#ESC2016: BELARUS REPRESENTATIVE TO BE DECIDED BY TELEVOTE ALONE

BRTC have decided to do away with juries and will let the public decide their representative for next year. More details about Belarus's 2016 national final will be revealed very soon. BRTC are reportedly looking for a song in Belarussian for Stockholm. Wouldn't that be awesome? If televote alone was used this year, Belarus would've sent this to Vienna... 

REVIEWING THE CLASS OF 2015: BELARUS:

Uzari & Maimuna won Belarus's national final back in December and I think it's fair to say that we were all rather surprised. Will Belarus qualify? Here's what we think about Time...

Ana: At the beginning I didn't like this song but after the revamp it has really grown on me. It’s quite catchy and modern and I love the mix of the pop sound with the violin. It may not be a winner entry but they definitely deserve to be in the final.  8/10

Ilkar: This was my favorite in Belarus and I think it's a pretty good one. The violin works magic for this, it's catchy. The arrangement for the rest isn't the most original one, nor he isn't the best singer in the world perhaps but all in all it's a fine effort. And I want to see that hourglass on stage and Uzari running three minute on treadmill to reach it in time.... 7/10

Jack: At first, I didn't like this entry whatsoever. I just found it annoying and also because they beat MILKI in the national final.. I'm still gutted they didn't win, I can't lie. Loved MILKI! Anyway, the new version of Belarus's entry is actually rather fantastic and they deserve to qualify. It's no winner but a song Belarus can be proud of. I hope it won't become a mess on stage. I like it. Will they take that giant egg-timer to Vienna? 7.5/10

Jess: All I can say is I just love this song! It is really catchy and Uzari & Maimuna work so well together! 10/10

John: Aside from Koldun's 6th place entry back in 2007, Belarus is another example of a country that has failed consistently to make any impression on the Eurovision audiences. Urazi & Maimura with Time is, I fear, going to continue that trend. Much as I would like to say otherwise, there is really nothing to redeem this from inevitable failure. 2/10

OUR VERDICT - 34.5/50
OVERALL SCORE - 6.9/10

Belarus: Uzari & Maimuna release 'Time' video-clip!

Belarus are the next country to present their video-clip for Vienna. I'm really liking this now. The song has also undergone some more work it seems..  I think we'll be seeing Belarus in the final once again.

Belarus: New version of 'Time' presented!

Last night, Uzari & Maimuna presented a revamped version of Time. Maimuna's mid-tempo 19th century violin plays a stronger role within the song and Uzari has been working on his English pronunciation. Other than that, there isn't much difference. They will start filming an official video-clip very soon... What do you think?

Albania: Alexander Rybak cancels Festivali i Këngës appearance!

Alexander Rybak was due to make an appearance in Albania's national final tonight although he's decided not to perform on the show because of recent events. MILKI's song was composed by Rybak and despite being tipped to win by a landslide, they only came 4th. However it's worth mentioning Accent didn't win the televote either, so it isn't just the juries who let him down. Straight after the results were announced in Belarus, he released a video stating:

I go on tour to many places around the world and everywhere Europeans say so much dirt about my homeland, Belarus. And I defend it, defend it. I say that it has a good system. And they say, “What kind of system? It’s all bought/ bribed” And I keep defending it. But I don’t even know anymore what I am defending. Every year, I meet the Belarussian delegation and they keep saying, “Sasha, please, write us a song. What do we need to do to win in Eurovision?” And so I wrote a song, spent so much time, so much money. I found some unique and talented girls and I wrote a song about pure and authentic Belarus, how I see it. And then the jury failed it. I even sacrificed by not celebrating Christmas with my parents. But it’s not even about that. Everywhere in Europe, people supported us; experts; fans of Eurovision, and here the jury decided to fail us. I saw this jury before. I’ve met everyone. I remember when I was sick, one guy from the jury came and said to take a picture, one chance with the kids. I smiled and took a picture and he said, “We will always support you.” And this is how they support, yeah? I really hope that I will never again see this jury because it will be very difficult to pretend that I’m happy and that I want to smile.

A sore loser? You decide..

UZARI & MAIMUNA TO REPRESENT BELARUS!

Belarus held their national final last night where Uzari & Maimuna won the right to represent the country in Vienna. Listen to their song here. Is it time for Belarus to win Eurovision? Not with this song, I'm afraid. Many people love it, many hate it - I'm indifferent to this one. It looked pretty good live and he sounded great although I'm not sure if the song is strong enough. Fan favourites MILKI only managed a disappointing 4th place. Isn't it ironic that Alexander Rybak lost to a song with a violin instrumental? Belarus still reserve the right to change the song and even the artists (it's been done before...) before March!

