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 Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden. The Russian entry was selected through an internal selection, organised by Russian broadcaster Channel One Russia (C1R). Dina Garipova represented Russia with the song "What If", which qualified from the first semi-final of the competition and placed 5th in the final with 174 points. On 30 November 2012, C1R announced their selected procedure for selecting their Eurovision Song Contest 2013 entry, which involved an online public submission form that accepted applications and recordings from authors, composers and singers. On 31 January 2013,