Russia

Russia

Dima Bilan will represent Russia with the song "Never Let You Go".

An internal selection process on Channel One chose the 2006 Russian representative. Favourites for selection were Jasmin, Dima Bilan, and Varvara. It was decided that Dima Bilan will represent Russia this year. The chosen song is "Never Let You Go". The song is written by Karen Kavaleryand & Irina Antonyan and composed by Alexandr Lunyov.

Dima Bilan (real name Viktor Belan) was born on 24 December, 1981 in Karachay-Cherkessia and graduated from Gnesinyh musical college as a classical vocal performer. Dima made his debut when he reached 4th place at the Russian/Latvian festival "New Wave" in 2002. In 2003, Dima Bilan released his debut album titled "Nochnoy Huligan," which included covers of "Caruso" by Lucio Dalla and "Fever" by Elvis. In 2004, he released his successful single "Na beregu neba," which was also the title of his second album. Dima Bilan attempted to reach Eurovision previously with the song "Ty dolzhna ryadom byt" in 2005, finishing in 2nd place at the Russian national selection.