31-year-old Evgeni Plushenko, a ten-time national champion, was first in the men's short program by over five points ahead of 18-year-old Maxim Kovtun, with Sergei Voronov coming in third.
Bilan was joined on stage by figure skater Evgeni Plushenko, who performed on a mobile ice rink placed on stage specifically for the Russian performance, and violinist Edvin Marton, who performed with a Stradivarius.
In October 2013 he took part in the St. Petersburg's production of "Opera on Ice" show and performed together with renowned musicians and singers Edvin Marton, Caroline Sandgren, Vasily Gerello as well as figure skaters Evgeni Plushenko, Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev.