RUSSIA: EGOIST IN EPICENTER - DIMA BILAN Vs. SERGEY LAZAREV

The Russian superstars have both released their new albums for the Christmas market and it will be interesting to see who scores better in the end in charts and sales.

Sergey Lazarev's V Epitsentre album is his 5th studio album (after a couple of years and albums in duo Smash!). He has been releasing singles off the album all fall so several songs are already familiar to his fans. Fourteen new songs and one remix. All songs are in Russian (a first for him actually!) and the English version will be released next year. A lot of foreign (aka Eurovisionary) song writers for him and middle of the road, rather unoriginal but somewhat pleasant pop with Russian drama ballads thrown in. Singles Vdrebezgi, Shepoton, Lucky stranger, Tak krasivo , Idealny mir and his Eurovision entry in Russian are included. And sadly they are the best the album has to offer with the title track. Listen in Spotify ***

Dima Bilan released his album Egoist already December 1. He describes it as a new beginning and research for his true "I" now that he's 35, and the egoistic thing being a positive one in this case. This is his ninth studio album and has 11 songs, all in Russian by almost toally Russian writers and producers. Included are singles Derzhi and Mostry v tvoyey golove, He's got more distinctive style in music than Sergey and the album goes full blast with it: more or less uptempo pop tunes sung in half whisper, sometimes edging almost lounge music. Pamyat is for me the highlihgt of the album, a hauntingly beautiful piano ballad. ****

Neither has included their duet Prosti menya on their albums.

Listen in Spotify

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Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

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