Eurovision 2017: Second Semifinal (predictions)

Eight out of ten isn't bad for predictions of the first semifinal.   Australia and Cyprus beat out Finland and Latvia.  

Sure Qualifiers

• Bulgaria
• Estonia
• Israel
• Romania

The Songs Without A Chance

• Ireland
• Lithuania
• Macedonia
• Malta
• Switzerland

The Undefined Middle

• Austria
• Belarus
• Croatia
• Denmark
• Hungary
• Norway
• San Marino
• Serbia
• The Netherlands

So that said, here are my guesses for qualification

• Austria
• Belarus
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Israel
• Norway
• Romania
• The Netherlands

And if you are reading this in a European country, please spare a vote for this entry:

Naviband   "Story of My Life"

Eurovision 2017: Belarus

It's always great when a country surprises with their entry, and this year Belarus has done just that.

Naviband    "Historyja majho žyccia"

Belarus usually chooses a song that apes western musical sensibilities and usually comes out the worse for wear.   This year, they chose a song that has strong ties to the folk music of the region and is sung in the Belarussian language.   I love it.   It's been in my Eurovision song rotation since I first heard it, much to the chagrin of my husband.

Qualification to the final is a much trickier thing.  I hope this will appeal to enough viewers and jury members to get it through to the final on Saturday.  Belarus doesn't have a great qualification track record, but I hope the quality will win out.

Eurovision 2016: Belarus

But I don't feel it deep inside for this year's final.

I have to say that watching the Eurovision national finals have been a slog.   After the disappointment of Belgium, I was hoping for a more exciting final from Belarus.

It didn't happen.

Belarus's national final took place over a month ago, on January 22nd, where ten acts took competed to represent their country in Stockholm, and they selected this:

Ivan   "Help You Fly"

There's nothing about this song or performer that is particularly memorable, and that's kind of the kiss of death for a country like Belarus.  This type of music is somewhat popular in their part of the world, but in a semifinal without most of their neighbors, Belarus needed to send a song that would appeal to the rest of Europe.   

A song cut from the sequel to Top Gun is not that song.

But this entry is just as good as any in the contest.   There was nothing that stood out and really nothing worth mentioning, save the song I would have voted for:

NAVI   "Heta ziamlia"

I'm a sucker for peppy songs and songs in national languages, so I would have voted for this.  It would have had the same chance as "Help You Fly" will.

Better luck next year, Belarus.

Eurovision 2015: Belarus

My walk through the national finals continues with Belarus.  BRTC, the Belorussian national broadcaster held a one night final on December 26th.

I look forward to the Belorussian final because unlike most other countries, there's always a little bit of gaming the result--giving fans something to talk about all the way to May.

Well, except for this year....

With the international attention to the squirrelly policies behind their selection process, this year's show was relatively scandal free.   The only thing that could be considered questionable was of the contestants purchased ad time during the national final to advertise upcoming musical dates.

Yeah, it's not necessarily squeaky clean, but for Belarus it's the cleanest Eurovision vote in years.

Muzzart   "Only Dance

And having heard Muzzart, I'd go out and go see their show live, so smart move on the advertising.

But really, the strive for transparency was refreshing, because in previous years this song would have gone through in a heartbeat.

MILKI  "Accent"

Although the song is a bit of disposable Soviet bloc pop, the songwriter behind "Accent" was Alexander Rybak, the Belorussian-born winner of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.  In prior years, the contest would have been a Potemkin village of a show to insure this song going to Vienna and adding another feather to one of Belarus' international names.

However, the judges and televoters thought otherwise, relegating it to fourth place.

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But even with the strangeness of the selection process, I always recommend watching the Belorussian National Final since they have a lot of variety on the stage.

Where else would you see this,

Rostany   "Electric Toys"

this,

Beatress  "Fighter"

and whatever this is on the same stage.

Janet   "Supernova"

Each and every song is different and no matter your musical taste, there is something out there for you.

---

But after all the voting was in, the winning song was none of ones posted above, but this number.

Uzari and Maimuna   "Time"

Yes, it's rather Eurovision by the numbers, but it's also well written and well performed and should be able to translate to the Eurovision stage easily.

A lot of work needs to be done on the staging, though.   Maimuna needs to share the stage with Uzari and not be relegated to short cuts and bad lighting.  The violin is as integral to the song as the singing and the two performers share billing.   But you can tell there were awkward cuts and bad lighting on the young woman...   

My guess for the shady camera work is the fact Maimuna is Afro-Belorussian and that people in Eastern Europe have major issues with race and didn't want to jinx the success of the song in the final.

