| Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 2020 | ||||
| Country |  Russia | |||
| Selection process | Internal selection | |||
| Announcement date | Artist: 2 March 2020 Song: 12 March 2020 | |||
| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "Uno" | |||
| Artist | Little Big | |||
| Songwriters |
| |||
| Placement | ||||
| Final result | Contest cancelled | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
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Russia was set to be represented at theEurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Uno", performed byLittle Big. The entry, written by Denis Tsukerman,Ilya Prusikin and Viktor Sibrinin, was selected internally. The group was also internally selected by the Russian broadcasterChannel One Russia (C1R). However, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the contest was cancelled.
Prior to the 2021 contest, Russia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 22 times since its first entry in 1994. Russia had won the contest on one occasion in2008 with the song "Believe" performed byDima Bilan. In2016, Russia finished third with the song "You Are the Only One" performed bySergey Lazarev, who would later return to represent his country again in2019 with the song "Scream", also finishing in third place.[1]
The Russian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was internally selected by the selection committee consisting of representatives ofChannel One Russia (C1R) and music industry professionals.[2] Among acts rumoured by several Russian media sites to be considered by the broadcaster were Aleksandr Panayotov, Little Big, Polina Gagarina andZivert.[3][4] On 2 March 2020, C1R announcedLittle Big as the Russian entrant at theEurovision Song Contest 2020.[5] The song selection consisted of two songs: "Tacos" and "Uno".[6] In the end, the song "Uno" was chosen to represent Russia and was released on 12 March 2020 together with the official music video.[7]
The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was due to take place atRotterdam Ahoy inRotterdam, the Netherlands, with two semi finals on 12 and 14 May and the final on 16 May 2020.[8] Russia were due to compete in the first half of the first semi final on 12 May.[9] However, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the contest was cancelled.