Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010
Encyclopedia
The Belarus entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was organised by BTRC. It had been originally planned for ONT
to take over after criticism over BTRC's selection methods. However as ONT's application for the European Broadcasting Union
(EBU), the Contest's organisers, had been rejected BTRC again selected the Belarusian entry for the seventh year. An internal selection was held by the broadcaster after a public call for song submissions, and after 41 entries were received the band 3+2
were selected. The band will perform the song "Butterflies
" at the contest, having changed their song on 19 March from their initial choice "Far Away
".
", and in 2010. All other Belarusian entries have been relegated in the semi-final stage, with Belarus' worst performance coming in 2006, when Polina Smolova
finished in 22nd position in the semi-final with "Mum", receiving only ten points in total.
From 2004 to 2009 the Belarusian broadcaster responsible for the country's participation in Eurovision was BTRC
, who organised a televised national selection to select the Belarusian entry. In 2010 plans were announced for this to change.
had finished (where Belarus, represented by Petr Elfimov
, had finished 13th in the semi-final), the Belarusian president
Alexander Lukashenko
expressed his dissatisfaction over the management of BTRC's organisation for the Contest. He expressed his frustrations over divisions within the team, finding it necessary to completely replace the 2009 team for 2010. and had ruled that ONT
should take over preparation for Eurovision from BTRC. In late July ONT launched the "Song for Eurovision" competition in order to find the entry for the 2010 Contest.
However, during his visit to Minsk on 18 September 2009 the EBU director for Eurovision Bjørn Erichsen had stated that ONT's application for full active EBU membership would be considered only in December, after the application deadline for Eurovision 2010 passed on November 15. He has suggested that BTRC should submit a formal application to join Eurovision 2010 and that after December the two broadcasters should internally decide on the question of Eurovision participation. It has been strictly noted that before being accepted as a member, ONT has absolutely no right to use the "Eurovision" brand in its preselection campaign, with EBU considering legal action if such usage continued by ONT. In accordance to this ONT removed Eurovision references from its pages.
However, on 23 September, information on the national final had been completely removed from the ONT website, and the channel has stated that original plan of "female band selected through castings hasn't really worked out". It was announced that ORT do not have the right to organise or prepare for the country's Eurovision participation as they do not have EBU membership.
: Музыкальный суд; Muzykal'nyj sud) was originally to be the Belarusian selection for Eurovision, organised by ONT.
The Belarusian selection for Eurovision was to be held over two stages. The first, "Musical Court", was held over November and December 2009. 25 songs competed over five semi-finals, with each song performed by participants of the "New Voices" competition. These songs could be performed by professional artists in the final stage of the contest. Ten songs progressed to the final, two from each semi-final, and regional televoting selected a winning song, "Don't Play In Love", performed by Artem Mihalenko. The second stage of the selection was to be held in February 2010, however these plans were derailed after ONT failed to get EBU membership in time for Eurovision 2010.
ORT had stated that Musical Court was "not necessarily" the national selection for Eurovision 2010, but was intended "to choose songs to represent the country in any international competitions".
41 applications were received by BTRC from across the world; in Belarus, Russia
, Poland
, the Czech Republic
, Hungary
, Iceland
, Ireland
, Azerbaijan
and Australia
. On 25 February the band 3+2
were selected by the broadcaster to represent Belarus at the Contest with the song "Far Away
". Before the song was submitted to the BTRC internal selection, the song and the group had come second in ONT's "Musical Court" (as Artyom Mihalenko, Elgiazar Farashyan and Yulia Shisko).
On 19 March, three days before the deadline to submit songs to the Contest's organisers, it was announced that 3+2 had changed their song for the contest, and would now perform the song "Butterflies
" at the contest. The song was composed by Russia
n producer Maxim Fadeev
, with lyrics by Malka Chaplin.
Obshchenatsional'noe Televidenie
Obshchenatsional'noe Televidenie is Belarus's second national television station. It was established on 15 February 2002 by decree of the President of Belarus. In late 2009 ONT was expected to be given the rights to select Belarus entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 after a decision of...
to take over after criticism over BTRC's selection methods. However as ONT's application for the European Broadcasting Union
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 74 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 49 associate broadcasters from a further 25...
