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Kremlin pleased with Russia’s second place at Eurovision

Russia’s Polina Gagarina came second with a composition titled A Million Voices, with Swedish singer Mans Zelmerlow winning the contest with his pop track Heroes

Polina Gagarina Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS

Polina Gagarina

© Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS

MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/. The Kremlin is very pleased with Polina Gagarina’s second place at the Eurovision-2015 song contest.

"Absolutely wonderful result. There is nothing more to add," said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Read also

Russian patriarch criticizes Eurovision

The Eurovision-2015 final was held on May 23 and May 24 in the Austrian capital Vienna. Russia’s Polina Gagarina came second with a composition titled A Million Voices, with Swedish singer Mans Zelmerlow winning the contest with his pop track Heroes.

Russia has been taking part in the Eurovision contest since 1994. Over these years, the country’s 19 singers performed there. However, Russia won the contest only once, when Dima Bilan took the crown with his composition Believe. Russia hosted the 2009 Eurovision contest held in Moscow.

The fact that the viewers actively voted for Russia’s Polina Gagarina at the Eurovision contest attests to the Europeans’ desire to have normal relations with Russia, said Chairman of the Federation Council Committee for International Affairs Konstantin Kosachev. According to the senator, Eurovision "is at least 50% percent of politics and geopolitics," "so people often vote not with their hearts or in accordance with their musical tastes. Rather, they are guided by political, ethnic and regional considerations." "Today we just congratulate Polina Gagarina on her undeniable success and Russia - on the successful outcome of an all-European referendum on where ordinary Europeans see Russia," he noted.

The Eurovision song contest has been held annually since 1956. This is one of the world’s most popular non-sporting events drawing up to 600 million people to TV screens.

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