Undoubtedly inspired by Jedward a few years earlier (or even Germany in 1959), for 2014 Russia gave us a pair of twins. The Tolmachevy Sisters begin their performance back to back at the centre of a balanced see-saw, pony-tails twined together, clutching a pair of perspex dowels. This is clearly the set-up for a fantastic Physics lesson simultaneously demonstrating mechanics and static. After shaking out their locks, the sisters head to the ends of the see-saw and demonstrate the simple wonders of playground apparatus (something also delivered by Greece's trampoline and Ukraine's hamster wheel the same year: the toys were out in force in 2014). Frankly they don't make nearly enough of it, but it's great while it lasts. Beyond the gimmicks, the song is solid and well-built with a Bond-lite sweeping instrumental to the final chorus.

Russia's 2008 winner is some rather ordinary '80s boy-band power-balladry, made more interesting by the addition of a frantic fiddler and an annoyingly flouncy ice-skater. It's hard not to wish the skater would fall down. There's a particularly hilarious moment when the singer pulls him by the shoulder and we get a close up of our skater's face in a move conventionally used to reveal a beautiful woman rather than someone who looks a bit like a young Mel Smith. Even when kneeled down at the end, he continues to wave his arms about as if providing commentary for the deaf. Still, it's an iconic moment, and the song's alright too.

Smack the Pony meet MeKaDo for the A-side to Blur's classic. It all seems very straightforward post-"Toxic" girl-band stuff, and then we get the Smooth Criminal break.

In what was an ikonic performance, Manizha glid Davros-like around the floor in a rather solid-looking big dress, pulling Netta-esque fizzogs and looking at her hands, before opening a big door at the front of the frock and striding out in a red boiler-suit like a sort of Russie the Riveter. The song meanders around Chikilicuatre territory before pivoting in the direction of "1944", with a bit of Armenia-style fun thrown in for good measure.

In 1997, Russia gave us hardened rock chick Alla Pugacheva (a sort of female Ozzy Osbourne) and a power-ballad that's done time in the Red Army. It really needed a full military choir to come in at the end, but alas that would break the six-performer rule and so never transpired. What did transpire just about made up for it though: "bravo"s, and a fantastic pizzicato orchestra flourish transforming an interesting nationalistic take on the power-ballad into something rather special.

Strumming at guitars in 2010 were Russia, who donned nice thick jumpers and scarves and went out in the snow, all Aled Jones -like, for a beautiful piece of melancholia. A great crane-shot between two audience monitors seems to recall the Quantel days and this triggers a well of nostalgia that explodes like freshly tapped oil and resonates through the soaring "woah" that opens up the tear-jerking lighter-waving chorus. "What are you doing?" asks the guitarist during a partially spoken verse two. "I'm looking at her photo," replies the haunted vocalist, clutching a crumpled line-drawing. The guitarist suggests he burns the item; "oh yes, yes I've got to burn her now, cos I have to forget her now"... It's rather moving, and the more the snow falls, the more the piece begins to take on the mood of some Russian novel. The wind machine kicks in and our Master begins to yodel at his Margarita through the rousing chorus before casting her adrift on the wind. It's all really very beautiful...

Russia looked at Måns Zelmerlöw and thought "how can we improve on that?". Their solution: to develop a PowerPoint projection you can actually climb up. Musically, at least, it's a bit of a raid of the Greek stationery cupboard circa 2009, but that's far from a bad thing. "Thunder and lightning / It's getting exciting" sang our Sergey... and for the first time that evening it was.

Our second appearance in this chart for our Dima. There he is in his number 10 vest, knocking over his mic stand and getting flesh on his flesh and bone on his bone. In the background, two ballerinas dance. In the piano, a street entertainer languishes in rose petals. It's a better song than the one he'd go on to win with, but, alas, no ice-skater no prize.

Russia's Little Big had a few million hits on YouTube going into the aborted 2020 contest. Their Wes Anderson chic, Nicole & Hugo inspired dance routine, and simple Spanish counting lyrics would definitely have been in with a shout for the grand prix, and it's somewhat a missed opportunity that Little Big weren't retained for the 2021 contest.