So it’s official: Julia Samoylova has been confirmed as Russia’s representative for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest by the country’s national broadcaster, Channel One.

Months of speculation has been rising over the coming months since Russia’s confirmed return to the 2018 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, with questions being asked regarding the country’s representative for the upcoming competition.

Recent weeks have seen much activity from Russia’s initial 2017 artist, Julia Samoylova, including a new video release of her bidding 2017 Eurovision entry, Flame in burning, over the festive period.

This month, Samoylova has been speaking of details in connection with her 2018 participation, including news of 2 potential entries for the upcoming Lisbon-hosted competition, both of which have been written by the singer herself together with her husband, Alexei Taran.

Julia Samoylova for 2018

Three days ago, Samoylova stated that she had met with the team behind her upcoming participation, revealing that she would be Russia’s 2018 representative.

Up until recently, the Russian national broadcaster – Channel One – had yet to officially confirm any additional news regarding their representative… until now.

The news was confirmed via the official Channel One website earlier today, including a video about the singer’s upcoming participation and Samoylova’s life.

No further news has been confirmed by the broadcaster regarding their 2018 entry, with further details expected over the coming weeks.

Russia will compete in the first half of the second semi-final on the 10 May, as was confirmed earlier today during the semi-final allocation draw in Lisbon.

Look back to Eurovision 2017

2017 was an uncertain Eurovision year for Julia Samoylova; confirmed as Russia’s representative for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest back in March 2017, controversy soon arose regarding the potential news that the singer would be unable to enter the then-host country of Ukraine, following a breach of law.

Days after her confirmed participation, news broke that Samoylova had been banned by the Security Service of Ukraine from entering the country, citing an illegal visit to the nation the previous year without passing through the de-facto border.

With the EBU attempting to find an alternative plan for Russia’s participation, even suggesting potential participation to be aired remotely, a solution was unable to be found, resulting in Channel One confirming the nation’s withdrawal from the 2017 competition.

Russia’s planned entry for Eurovision 2017

News spread stating that, in the event of Samoylova being unable to compete at the 2017 contest, the singer would be invited by the broadcaster to instead compete at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.

Despite initial uncertainty regarding Samoylova’s 2018 participation, rumours have now been put to rest following today’s announcement.

What do you think of Samoylova’s confirmed participation? Are you happy to see the artist’s eventual participation at the 2018 competition?