She may not have come first, but teen pop singer Alsou did Russia proud in last Saturday's Eurovision Song Contest, held in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.
Alsou Tenisheva, a 16-year-old architecture student residing in England but well known in her native land as simply Alsou, received 155 votes for her rhythmic, English-language pop song "Solo," written by two American composers. The attractive, waif-like singer - who owes her oriental features to her Tatar ancestry - took the stage with two British backup singers and two dancers.
First place went to a Danish folk duet, the middle-aged Olsen Brothers, with 195 votes. Latvian Brit-pop band Brainstorm came in third, with 136 votes.
Alsou's second-placing was seen by many as a triumph for her homeland, after recent Eurovision contests had brought humiliation for top flight Russian singers at the annual event - broadcast around the world to an audience estimated at 100 million viewers.
Even though Alsou calls England home for now, her success caused a major splash in the national newspapers here. Several papers said the Eurovision result was sweet balm for national pride, wounded by the national hockey team's disastrously low 11th place at the world championships, which finished last Sunday in St. Petersburg.
Kommersant even seemed to feel that coming second was better than coming first. Under the headline, "Alsou Saved Russia," the daily explained that second place brings glory to the nation, while avoiding the costs of coming in first place. Each Eurovision competition is held in the home country of the previous year's winner - and Kommersant estimated that staging the 2001 Eurovision contest would cost the local economy some $3.5 million. As it was, ORT television put up a fee of $183,000 for Alsou's participation, receiving exclusive local broadcasting rights in return, Kommersant reported.
It was also a sweet result for Alsou's No. 1 fan - Ralif Safin, a vice president at oil giant LUKoil, who flew to Stockholm to see his daughter perform.
Alsou's parentage has led to press speculation about LUKoil's possible financial involvement in her success on the local pop scene, but both the singer and her dad have denied that the oil firm's billions have played any part in her career.
The teen pop star describes her powerful father's role in a more emotional way.
"My father is very proud of me and supports me in everything I do," she said in a recent interview with Europa Plus radio in St. Petersburg.
And Alsou's record company - the local branch of the Universal Music Group - is just as proud of a Russian star who they are confident has global appeal.
"It is the first time that a major record label has seriously committed itself to promote Russian music internationally," said Alexei Kruzin, financial manager for Universal Music Russia. The Universal Group is set to release Alsou's first English-language single worldwide, he added.
"Alsou has set a precedent, showing that a Russian artist can really be an export, " Kruzin added.
Her showing at this year's Eurovision was a marked contrast to previous local acts.
Filipp Kirkorov - a giant of the national pop scene, a bizarre singer who favors sequin-studded suits and tours the country in a plane bearing the image of his own face - could only manage ninth place when he performed at Eurovision 1995. His wife, pop diva Alla Pugachyova did not even manage any sort of placing two years later, a sad comedown for a woman who has dominated this country's pop scene for more than a decade.
The failures of these two local legends was put down in some quarters to the fact that they performed Russian-language compositions. For all the Eurovision contest's internationalism, English-language entries start with a major advantage.
Kruzin said the absence of any language barrier for Alsou - "she has more problems speaking Russian than English," he said - was one of the keys to her success at Eurovision.
Meanwhile, Alsou's Russian producer, Valery Belotserkovsky, is less concerned with his charge's international prospects. She has already found a strong niche right here, he said.
"We have created an image loved by both children and their parents," he said.
"Alsou is liked by both students from technical colleges and by intellectuals," he said.