winner, 2008
Dima Bilan
Dima Bilan sang at two Eurovision Song Contests, in 2006 and 2008, for Russia, and won in 2008 with “Believe”.
- who
- Russian pop singer
- born
- 24 December 1981, Ust-Dzheguta
- contests
- 2006, 2008
- win
- 2008
- music
- pop, rhythm and blues, synth-pop
- plays
- accordion
- active
- since 2000
- record labels
- Universal Records, Gala Records, EMI, Misteriya Zvuka, Universal Music Group
- studied at
- Russian Institute of Theatre Arts
- sang for
- Russia
Biography
Dima Bilan is a Russian singer who finished fourth at the first New Wave contest in 2002. Bilan sang for Russia at the contest twice: “Never Let You Go” was second in Athens in 2006, and “Believe” won in Belgrade in 2008. It is Russia’s only win.
Written by ESC Predictions, 8 October 2026. Sources: Wikipedia, “Dima Bilan”.
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The act’s own accounts, as listed on Wikidata. If one is wrong or out of date, tell us and we’ll take it down.
At Eurovision
Two songs, oldest first, and what became of each.
-
2006 Athens
“Never Let You Go”
2nd of 24 Finished 2nd of 24 in the final, with 248 points.
- Sung in
- English
- Written by
- Irina Antonyan, Karen Kavaleryan, Alexandr Lunyov
- Running order
- 10th of 24 in the final
- Semi-final
- 3rd of 23, 217 points
- Age on the night
- 24
- Won that year
- Finland: Lordi, “Hard Rock Hallelujah”
The story of Eurovision 2006: Hard Rock Hallelujah: Finland wins after 45 years
-
2008 Belgrade
“Believe”
Winner Won the contest with 272 points, ahead of 24 other songs.
- Sung in
- English
- Written by
- Jim Beanz, Dima Bilan
- Running order
- 24th of 25 in the final
- Semi-final
- 3rd of 19, 135 points
- Age on the night
- 26
Play: Dima Bilan — “Believe”, the winning performance at Eurovision 2008 hear it YouTube the contest’s channel Spotify search Apple Music search
The story of Eurovision 2008: Two semi-finals, a contest that nearly moved, and Russia's first win
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Away from Eurovision
Awards
- World Music Awards 2006
- MTV Europe Music Award for Best European Act 2012
- Merited Artist of Russia 2018
- Golden Gramophone Award
- Muz-TV Awards
- Russian National Music Award
- ZD Awards
As recorded on Wikidata, which is rarely the whole list.
In our contest stories
What we wrote about Dima Bilan, year by year. Follow a link for the rest of that night.
- 2006 The result
Lordi's "Hard Rock Hallelujah" finished on 292 points, exactly the score it had won the semi-final with two nights before. Russia's Dima Bilan was second on 248.
- 2008 The result
Russia won for the first time. Dima Bilan, runner-up two years before, came back with "Believe" and finished on 272 points, 42 ahead of Ukraine's Ani Lorak.
Results as published by the European Broadcasting Union. Biographical details from Wikidata. The photo is from Wikimedia Commons and is credited beside it. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it.