Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Belarus and Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC) announced their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 on 29 September 2008 by releasing the rules of their national selection - "Eurofest 2009".[1][2] The song did not progress from the first semi-final of the competition.

Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Country Belarus
National selection
Selection processEurofest 2009
Selection date(s)Semi-final
15 December 2008
Final
19 January 2009
Selected entrantPetr Elfimov
Selected song"Eyes That Never Lie"
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (13th, 25 points)
Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2008 • 2009 • 2010►

Before Eurovision

Eurofest 2009

Eurofest 2009 was the national final format developed by BTRC in order to select Belarus's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. The competition included semi-final and a final held on 15 December 2008 and 19 January 2009 respectively. The results for the semi-final were determined exclusively by a professional jury who selected five finalists, while the results in the final were determined exclusively by public televoting.[1][2]

Competing entries

A submission period for interested artists and composers was opened on 5 October 2008 and lasted until 20 November 2008.[1][2] At the closing of the deadline, 126 applications were received by the broadcaster. Auditions were held between 3 December 2008 and 5 December 2008 where a jury panel was tasked with selecting up to fifteen entries from the applicants to proceed to the televised national final, which were announced on 5 December 2008.[3][4]

Semi-final

The semi-final took place on 15 December 2008 at the BTRC TV Studios in Minsk, hosted by Denis Kurian. Five entries were selected by a professional jury to advance to the final. The finalists had an opportunity to change their selected songs before performing in the final again.[5][6][7]

Semi-final – 15 December 2008
Draw Artist Song (English translation) Songwriter(s) Result
1Alexei Krechet"Joy and Freedom"Alexey Krecht, V. Ruzov Eliminated
2Petr Elfimov"Eyes That Never Lie"Petr Elfimov, Valery Prokhozhy Finalist
3Cola feat. Lidiya Zablotskaya"Gudok"V. Shevchenko, B. Gridin Eliminated
4SingeRin"Don't Think About It"K. Dudich Eliminated
5Dakota"Ciabie zabyvaju" (I'm feeling you)Dakota, G. Lobodenko Eliminated
6The Champions"Shake It, Europe"Olsa Orakposim, Nils Eliminated
7Alex Patlis Band"Kto skazal?" (Who said that?)Alex Patlis Eliminated
8Litesound feat. Dakota"Carry On"Vladimir Kariakin, Dmitry Kariakin Finalist
9Dominica"This Is My Day"Sergey Sukhomlin, Andrey Kostiugov Finalist
10Dyada Vanya"Nasha Belarussia" (Our Belarussia)I. Vabishchevich Eliminated
11Veter v Golove"Or or And"Alexandra Zakharik, G. Galushko Finalist
12Anna Blagova & Yuriy Vaschuk"Behind"Yuriy Vaschuk, A. Zhilina Eliminated
13Gunesh"Fantastic Girl"Gunesh, M. Khaitbayeva Finalist
14Victoria Belova"Don't Give Up From Love"Victoria Belova, A. Klimka Eliminated
15Venera"Big Game"A. Nabeyev Eliminated

Final

The final took place on 19 January 2009 at the Sports Palace in Minsk, hosted by Anastasiya Tihanovich and 2007 Belarusian representative Dmitry Koldun.[8][9] The running order for the songs was not revealed until the night of the contest.[10] Public televoting exclusively selected the song "Eyes That Never Lie" performed by Petr Elfimov as the winner, receiving a landslide 11,475 votes, 3,526 more than runner-up Gunesh.[11][12][13] Veter v golove were the only act to have changed their song from the semi-final.

In addition to the performances from the competitors, the show featured guest performances by the host Koldun, and 2008 Belarusian and Ukrainian entrants, Ruslan Alehno and Ani Lorak.

