Serfdom in Russia lack of primogeniture, and the high turnover and mobility from estate to estate. The Tsar's aunt Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna played a powerful role backstage in the years 1855 to 1861. Using her close relationship with her nephew Alexander II, she supported and guided his desire for emancipation, and helped mobilize the support of key advisors. In 1861 Alexander II freed all serfs in a major agrarian reform, stimulated in part by his view that "it is better to liberate the peasants from above" than to wait until they won their freedom by risings "from below". Serfdom was abolished in
Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 C1R officially announced that they would internally select the artist and song that would represent Russia. On 19 February, Dina Garipova and the song "What If", composed by Gabriel Alares, Joakim Bjornberg and Leonid Gutkin, were selected to represent Russia. "What If" was presented to the public on 24 February during the C1R television newscast "Vremya". After the presentation of the song, several media outlets reported the possibility of plagiarism of several previously released songs: "Skin on Skin" originally recorded by Sarah Connor, "Pozwól życ" originally recorded by Gosia Andrzejewicz, "All Over The World" originally recorded by Brian Kennedy and