Whenever it is faced with a choice of actually doing something or creating an illusion of seeming to be doing something, Russia invariably chooses the latter option, and when it fails as a result it invariably chooses to blame foreign conspiracy rather than lack of preparation and substance. This explains, in a nutshell, why Russia has a declining population and an average wage of $2.50 per hour. Case in point: The Eurovision 2007 song contest. Russia's choice for contestant to represent the nation? The Moscow Times tell us:

Last year, the teen idol Dima Bilan won second place at the Eurovision Song Contest -- a result that prompted outraged headlines and accusations of biased voting in Russia. This year, the Russian delegation made its intentions clear by sending an upbeat dance number titled "Song #1," performed by a newly formed girl group called Serebro, or Silver (pictured above). The trio, put together by influential producer Maxim Fadeyev, held its first news conference last week, and braved a barrage of questions, ranging from whether the singers have boyfriends -- they all claim to be single -- to what they will wear at the contest's final on Saturday. "We don't promise first place," one of the band's two brunettes, Yelena Temnikova, told a crowd of journalists representing tabloids such as Zhizn and even the broadsheet Izvestia. "We want to get a buzz from singing the song. That's the only way we can make people like us."