Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia. The Russian entry was selected through a national final, Evrovidenie 2008 (Евровидение 2008) organised by the Russian broadcaster Rossiya Channel (RTR). Dima Bilan represented Russia with the song "Believe", which qualified from the first semi-final of the competition and won the contest, placing 1st in the final with 272 points.

For the 2008 Contest, Rossiya Channel (RTR) was responsible for the selection of the Russian entry, opting to organize a national final. On 8 December 2007, RTR announced a submission period for interested artists and composers to submit their entries from 15 December 2007 until the deadline on 1 February 2008.

On 16 February 2008, RTR held a press conference to confirm details regarding the national selection. A jury panel was assembled to select 25 entries from the submissions to compete in the national final. RTR announced it would produce a documentary about the national final and that Muz-TV and Love Radio would follow the preparations of the participants through special diary presentations. On 25 February 2008, RTR revealed the list of 25 entries that had been selected from 167 submissions. Among the competitors were former Russian entrants Dima Bilan (2006) and Premyer-Ministr (2002). On 4 March 2008, an additional two entries were added to the 25 entries previously announced, with former Belarusian entrant Polina Smolova (2006) among them. One of the contestants was future representative, Sergey Lazarev (2016).

The Russian national final took place on 9 March 2008 at the Akademicheskiy Concert Hall in Moscow, hosted by Oxana Fedorova and Oskar Kuchera. 27 songs competed and the winner was selected through a combination of televoting (50%) and jury voting (50%). 2007 Serbian entrant Marija Šerifović, 2008 Ukrainian entrant Ani Lorak and 2008 Belarusian entrant Ruslan Alekhno were the interval acts during the show. Dima Bilan was the winner with the song "Believe", earning top marks from both the public and the jury panel. Bilan previously represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006.

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