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Russian singer Bilan wins Eurovision song contest
Russia revelled in the feel good factor on Sunday after winning the Eurovision song contest and Germans and Britons wondered why their singers were so unloved.
- Agencies
- Published: 19:02 May 25, 2008
Moscow: Russia revelled in the feel good factor on Sunday after winning the Eurovision song contest and Germans and Britons wondered why their singers were so unloved.
Dima Bilan, a lithe 26-year-old singer, beat 24 contestants
to give Russia its first victory in the Eurovision Song Contest
on Saturday with a rock ballad "Believe".
Revellers in Moscow partied through the night near Red
Square, some standing on cars and waving Russian flags.
President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, rushed to congratulate their singer, who gushed with patriotism as he spoke to state television.
Bilan was shown chanting "Russia, Russia, Russia" down a
mobile phone to Medvedev. State television ran the Eurovision victory as its top news story in Sunday broadcasts.
But Germans fretted after their most popular band of the
last decade "No Angels" scored zero points from 40 of 42 countries in thecontest and they ended up sharing last place.
"Why doesn't anyone like us?" asked Bild am Sonntag
newspaper after Germany had yet another horrendous showing inthe annual contest watched by more than 100 million viewers.
"Are we too stupid to win or is it simply we're not liked?"
the Sunday newspaper said. "The fact is Germany's top recordingartists have failed spectacularly in this contest. Do our singers simply have no chance abroad?"
Britain's veteran Eurovision presenter Terry Wogan
questioned whether the contest favoured Eastern European
countries after Britain's highly touted entry came last with
Germany and Poland.
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