(EBU), the Contest's organisers, had been rejected BTRC again selected the Belarusian entry for the seventh year. An internal selection was held by the broadcaster after a public call for song submissions, and after 41 entries were received the band 3+2
3+2 (band)
3+2 or Three Plus Two are a Belarusian pop group that represented Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Bærum, Norway.-Formation:The band was formed by the Belarusian television channel ONT and the project "New Voices of Belarus" in 2009...
were selected. The band will perform the song "Butterflies
Butterflies (3+2 song)
"Butterflies" is a song, written by Maxim Fadeev and Malka Chaplin and performed by Belarusian group 3+2, and was the Belarusian entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, held in Oslo, Norway in May 2010. 3+2 had been internally selected in March 2010 to represent Belarus in the contest by the...
" at the contest, having changed their song on 19 March from their initial choice "Far Away
Far Away (3+2 song)
"Far Away" is a song composed by Leonid Shirin and Yury Vaschuk and performed by the band 3+2, and was to represent Belarus at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, having been chosen internally by Belarusian broadcaster BTRC...
".
Background
Belarus has previously taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest six times since their first entry in 2004. Belarus has qualified to the final of the contest twice: in 2007, when Koldun placed sixth for the country with "Work Your MagicWork Your Magic
"Work Your Magic" is the most successful single released from Dmitry Koldun to date. The song ranked 6th in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. Note that the word Koldun in Russian means magician or sorcerer....
", and in 2010. All other Belarusian entries have been relegated in the semi-final stage, with Belarus' worst performance coming in 2006, when Polina Smolova
Polina Smolova
Polina Smolova is a pop singer and the country's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song Mum, with which she took part in the Eurovision semi-final. She is one of the most famous Belarusian pop singers, coming up with very poetic and lyrical songs...
finished in 22nd position in the semi-final with "Mum", receiving only ten points in total.
From 2004 to 2009 the Belarusian broadcaster responsible for the country's participation in Eurovision was BTRC
National State Teleradiocompany
The National State TV and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus is the state television and radio broadcasting service in Belarus....
, who organised a televised national selection to select the Belarusian entry. In 2010 plans were announced for this to change.
Change of broadcaster
Shortly after the 2009 ContestEurovision Song Contest 2009
The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest and was hosted by Russia after their win in 2008. It took place between 12 and 16 May 2009 at the Olympic Indoor Arena in Moscow, Russia....
had finished (where Belarus, represented by Petr Elfimov
Petr Elfimov
Petr Elfimov is a singer from Belarus who represented his nation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia. He won the national selection of Belarus with 11,475 votes on January 19, 2009 with the rock/pop song Eyes That Never Lie. The song competed in the first semi-final as the...
, had finished 13th in the semi-final), the Belarusian president
President of Belarus
The office of President of Belarus is the head of state of Belarus. The office was created in 1994 with the passing of the Constitution of Belarus by the Supreme Soviet. This replaced the office of Chairman of the Supreme Soviet as the head of state...
Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko has been serving as the President of Belarus since 20 July 1994. Before his career as a politician, Lukashenko worked as director of a state-owned agricultural farm. Under Lukashenko's rule, Belarus has come to be viewed as a state whose conduct is out of line...
expressed his dissatisfaction over the management of BTRC's organisation for the Contest. He expressed his frustrations over divisions within the team, finding it necessary to completely replace the 2009 team for 2010. and had ruled that ONT
Obshchenatsional'noe Televidenie
Obshchenatsional'noe Televidenie is Belarus's second national television station. It was established on 15 February 2002 by decree of the President of Belarus. In late 2009 ONT was expected to be given the rights to select Belarus entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 after a decision of...
should take over preparation for Eurovision from BTRC. In late July ONT launched the "Song for Eurovision" competition in order to find the entry for the 2010 Contest.