OK.  You've won.  Now don't be cowards and keep her in the shadows.

Eurovision 2014: Belarus

If you're looking for a microcosm of the past 10 years of Eurovision, the best place to do that is watch this year's Belorussian national final.

The final, which took place on January 10th featured fourteen different acts--including a cabaret number, a bit of popera, the required melodramatic ballad, and the following song that asks a very important question:

Matvei Cooper and DUX   "Strippers"

I have often wondered myself, "Where do all the strippers go?"   I'm just so glad that Cooper and company was able to answer that question in song.



But none of those songs made it to the top at the end of the show.  When the votes were counted, two songs tied with 20 points.

TEO  "Cheesecake"

 

Max Lorens and DiDyuLya  "Now You're Gone"

But the jury had the final decision and selected "Cheesecake"--their favorite--over the Caribbean stylings of "Now You're Gone".

I personally like the song, it feels like a reject from a Robin Thicke album to me, and the veneer of sleaze that TEO has on stage suits the song quite well.  Although unpopular with many fans online, who consistently rank it in the bottom of their favorites, I have to say that this song is in the top ten of mine.

If TEO can stay on pitch, he's likely to make the final this Eurovision season.



Eurovision 2013: Belarus

Well, it's the beginning of the Eurovision season, and first out of the gate is Belarus.

And the first thing I want to say is never change.  Although the winner of the contest wasn't a particular surprise, the ten songs in the final were unique and different--showing the musical tastes of Belarus as a whole, and I liked that very much.

Oh, and thanks for bringing them back to play their Eurovision hit.

 

Aleksandra and Konstantin  "My Galileo"  2004 (from the Belarusian final)

Any reason to hear this song is a good reason in my way of thinking....

But back to the important stuff:

The Winner



 

Alyona Lanskaya  "Rhythm of Love"

 

 

An unsurprising win, since she had won the previous year (and lost per a presidential investigation).  So her return with a dance number pretty much allowed her to walk away with the win--she picked up the maximum points with the both the jury and the phone vote.

 

 

Should Have Won

 

 

 

Alyona Lanskaya  "Rhythm of Love"

 

 

Belarus hasn't had a lot of success in the Eurovision Song Contest, making the final only twice in the nine years they've competed, and "Rhythm of Love" was the most likely of the ten songs to make it to the final in 2013. and they've got plenty of time to jigger with the song to make it work in Malmö.

 

At least lose the lying on the floor and the half naked men.  Neither equal success in Eurovision.  Look here and here for examples.

 

 

My Favorite

 

Please, go listen to all ten songs.  It's worth the thirty minutes of time.  You can see the Belarusian Henry Rollins, enjoy the song stylings of a group that may unironically be called The Beaver Band, and this:

 





 

 

Nuteki Band  "Save Me"

 

Is it hard rock Coldplay?  Is it performance art metal?  I don't know, but it's sure worth a watch.

 

But my favorite is the one that was completely unexpected--Belarus has a lot of ethnically flavored music, and love their heavy metal music as well, so this was an unexpected delight.

 

 



 

 

Daria  "Catch Me Again"

 

Yep, it's the lost number from Cabaret.  Naturally, it wasn't going to win--in fact it came in dead last in the public vote, but wow is she good... 

 

And I want to say something to the ladies of Viva Voom Brr-lesque, please use this song, I will come and throw dollar bills...  

 

 





Eurovision 2012 Entrants: Belarus

Just a few more days until the first semifinal and only two more songs to review.  And to begin the end of my reviews, Let's take a listen to the Belorussian entry.

Litesound  "We Are The Winners"

I have to say this is not the type of music I'm a fan of.  I like my rock to be a little more hardcore, not the pop rock that Litesound is performing.  But, if they performed the song this way, and thy got a good draw, I would think they had a chance to go through to the finals, since this sound is nowhere to be found elsewhere in the contest.

The funny thing is that this song wasn't the winner in the Belorussian national final.  When the voting was done at the national final, another song took the top spot.

Alyona Lanskaya  "All My Life"

But after accusations of vote fixing were bandied around, the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, personally investigated, and discovered that the accusations were correct and "it had to be decided on the presidential level, but this was a matter of justice and it was his duty to stand up for justice".

I just find the fact that president of Belarus felt the need to step in and solve the problem of choosing a Eurovision winner...  It would be like Barack Obama determining the winner of America's Got Talent was the wrong one.  It seems a very trivial issues, and something that should be able to be solved without the head of government stepping in to solve the issue.

Yet who am I to judge on what's politically important?  I'm just a blogger living half a world away from Belarus...