Sergey Lazarev was announced as Russia’s Eurovision participant at the the Russian National Music Awards way back in December 2015. He’d just been named Singer of the Year and is a well-known, popular artist in Russia.
On March 5, 2016, he dropped his Eurovision song You are the Only One. In one week, the video has racked up over 3 million views. That’s impressive. That’s a hit. That could be a winner. Let’s see what all the fuss is about.
Ah yeah! This is what I’ve been waiting for: a great, high-energy song. Something memorable that makes you want to move. Sergey Lazarev has a powerful voice and strong, sexy presence. I suspect some auto-tuning in the video, but since he won Singer of the Year, I’m going to believe he can deliver a great live performance. The video itself uses cool special effects, and is gimmicky and fun.
High-energy songs have been lacking at Eurovision the last few years. Last year, all the dramatic ballads bored me to tears and I wasn’t alone. Israel’s Nadav Guedj made the top ten simply because Golden Boy was energetic and fun. In a better year, it would’ve been in the teens at best.
Sergey Lazarev and You are the Only One are in it to win it. This could be Russia’s year. I’m giving this 10 points. They’ve set the bar high and now other participants are going to have to up their game. Hopefully, this makes for a more exciting competition.
On a side note, I’d like to voice my hope that politics can be kept out of this year’s competition. Last year, my favorite performance was A Million Voices by Russia’s Polina Gagarina. Though I favored Italy, I would have been happy if she had won. The geopolitical situation of her country set her up for failure. Let’s not let that happen again to any artist.
Kisses and best wishes to Sergey Lazarev and the Russian people!
You can read more about Sergey Lazarev here.
Eurovision 2016 will be held 10, 12 and 14 May in Stockholm, Sweden. You can watch the entire contest live on eurovision.tv.
Lori Writer 