Belarus:15 finalists announced!

Napoli 

Auditions took place in Belarus on Thursday and Friday where 89 acts performed in front of a jury - and they picked the best 15 to compete in the upcoming national final on 26th December. Here they are:

Gunesh

Janet

Aliaksei Hros

Darya

Valeria Sadovskaya

UZARI & MAIMUMA

MILKI

Yana Butskevich & Muzzart

Beatrys

Napoli

Tasha ODI

Lis

Rostany

Anastasia Malashkevich

Vital' Varanko

Many familiar names in the line-up once again including; Janet, Napoli, Alexey Gross, Gunesh and UZARI & MAIMUMA. Let's just say there was some unique acts in the auditions that didn't make it....

Belarus: MILKI's song revealed!

MILKI's song for Eurofest 2015, the Belorussian national final, has been released this morning. Alexander Rybak composed the song and you can listen to it here. It's already getting some hate but this blogger adores it! I'd love to see them represent Belarus. Auditions are currently being held and the national finalists will be announced very soon indeed. I'll do a little review once the finalists are chosen - as I won't be able to watch Belarus's national final on 26th December.

Belarus: Over 110 acts submit songs for Vienna!

Over 110 songs have been received by BTRC for the upcoming Belarusian national final.  A number of well known acts are in the running to represent Belarus in the contest; these include Napoli, Switter Boys, Alexey Gross, Daria and Gunesh. As previously reported, The winner of Eurovision 2009, Alexander Rybak, has composed a song for a girlband her created - they will perform under the name Milki. You can already listen to some of the songs here.

Source and photograph - KP.by

Belarus: National final on 26th December!

Belarus will hold their national final on 26th December. Fifteen acts will compete for the right to represent Belarus in Vienna. Auditions will be held on 4th and 5th December - the full list of participants will be released following day. A new girlband are set to compete, with a song composed by Alexander Rybak. I'm looking forward to hearing their song!

NuVidz: Giorgia, Nicole Scherzinger, Alyona Lanskaya, Stephanie Nala!

Giorgia is one of Italy's most well respected singers and she released a new video-clip a few days ago. La mia stanza is very different when compared to her other songs. It's uptempo and does sound a little dated.. yet I like it! What do you think? This blogger is desperate to see her in Eurovision. I even featured her in my Wishlist Series earlier this year. Nicole Scherzinger performed Run on The X Factor last weekend and wow, her performance was stunning! It features on Nicole's new album and you can buy it here on iTunes. One of the best songs I've heard in a long time. I'm Alive is Alyona Lanskaya's latest song. She's heavily rumoured to return to Belarus's selection (which takes place on Boxing Day) and it's probable that I'm Alive is the song she will compete with. Hmmm, it's OK. Finally, you probably won't be familiar with Stephanie Nala but she's fantastic. She was eliminated in week two on The X Factor but I think Stephanie deserved to do so much better. Check out her covers of Wicked Games and Can't Hurry Love. Isn't she adorable?!

Belarus: Alexander Rybak composes song for newly formed girlband!

Alexander Rybak wants to return to Eurovision but not as a singer, he wants to compose Belarus's entry for Vienna. He's already held auditions in Belarus to select five talented girls to perform his song. The girls have been chosen and preparations are underway for the national final - scheduled for late January. The girlband don't have a name yet but consist of  Anna Ray, Tanya Stahovskaya, Victoria Nazarko and Taisiya Serikova. Rybak said the song “will show Belarusian soul” and feature the national language. The Norwegian 2009 representative also has a song in the Maltese selection,  Still Here sung by local talent Franklin. Time will tell if he's successful there but I don't think that song is good enough. Meanwhile, other names interested in representing Belarus include Alyona Lanskaya (2013), Napoli and Gunesh.

Source and Photograph - Komsomolskaya Pravda

Missed Opportunities 2014: Belarus!

Fourteen acts competed in the Belorussian national final on 10th January. It was a pretty weak selection and I only really liked a couple of songs. Teo achieved 16th place in Copenhagen, 3 points ahead of Molly. So, who would have been better Belorussian representatives?

