The Eurovision Song Contest 1996 took place at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway, on 18 May 1996. According to the Eurovision rules, the 23-country participant list for the contest was composed of: the previous year's winning country and host nation Norway and the twenty-two countries which had obtained the highest number of points in the special qualifying round. Russia placed joint 26th with 14 points in the qualifying round and thus was not permitted to participate.ESC History - Russia 1996
