Dima Bilan

Bilan started playing bayan in the fifth class of school and participated in different music contests as a child. He became interested in music as he enjoyed singing during school and started to write letters to the Gnessin Musical College, asking them for entrance requirements. Although the musical college did not respond to his writings, he still went to the auditions and managed to enroll.[3] Between 2000 and 2003, he specialised in classical singing. Afterwards, he enrolled at the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts, where he studied acting. At the time, Bilan lived at an apartment of an acquainted family. He financed his studies while working as a nighttime stock clerk in a shoe store.

Bilan started his music career during school. He regularly performed at school parties and for guests at home. He idolised Valeriy and Konstantin Meladze in his teen years. In 1995, he first performed at a televised music contest, singing Valeriy Meladze's "Aktrisa". Meladze's 1997 single "Vera" especially became important to Bilan.

In 1998, he first travelled to Moscow to participate in a children's music contest. He received a diploma from Iosif Kobzon, who was the chairman of the jury. After moving to Moscow to studying at Gnessin, Bilan started recording his first songs. His first music video "Osen'" was released in late 2000. He performed his first music video under the pseudonym Dima Belan.[

Although Bilan studied to become an opera singer, he quickly found himself bored with is coursework and dreamt of becoming a pop singer. Via a classmate, he met Yuri Aizenshpis, who saw potential in Bilan. Bilan then officially started performing under the pseudonym "Dima Bilan", taking both the first name and surname of his grandfather.

In August 2002, Bilan participated in the first edition of New Wave. At the end of the contest, he finished in fourth place. On the last night of the competition, he premiered his first commercial single "Boom".

After New Wave, Bilan released a music video for "Boom". In 2003, Bilan released his debut album Ya nochnoy huligan, which became popular in Russia and was received well among critics. As a result, he performed its eponymous single "Ya nochnoy huligan" at the 2003 edition of Pesnya goda. However, Bilan's big break came with the release of the ballad "Na beregu neba", which peaked at #2 at the TopHit radio charts. The subsequent album Na beregu neba became one of the best-selling albums in Russia of 2004, receiving a gold certification.