CHART SPOTLIGHT. The Russian ESC star Alex Vorobyov, or Alex Sparrow which he calls himself continues to heavily criticize Eric Saade. Pointing out that Saade sang playback at the show, Sparrow compares it to hara-kiri, according to leading news daily Aftonbladet.

Super producer RedOne co-wrote “Get You,” and Alex Sparrow’s manager is Peter Swartling. His song coach is Kishti Tomita. Both of them were part of the Swedish Idol jury a while back and is part of the team behind this year’s Russian entry.

“When I’m on stage at the Eurovision, I will be the only Russian at the stage. The dancers, background singers, everyone’s from Sweden,” Alex Sparrow says.

The Russian singer is quick to point out that he would never sing playback. Saade’s manager Tomas Lingman says:

“We were introduced, that’s it. After that, we went back to the dressing room. Singing playback was the Russian record label’s decision. 35 to 40 artists performed on the show. It was the first time Eric sang playback, he usually don’t.”

On the Russian entry, Lingman simply says “Eric doesn’t need to pay RedOne and Swartling millions to be part of the Eurovision. [Eric] has the support from the people,” referring to the fact that “Get You” was chosen to represent Russia and did not win compete for the victory.