Dima Nikolayevich Bilan is a Russian singer, songwriter and actor.
31 Facts About Dima Bilan
2.
Dima Bilan represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with "Never Let You Go", finishing second, and he won the contest in 2008 in Belgrade, with the song "Believe".
3.
Dima Bilan has had several Russian number one hit records.
4.
Dima Bilan is sometimes referred to as "Russia's Iglesias" due to his similarity to the Spanish singer.
5.
Dima Bilan was born as Viktor Belan in Ust-Dzheguta in the autonomous republic Karachay-Cherkessia in a mixed family of Tatar, Karachay and Russian heritage.
6.
Dima Bilan started playing bayan in the fifth class of school and participated in different music contests as a child.
7.
Dima Bilan became interested in music as he enjoyed singing during school and started to write letters to the Gnessin Musical College, asking them for entrance requirements.
8.
At the time, Dima Bilan lived at an apartment of an acquainted family.
9.
Dima Bilan financed his studies while working as a nighttime stock clerk in a shoe store.
10.
Dima Bilan regularly performed at school parties and for guests at home.
11.
Dima Bilan idolised Valeriy and Konstantin Meladze in his teen years.
12.
Dima Bilan received a diploma from Iosif Kobzon, who was the chairman of the jury.
13.
Dima Bilan performed his first music video under the pseudonym Dima Belan.
14.
Bilan then officially started performing under the pseudonym "Dima Bilan", taking both the first name and surname of his grandfather.
15.
In 2003, Dima Bilan released his debut album Ya nochnoy huligan, which became popular in Russia and was received well among critics.
16.
In mid-March 2006, Dima Bilan was chosen internally by Russian broadcaster Channel One to represent Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens, Greece.
17.
In September 2006, for second year in a row, Dima Bilan won Artist of the Year and Song of the Year at MTV Russian Music Awards.
18.
On 15 November 2006 Dima Bilan received award for Best Selling Russian Artist and performed at the World Music Awards in London along with Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Rihanna, Nelly Furtado and Bob Sinclair.
19.
In February 2007, Dima Bilan started to record his first international album in English in Los Angeles, Miami and in Philadelphia in collaboration with producers Jim Beanz and Ryan Tedder.
20.
On 4 October, Dima Bilan premiered his second single from the forthcoming album, Amnesia, at the MTV Russia Music Awards 2007.
21.
Dima Bilan released an English album in 81 countries in co-operation with Interscope Records.
22.
Dima Bilan worked on his English album, with some tracks produced by Jim Beanz and Ryan Tedder.
23.
In 2008, Dima Bilan represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade with the song "Believe", accompanied by Hungarian violinist Edvin Marton and Russian olympic and three-time world champion figure skater Evgeni Plushenko.
24.
On 24 May 2008, Dima Bilan won first place in the contest, receiving 272 points and seven twelves.
25.
In 2010 Dima Bilan recorded a demo version of the song "White Nights", which would be competing in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, but he did not enter the contest saying that it would be too soon to return to the contest after just 2 years after his win at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.
26.
Dima Bilan has recently competed at Russia's Eurovision 2012 song selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
27.
In December 2012, Dima Bilan signed an open letter attacking the author of a St Petersburg bill against homosexual propaganda, along with pop stars like Philipp Kirkorov and Valery Syutkin.
28.
Also, Dima Bilan appeared in the Eurosong 2013 - a MAD show as a guest, along with other 5 Eurovision winners, which include Ruslana, Marija Serifovic, Alexander Rybak, Helena Paparizou and Vicky Leandros, in order to choose the artist and the song that would have represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmo.
29.
Dima Bilan has repeatedly been awarded the Golden Gramophone Award.
30.
Dima Bilan repeatedly became the laureate of "Soundtrack" in various categories:.
31.
Dima Bilan is the first artist representing Russia to win Eurovision Song Contest.