didn’t bring any real change for Udmurt language in Russia, it’s still dying (alongside with linguists taking their lives).
Still I wish we would send more entries showing the culture of other ethnic minorities cause we’ve got plenty of them.
Talk about adopting a George Michael look! Somewhat spooky!
Distant cousins
I’d rather see Alla Pugacheva return instead
Please no!!!!!!
Dima Bilan is a very talented singer and I like his music, but his Eurovision performances were way over the top (calling them tacky would be rude, I guess). I would like to see new faces – like Alexander Panayotov, Pompeya, Ivan Dorn, Nyusha or Tesla Boy.
I would prefer if Russia starts the new decade by sending something different than their norm. Whilst I do love many of their previous entries, I admit that they have been pretty standard, safe, and predictable. So how about they send someone unique, like Little Big or Olena Uutai instead?
The real question is – should Dima Bilan accompany an audacious gimmick for the third time for Russia at Eurovision? (Singing comes quite as a side-effect there.)
Yes please!
He is very talented! After his entry, he helped other young talents in the Eurovision and they also ranked quite good in the contest. He definitely knows the winning music “code”.
Jeez, I’m so tired of Russia sending dated songs. Not this guy again. Please find some young fresh Russian artist who is good at creating current music with high impact.
Creating music with high impact? You probably work in marketing or media.
The girl who did the water of life at Jesc , Is she 16 yet? I know she is quite popular and well known now in Russia.
NO!
Keep in mind folls, his entry made Terry Wogan quit commentating for ESC.
Yes, Dima is a hero. I’m sorry for Andy Abraham, but Dima changed history with just a shirt and a wind machine .
Let the song begin with passion
Let the wind begin to blow
So at least something positive come out of it.
That wasn’t a bad thing
I’d rather see the babushkiys.
I would like to hear Russian song from Russia. Not english. Dima has amazing songs in Russian. But i think his time in ESC world is over. Why should a winner come back? How can he do better? He is already a legend.
I still remember his sexy pics showing his ass and balls xD
His white shirt is iconic, but I don’t like that he sings like he wants to copy Michael Jackson. If he will be in esc, I hope he will have a song in Russian language and a better place than Sergey 3rd. This can change things for non english songs.
No, please. Someone new, please. A good song for a change, please. Not the usual ‘love love peace peace’ -song, please.
No bring back Tatu
I’m saying a big NO, even though I loved his 2008 winning entry.
But I agree with him on bringing back National Selection process. Mostly because I want the band Velvet to represent Russia.
Btw, if he still will go and despite of all these comments we are reading now, will get a good result (top 15), then I hope I will stop hearing for good that Russia is underrated in the contest.
It was horrible watching him in the green room in 2008. Yelling “Rus si a” over and again and carrying on like a small child having a tantrum. His two entries were horrible. I can understand why he did well at the time. In many Soviet countries he would of been seen as a big star and something fresh when many countries were sending old formulaic entries.
But times have changed I can’t see him doing well with a jury vote when many countries are now sending serious entries and looking for a win.
How sad are you if you see expressing freely the emotions of joy as smth horrible…
If they want to send a veteran I’d suggest Polina
One of the worst winners ever + He’s so tacky on stage (ripping his shirt open like his life depends on it, and his mullet haircut is still haunting me). Haven’t heard from him since 2008, please let it stay that way.
Two times is well enough. Especially when we’re talking about a winner, that has nowhere to go but down in terms of the result. And even more so when we’re talking about a guy that brought us arguably the most artificial, lazy, lackluster and embarrassing winning song and performance of this century. I’m glad his victory made EBU bring the juries back, but other than that I think it’s a definitive NO from me.
Im not sure bcs I am partly Russian. On one hand I “believe” that Bilan could do a good job of representing Russia again but then again I rlly want someone like Monetochka will do well
no. if there’s one country that doesn’t need returning artists, that’s russia. they have so much talent to let us discover.
So, Russia now trying to surpass San Marino in sending repeat artists.
So, Russia is trying to rival San Marino in sending repeat artists.
No! Please NO
No. Next!
I’m grand thanks
I wonder if he also loved the public vote in the 2012 Russian national final.
One of the worst winner in ESC history, please no more Bilan
Only if he manages to get his hands on an incredibly amazing song. So I am guessing no. I did not like his first two participations at all. He spoke no English and it sounded so awful to me how he tried so hard to sound American while singing “Believe” and failed miserably. I love American accents when they actually sound American. But he was just so “Imp-a-ssi-bell”.
The only Russian act I would have loved to see again at Eurovision is Serebro (“Song #1” 2007). My absolute guilty plessure from Russia. So I did a little research and read on the English wikipedia, that the original formation of 2007 has had many changes throughout the years, but the band itself still exists with 3 new singers, joining just this year. So what about seeing the “new Serebro” in Eurovision 2020? 😀