Word: russia
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...Norway well ahead of second-place finisher Iceland, which scored 218. In "Fairtyale," Rybak mixed stellar vocals with Scandinavian kitsch. He sang about his obsession with a lost love while a folk troop performed a centuries-old Norwegian mountain dance consisting of backflips and exaggerated push-ups. "In Russia, they like nostalgia and melancholy," he said, explaining why he thinks his wistful tune appealed to millions of voters in Russia and former Soviet states. That his folksy ditty channeled the sounds of Vladivostok more than Oslo probably didn't hurt. (See Eurovision's most controversial moments...
...recent years, East European nations have dominated Eurovision - Russia won last year, Serbia the year before, and Ukraine finished second both times. It may seem like sour grapes, but commentators from losing countries (the U.K. finished last in 2008) have consistently complained that the public phone vote used to determine the winner has ensured that historical ties always trump song quality. An entry from Greece, for example, could still earn top points from Cyprus, even if the song is painful to listen to. (See a TIME package on loving Eurovision...
...awarded by the traditional public phone-in and 50% by a panel of music producers in each country. Advocates of the new jury system will be quick to say it helped Norway transcend borders - with a mix of fans and more objective industry experts voting, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia all awarded Norway the maximum 12 points, thereby snubbing one another. But since Eurovision has no plans to reveal which national juries voted for which countries, its actual effect is difficult to determine. In any event, it's likely the East would have voted for Rybak anyway; he was born...
...into its space program]," he adds as he watches a clip from White Sun of the Desert, a Soviet action-adventure film that cosmonauts traditionally - and superstitiously - watch before blasting off, ever since Gagarin watched it and returned alive from his first space flight. But Bogomolov has confidence that Russia can regain its standing as a space superpower. "[Prime Minister Vladimir] Putin is a strong leader. Now we know our path and we have a goal," he says, referring to the planned new moon rocket and cosmodrome. (See pictures of Putin...
...with a revamped museum, a new rocket program and possibly a new space base, it's Russia that's trying to catch...