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Russian Recreations: When video and performance merge

05 February 2018 at 17:00 CET
The Eurovision Song Contest has continued to be a platform for pioneering new technologies and broadcasting techniques. However, this is not only true of the production, the same can be said for the actual performances too. Today we look back at one country that has recreated its music videos on the Eurovision stage: Russia.

When the video for Sergey Lazarev's You Are The Only One, Russia's entry for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, was released, it created a lot of buzz online. Many fans immediately took to social media claiming that this was the song to beat. Others speculated on how the song would be performed. 

With Lazarev making limited appearances before Eurovision, this speculation only increased ahead of the competition When he finally stepped onto the Eurovision stage his performance was far from what was expected. Instead of a performance with dance routine, like when he sang at a Eurovision party in Moscow, Sergey had managed to recreate key visual elements from his video during his actual performance.

Sergey Lazarev's performance captured the attention of viewers with the clever staging of the song. What first appeared to be a projection screen, was actually a fabric sheet stretched across a frame. It allowed Lazarev to jump onto different parts, creating the impression that he was climbing and at one point, suspended in mid-air.

Breaking new ground

It wasn't just at the Eurovision Song Contest where Russia broke new ground, the video for Polina Bogusevich's Junior Eurovision song, Wings, marked a departure from previous entries.

Set in a family home, including scenes in a kitchen and bedroom, the video featured an interpretive dance and touched on themes of domestic violence and survival. Not your typical Junior Eurovision entry, or indeed video. 

When it came to the 2017 Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Tbilisi, Polina gave a dramatic performance of her entry, including a replication of several scenes from her video. The result was impressive and Polina was was rewarded with victory!

As concerts become ever more elaborate, and artists look for new and innovative ways to perform, it'll be interesting to see how these play out on the stages of both the Eurovision Song Contest and Junior Eurovision in the years ahead.