Round Two: Yulia Samoylova ‘returns’ to Eurovision for Russia!

What’s Eurovision without a bit of controversy, and last year, the big source of Euro-drama came from the host nation Ukraine and their neighbours Russia. We saw Russia select Yulia Samoylova to represent them in Ukraine, however it was soon revealed that she would be banned from entering the host nation due to her ‘illegal’ travels to Crimea.

We don’t want to get too into the politics here, since that’s not what we’re about, but long story short, Yulia wouldn’t be allowed into Ukraine. Russia’s Channel One were offered to perform remotely, ie, not in the stadium, but via satellite. Unsurprisingly, the broadcaster rejected these terms and decided to withdraw. Now, we still don’t know if it was a purposeful plan from Russia, but everyone has had some time to make their own conclusions, and we can leave it at that.

With Yulia unable to take to the stage in 2017, it has now been announced that following through with the ‘promise’, Channel One Russia have given Yulia the chance to take to the Eurovision stage in 2018, representing Russia hopefully without any drama this year.

We don’t yet know any information about the song she will performing, but we know that the preparations have begun, and the song will be released in the coming weeks. For now, let’s learn more about Yulia Samoylova!

Yulia was born in Ukhta, Russia in 1989, and her claim to fame was her appearance on the X Factor Russia, where she was a finalist. She has also won an award called Alla’s Golden Star, which was named after Russia’s 1997 competitor Alla Pugacheva. She performed at the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Paralympics which were held in Sochi in 2014.

Watch the video for Yulia’s withdrawn entry, Flame is Burning: