Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 in Stockholm, Sweden. The Russian entry was selected internally by the Russian broadcaster Russian Public Television (ORT). Alsou represented Russia with the song "Solo", which placed 2nd and scored 155 points at the contest.[2]
For the 1998 Contest, Russia was relegated from competing due to a poor average score from the preceding contests. In 1999, Russia was ineligible to compete because of the failure to air the 1998 Contest on television, which was a requirement for future participation.[3][4]
In 1999, ORT announced that a national final would take place on 19 February 2000 to select the Russian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 and opened a submission period for interested artists and composers to submit their entries until 15 February 2000.[5] A jury panel headed by Konstantin Ernst was to evaluate the received submissions and select entries for the contest, however, due to financial problems, ORT decided to select a participant internally among the submitted entries.[6][7]
Ultimately, Alsou was internally selected with Russia's first English language contest song, "Solo". The entry was also the first foreign collaboration to represent Russia, as the composers, Andrew Lane and Brandon Barnes, were both American.[8]
Russia performed 9th at the 2000 Contest, following Norway and preceding Belgium. After the voting concluded, Russia scored 155 points, including 4 Sets of 12 Points, from Croatia, Cyprus, Malta and Romania; and placed 2nd.[12]
The voting spokesperson for Russia was Zhanna Agalakova.[8]
The following members comprised the Russian jury:[13]
Russia