Final – 19 January 2009
DrawArtistSong (English translation) Songwriter(s)TelevotePlace
1Gunesh"Fantastic Girl" Gunesh, M. Khaitbayeva7,9492
2Petr Elfimov"Eyes That Never Lie" Petr Elfimov, Valery Prokhozhy11,4751
3Litesound feat. Dakota"Carry On" Vladimir Kariakin, Dmitry Kariakin 4,3853
4Dominica"This Is My Day" Sergey Sukhomlin, Andrey Kostiugov 1,2255
5Veter v Golove"Špacyrujem" (We're walking) Alexandra Zaharik, A. Zhukov, V. Bardak 2,8044

Promotion

After being selected as the Belarusian entry, Elfimov promoted his entry in a number of countries before Eurovision, making guest appearances at both the Greek and Ukrainian national finals on 18 February and 8 March respectively.[14][15][16]

At Eurovision

A new version of "Eyes That Never Lie" was made after winning the Belarusian national final, which was produced by Tero Kinnunen at the Finnvox Studios in Helsinki, both known for their associations with symphonic metal band Nightwish.[17][18] Belarus competed in the first semi final where they failed to qualify, finishing 13th of 18 participants, scoring 25 points.

Points awarded to Belarus
Points Awarded to Belarus (Semi-Final 1)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
  •  Macedonia
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points Awarded by Belarus[19]
Split voting results from Belarus (final)
Draw Country Jury points Televoting points Scoreboard (Points)
01  Lithuania 2
02  Israel 1
03  France 8 4 7
04  Sweden
05  Croatia
06  Portugal
07  Iceland 6 2
08  Greece 10 1 5
09  Armenia 2 3 1
10  Russia 4 8 8
11  Azerbaijan 5 10 10
12  Bosnia and Herzegovina
13  Moldova 3
14  Malta
15  Estonia 7 4
16  Denmark
17  Germany
18  Turkey
19  Albania
20  Norway 12 12 12
21  Ukraine 6 5 6
22  Romania
23  United Kingdom 7 3
24  Finland
25  Spain

See also

References
  1. "Eurofest 2009 rules published". Eurovision-Belarus. 29 September 2008. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 29 September 2008.
  2. Floras, Stella (29 September 2008). "Belarus: Welcome to the Eurofest project!". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 1 October 2008. Retrieved 29 September 2008.
  3. Bakker, Sietse (5 December 2008). "Belarus: BTRC announces 15 hopefuls". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2008.
  4. "Belarus: BTRC announces the 15 participants". Oikotimes. 5 December 2008. Archived from the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2008.
  5. Klier, Marcus (15 December 2008). "Tonight: Semi final in Belarus". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 15 December 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
  6. Bayliss, Marc Calleja (15 December 2008). "Belarus: BTRC airs the semifinal for Moscow selection tonight". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
  7. Klier, Marcus (15 December 2008). "Live: semi final in Belarus (Transcript)". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
  8. Klier, Marcus (14 January 2009). "Belarus: national final on 19th January". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 18 January 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
  9. Calleja Bayliss, Marc (14 January 2009). "Belarus: "Eurofest 2009" to take place on January 19". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
  10. Floras, Stella (15 January 2009). "Belarus: More Eurofest final details". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 18 January 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
  11. Klier, Marcus (19 January 2009). "Belarus: Petr Elfimov to Eurovision". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 20 January 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  12. Fisher, Luke (19 January 2009). "Belarus: Petr Elfimov to Moscow!". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  13. Siim, Jarmo (19 January 2009). "Belarus decided: Petr Elfimov to Moscow!". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 20 January 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  14. Klier, Marcus (18 February 2009). "National final in Greece". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 19 February 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  15. Fantis, Giorgos (18 February 2009). "Live from Athens, the Greek national final". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  16. Klier, Marcus (8 March 2009). "National final in Ukraine". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 8 March 2009.
  17. Backfish, Emma (9 February 2009). "Petr Elfimov records new version of song in Finland". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  18. Floras, Stella (23 February 2009). "Belarus: New version of Eurovision entry". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  19. Eurovision Song Contest 2008
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