Countries In Review: Belarus

As the summertime--with its warm temperatures and hours of sunshine continue to distract my judges--it's time more me to continue reviewing countries, and next on my docket is Belarus, a country I know very little about.

I am blessed with having a coworker who was born and raised in the country of Belarus, and I've been lucky to learn a great deal about Belarus--from the time of Rus to the modern day--and she's shared with me wonderful stories and pictures of the country, including the one included in this post.

The Cathedral of Saint Sophia is one of the numerous churches found in Polotsk, and is the oldest church in the country of Belarus.             Photo courtesy of Olga Segelavich
 

As for Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest, I had to do a bit of research on my own.

Belarus hasn't been the most successful country in the Eurovision Song Contest, making the finals in only two of the seven years they've competed. 

Unlike many countries, who attempt to do something completely original, Belarus seems to copy successful entries from other countries in previous years.

The best example of this "borrowing" could be found in Belarus' most successful entry in the ESC.

 

Dmitry Koldun "Work Your Magic"  2007

 

I must admit that the James Bond feel of the song, combined with the interesting dance moves and a rather strong performance from the Princess Di lookalike works really well.

 

But compare it to the Russian entry of the prior year, the "borrowing" is self evident.

 

 

 

Dima Bilan  "Never Let You Go"  2006

 

When the cribbing is well done, I'm have no issue with it.  I prefer Koldun to Bilan and wouldn't have minded a better placement than sixth, which is where "Work Your Magic" placed in 2007.

 

However, borrowing can also produce something that is totally inferior to the song it's using as a template--for example my vote for the worst song Belarus has ever sent to Eurovision.

 

 

 

3 + 2 "Butterflies"  2010

 

I admit I might be controversial, since this was the other of the two Belorussian songs that been performed in the Eurovision final, but this song is absolutely horrible.

 

However compare the song and staging to the following song, which was performed the prior year.

 

 

 

Jade Ewen  "It's My Time"  United Kingdom 2009

 

The classy route really worked well for Ms. Ewan, who gave the UK their best placement in years, but instead of giving the floor to one very talented singer, they gave it to five less talented singers who were off key--making the song ear-cringingly bad.  Combined with a stupid gimmick and lyric that is trite makes "Butterflies" my least favorite Belorussian entry.

 

But that gloss of class really helped.

 

My favorite Belorussian Eurovision song is probably going to be controversial as well, but for an entirely different reason.

 

 

 

 

Anastasia Vinnakova  "I Love Belarus"  2011

 

 

People say that politics and Eurovision are not connected and the European Broadcasting Union tries to keep political songs out of the contest.  However, this song can be seen as very political when looking at the climate of Belorussian international politics at the time. 

 

The previous December, Alexander Lukashenko the President of Belarus, won his fourth election as president.  His reelection was marred by protests and soundly condemned by most Western countries, who felt the elections were neither free nor fair and the European Union increased sanctions on the president and other high level members of the Belorussian government.

 

"I Love Belarus" was announced as the Belorussian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest a few months later, Ms. Vinnakova's ode to the love of her country can be read as more than a light pop song.  It can also be read as a statement from Belarus to the rest of Europe--which has even more power when you realize that this song was delivered in Germany--the center of the European Union.

 

There's no way you can deny that the combination of politics and pop makes this a tantalizing song, and is why this is definitely my favorite Belorussian song.

 

And for those of you who are interested, here's how the rest of the Belorussian entries stacked up:

 

1.  Anastasia Vinnakova  "I Love Belarus"   2011

2.  Aleksandra and Konstintin  "My Galileo"  2004   Let's face it, I love quirk.  Even if you can't understand a word the singer is saying.

3.  Polina Smolova  "Mum"  2006    A for effort, dear, but WHAT are you wearing? 

4.  Litesound  "We Are The Heroes"   2012   Had they not changed the song and made the group wear ridiculous outfits, this one would be a contender for my favorite.

5.  Dmitriy Koldun "Work Your Magic"  2007

6.  Angelica Agurbash "Love Me Tonight"   2005   Enjoyed the gimmick, wish she could stay on key.

7.  Ruslan Alekhno   "Hasta La Vista"  2006   Why didn't this work?  It should have...  It just doesn't.

8.  Petr Elfimov  "Eyes That Never Lie"  2009  They promised hard rocking, but Elfimov is a low rent Tom Jones with over-processed platinum hair.

9.  3 + 2   "Butterflies"  2010

 

And that's it for Belorussian entries to Eurovision.  I'm looking forward to next year's contest and what they'll send.  Will they be original or will they send the Belorussian take on "Euphoria"?  Either way, I'm I'll have an opinion.





Countries In Review: Azerbaijan

It has been a couple of weeks since I last updated my journal, and in that time a lot of things have changed--including my residence.  That means that I have finally gotten back around to updating my Eurovision blog and I can continue with the next country in my review posts--Azerbaijan.

Baku, Azerbaijan's capital, is a leader in ambitious buildings like the planned Hotel Crescent

Azerbaijan is the newest country in the Eurovision Song Contest, first sending a song in 2008.  And in those five years, they have been they have been extremely successful, having placed no lower than eighth in the final contest.  It's a track record that most other countries would envy.

Personally, I've never been much of a fan of Azerbaijani entrants.  I've always found them to be more of a part of Azerbaijani international policy that actually being representative of their actual musical culture.

A case in point is the song that won the contest back in 2011:

Ell and Nikki  "Running Scared"  2011

I've made my opinion known in my introductory post to this series of blog posts, and I still consider it to be pretty horrible--which is only compounded by the fact that really only one person involved with the song was actually living in Azerbaijan at the time--Eldar Gasimov, the male singer in the duet.

But it did exactly what the Azerbaijani government wanted it to do.  It won the contest, brought Eurovision to the country, and the government used it to try to propel Azerbaijan onto the world stage and a place where large events could be held.

It still doesn't change the fact that I despise the song and cannot believe it beat out a group of much better songs to win the contest.

But it's not surprising.  They tried the same thing a few years previously and came in third with this song:

Aysel and Arash  "Always"  2009

This time the only Azerbaijani was the lovely Aysel.  Better song too.

Really the only song that doesn't come of completely prepackaged is the first song Azerbaijan sent to Eurovision

.

Elnur and Samir  "Day After Day"  2008

I will be the first to admit the staging is absolutely ridiculous; it's pretty self-evident how cheesy it is.  However, the song was written by two Azerbaijanis and feels more authentic than anything else they've sent afterwords.  So this one gets the vote for best Azerbaijani entry.

So from best to worst:

1.  Elnur and Samir   "Day After Day"  2008

2.  Sabina Babayeva   "When The Music Dies"  2012  The addition of  Alim Qasimov saved this one.

3.  Safura   "Drip Drop"   2010  If a song could try too hard, this would be the song.

4.  Aysel and Arash   "Always"  2009

5.  Ell and Nikki   "Running Scared"   2011

Yeah, I must admit I'm pretty savage on Azerbaijan Eurovision entrants.  But I have hope that now they have won the contest, proven that they are a country on par with the rest of Europe, they will pull back on the hyper-packaged songs and send music that is more reflective of their own musical culture.