However, during his visit to Minsk on 18 September 2009 the EBU director for Eurovision Bjørn Erichsen had stated that ONT's application for full active EBU membership would be considered only in December, after the application deadline for Eurovision 2010 passed on November 15. He has suggested that BTRC should submit a formal application to join Eurovision 2010 and that after December the two broadcasters should internally decide on the question of Eurovision participation. It has been strictly noted that before being accepted as a member, ONT has absolutely no right to use the "Eurovision" brand in its preselection campaign, with EBU considering legal action if such usage continued by ONT. In accordance to this ONT removed Eurovision references from its pages.
Original plans
ONT had intended to hold a national final to select the seventh Belarusian entry. A call for songs was made by ONT for either a male soloist or for a group of six female soloists. Composers could submit the songs either by post or on the broadcaster's website, with the deadline for submissions set for 1 October 2009.However, on 23 September, information on the national final had been completely removed from the ONT website, and the channel has stated that original plan of "female band selected through castings hasn't really worked out". It was announced that ORT do not have the right to organise or prepare for the country's Eurovision participation as they do not have EBU membership.
Musical Court
"Musical Court" (RussianRussian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: Музыкальный суд; Muzykal'nyj sud) was originally to be the Belarusian selection for Eurovision, organised by ONT.
The Belarusian selection for Eurovision was to be held over two stages. The first, "Musical Court", was held over November and December 2009. 25 songs competed over five semi-finals, with each song performed by participants of the "New Voices" competition. These songs could be performed by professional artists in the final stage of the contest. Ten songs progressed to the final, two from each semi-final, and regional televoting selected a winning song, "Don't Play In Love", performed by Artem Mihalenko. The second stage of the selection was to be held in February 2010, however these plans were derailed after ONT failed to get EBU membership in time for Eurovision 2010.
ORT had stated that Musical Court was "not necessarily" the national selection for Eurovision 2010, but was intended "to choose songs to represent the country in any international competitions".
Internal selection
In January 2010 Belarus' only EBU member, BTRC, announced that an internal selection would be used by them to select the Belarusian entry for Eurovision 2010. On 29 January BTRC announced a call for songs, with no restrictions made on the citizenship of either composer or performer. The submission dealine was set for 15 February, with an announcement of the selected entry to be made on in late February or early March.41 applications were received by BTRC from across the world; in Belarus, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. On 25 February the band 3+2
3+2 (band)
3+2 or Three Plus Two are a Belarusian pop group that represented Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Bærum, Norway.-Formation:The band was formed by the Belarusian television channel ONT and the project "New Voices of Belarus" in 2009...
were selected by the broadcaster to represent Belarus at the Contest with the song "Far Away
Far Away (3+2 song)
"Far Away" is a song composed by Leonid Shirin and Yury Vaschuk and performed by the band 3+2, and was to represent Belarus at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, having been chosen internally by Belarusian broadcaster BTRC...
". Before the song was submitted to the BTRC internal selection, the song and the group had come second in ONT's "Musical Court" (as Artyom Mihalenko, Elgiazar Farashyan and Yulia Shisko).
On 19 March, three days before the deadline to submit songs to the Contest's organisers, it was announced that 3+2 had changed their song for the contest, and would now perform the song "Butterflies
Butterflies (3+2 song)
"Butterflies" is a song, written by Maxim Fadeev and Malka Chaplin and performed by Belarusian group 3+2, and was the Belarusian entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, held in Oslo, Norway in May 2010. 3+2 had been internally selected in March 2010 to represent Belarus in the contest by the...
" at the contest. The song was composed by Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n producer Maxim Fadeev
Maxim Fadeev
Maxim "Max" Aleksandrovich Fadeev is a Russian singer-songwriter, composer and producer.-Early life and career:Maxim Fadeev was born on 6 May 1968 in Kurgan, Kurgan Oblast, USSR. When he was a child, he attended a musical school in Kurgan, and learned how to play bass guitar...
, with lyrics by Malka Chaplin.
At Eurovision
Belarus will compete in the first semi-final of the contest on 25 May, performing in the second half of the draw. Belarus was one of the ten qualifiers to the final, and will perform in the final on 29 May, for the first time since 2007 and only the second time ever.External links
- Musical Court (Музыкальный суд) homepage (in Russian) ONT
- Belarusian National Final 2010