Sergey’s back. And he means business. You sense he’s been ready for another tilt at a Eurovision crown for a couple of years since losing to Jamala, but he’s had to sit it out whilst Russia dicked around with Julia Samoylova.
You can also sense the seriousness of the business that’s being meant, as he’s got the so-called “Dream Team” of composer Dimitris Kontopoulos (who has six Eurovision top 10 songs under his belt) and the 1995 17th-placed Eurovision flop Philip Kirkorov behind his entry.
The song, ‘Scream’, is epic. It’s a big, ballsy, powerful ballad, backed with a video that sees Sergey gallumphing over land and sea as a have-a-go hero seeking a damsel in distress. I suppose that’s what fate befalls a damsel; I’d be distressed too if I had to spend any length of time with Kirkorov.
The whole thing’s gloriously overblown, and the lyrics are ridiculous. Sergey swallows hard (you can do your own jokes) and braces himself for the painful cries that accompany his tears: who knew as he stood atop his plinth in 2016 that he’d turn out to be such a lachrymose screamer?
Presentation-wise, we’re promised new ground at Eurovision, something epically cinematic in 4D projections, bigger than the movies themselves. Well. There’s a feeling of the Russians having overextended their ambition this year, trying just too hard to get a win after their high jinks surrounding the Kyiv Contest came back to haunt them last year.
There’ll be plenty of support for this, particularly from televoters, but I think most jury members will see through it enough to save us from it winning.
Monty’s score: 7 points