Nuteki - Fly Away

Nuteki have tried to represent Belarus a few times before but I think their effort this year was their best. Nuteki are a popular Belorussian rock band that was formed in Moscow in 2007. Fly Away was a brilliant tune and I believe it would have been a FANTASTIC entry for Belarus. The live performance was pretty weak. I think this is the main reason they didn't win. A real shame.

Introducing 2014: Belarus!

On 10th January, the Belorussian national final was held where TEO won! It wasn't the strongest national final... in-fact there was only one song that I liked. Nuteki should have won with Save Me. But they didn't much to my disappointment  - maybe they will try again next year? Teo's national final performance was pretty average but the song itself has potential.  I hope they are working on a better performance for Copenhagen. The studio version of the song is okay - watch the official video-clip here. It's a pretty catchy song, actually! It has charm.

The original lyrics contained a reference to Google Maps however this has been changed as references to companies and brands violate the EBU rules. So this reference was therefore replaced with new lyrics - "all the maps". But there are no changes to the song itself.. Will it qualify? I don't think so...

Belarus: Changes to the lyrics of "Cheesecake"!

Due to the reference of "Google Maps" in TEO's song, the lyrics have been changed slightly to comply with EBU rules. References to any organisation are now allowed as the EU regulations clearly state “no messages promoting any organization, institution, political cause or other, company, brand, products or services shall be allowed”.

The lyric has now changed to "All Maps". I'm surprised Belarus hasn't changed the song yet, to be honest... haha! Although TEO has actually confirmed that he wants to keep this song for Copenhagen. Valentina Monetta had the same problem in 2012, as her original entry was entitled "Facebook Uh-Oh-Oh" but the reference to Facebook was taken away as it would have been disqualified otherwise.

Belarus: Max Lorens and DiDyuLya call for results to be annulled!

Petition set up against TEO's win

Belarus held their national final last week, where TEO emerged victorious, however the runners up are calling for the results to be annulled. Max Lorens and DiDyuLya actually received 8746 votes, the highest amount of votes, and TEO received 5088. However there was a tie between the two - and therefore the jury had the final decesion, where they decided that TEO would represent the county in Copenhagen.

A petition has been set up, and it has already gathered 2,500 signatures. They have also sent a letter to the Belorussian president. Max Lorens and DiDyuLya hae said that they would hold a special concert under the name "For Fair Voting" Personally I'm not fused about either as both are rather mediocre but I guess "Cheesecake" has its charm. Let's see what happens here...

Belarus: TEO takes "Cheesecake" to Copenhagen!

TEO has won the Belorussian national final with a song entitled "Cheesecake" and will therefore represent Belarus in Copenhagen, this May. I didn't watch the show although I have caught up with the performance and I'm kinda underwhelmed...

I can see it's appeal though - but I'm not a fan, but maybe it'll grow on my by May. He reminds me of Robin Thicke actually. The winner was determined by a jury and televote although there was a tie between TEO and Max Lorens & DiDyuLya. But the jury choose TEO to represent the country in Copenhagen... a good choice? We'll see! "Cheesecake" was written by TEO and he has already said that he doesn't plan on changing the song. Although he will have to change the lyrics somewhat as they mention “Google Maps” on several occasions. Remember the Facebook song? Uh-oh! Nuteki came 5th, although in fairness, the lead singers vocals were rather painful to listen to at times. That scuppered his changes, in my opinion!

Enjoy "Cheesecake":

Belarus: National final to be held tonight!

They have strippers and they have cheesecake! Tonight Belarus will choose their representative for Copenhagen. It's a rather poor line-up, although there are a few decent songs. Nuteki seem to be the main favourites and I really hope they will win. Their song is fantastic!

The show will kick off at 19:30 CET. Here is the running order for tonight's show:

1. Natalia Tamelo – Not What I’ve Been Looking For
2. Nuteki – Fly Away
3. Artsem Mikhalenka – Rapsodiya #1
4. Matvei Cooper & DUX – Strippers
5. TEO – Cheesecake
6. Daria – Starlight
7. Elena Siniavskaya – Via Lattea
8. Alina Moshchenko – Angel Crying
9. Janette – You Will Be Here
10. Anastasia Malashkevich – Runaway
11. Switter Boys feat. Kate&Volga Karol – Vechnaya lyubov
12. NAPOLI – Stay With Me
13. Max Lorens & DiDyuLya – Now You’re Gone
14. Tasha Odi – Empty Universe

Alyona Lanskaya, Polina Smolova and Gunesh will perform as special guest.