Belarus in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

The participation of Belarus in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest first began at the inaugural Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 which took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC) a member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) have been responsible for the selection process of their participants since their debut. The first representative to participate for the nation at the 2003 contest was Volha Satsiuk with the song "Tantsuy", which finished in fourth place out of sixteen participating entries, achieving a score of one hundred and three points. Belarus is one of two countries to have never missed an edition of the contest, the other one being the Netherlands, and have won twice in 2005 and 2007. They hosted the contest at the Minsk-Arena in 2010 and again in 2018.

Belarus
Member station	BTRC
National selection events	National final 2010 2012–2020 Constellation Festival 2003 Junior Eurosong 2004–2009 Song For Europe 2011
Participation summary
Appearances	17
First appearance	2003
Best result	1st: 2005, 2007
External links
Belarus's page at Eurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

History

Ilya Volkov at Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2013, Kiev.

Ruslan Aslanov at Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015, Sofia.

Belarus are one of the sixteen countries to have made their debut at the inaugural Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003, which took place on 15 November 2003 at the Forum in Copenhagen, Denmark.[1] Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BRTC) hold a national final mechanism in order to select their representative for the contests.[2] Child-singer, Volha Satsiuk, was the first participant to represent Belarus with the song "Tantsuy",[3] which finished in fourth place out of sixteen participating entries, achieving a score of one hundred and three points.[4]

Belarus have taken part in every edition of the contest since 2003,[5] and have won the contest twice: in 2005 with Ksenia Sitnik performing the song "My vmeste";[6] and again in 2007 with Alexey Zhigalkovich performing the entry "S druz'yami".[7] Viewing figures and interest for the Junior Eurovision in Belarus is very high. And according to former EBU Executive Supervisor Svante Stockselius, the Junior Eurovision is "one of Belarus' most popular television shows".[8] On 8 June 2009, the EBU confirmed that Belarus had won the rights to organise the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010 over bids from Russia and Malta.[9] Under construction through 2009, the 15,000-spectator Minsk-Arena hosted the event.[8]

On 17 May 2016, Belarus confirmed that they would once again be participating in the contest, making it their fourteenth appearance in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.[10] The national selection show took place on 26 August 2016,[11] in which ten acts competed in a live televised broadcast, with the winner having been determined by 50% professional jury and 50% public televoting.[12] Alexander Minyonok won the 2016 Belarussian final with the song "Muzyka moikh pobed" and represented Belarus at the 2016 contest.[13] On 15 October 2017, it was announced that Belarus would host the contest for a second time in the capital, Minsk.[14] On 21 November 2017, Belarus' Deputy Prime Minister Vasily Zharko stated that the contest was scheduled to be held at Minsk Arena in November 2018. On 18 March 2018, Minsk Arena was confirmed as the venue by the contest organisers.[15]

Participation

Table key

1	Winner
2	Second place
3	Third place

Year	Artist	Song	Language	Place	Points
2003	Volha Satsiuk	"Tantsui" (Танцуй)	Belarusian	4	103
2004	Yahor Vauchok	"Spjavajce sa mnoj" (Спявайце са мной)	Belarusian	14	9
2005	Ksenia Sitnik	"My vmeste" (Мы вместе)	Russian	1	149
2006	Andrey Kunets	"Novyi den" (Новый день)	Russian	2	129
2007	Alexey Zhigalkovich	"S druz'yami" (С друзьями)	Russian	1	137
2008	Dasha, Alina & Karyna	"Serdtse Belarusi" (Сердце Беларуси)	Belarusian, Russian	6	86
2009	Yuriy Demidovich	"Volshebniy krolik" (Волшебный кролик)	Russian	9	48
2010	Daniil Kozlov	"Muzyki svet" (Музыки свет)	Russian	5	85
2011	Lidiya Zablotskaya	"Angely dobra" (Ангелы добра)	Russian	3	99
2012	Egor Zheshko	"A more-more" (А море-море)	Russian	9	56
2013	Ilya Volkov	"Poy so mnoy" (Пой со мной)	Russian	3	108
2014	Nadezhda Misyakova	"Sokal" (Сокал)	Belarusian	7	71
2015	Ruslan Aslanov	"Volshebstvo (Magic)" (Волшебство)	Russian, English	4	105
2016	Alexander Minyonok	"Muzyka moikh pobed (Music is My Only Way)" (Музыка моих побед)	Russian, English	7	177
2017	Helena Meraai	"I Am the One"	Russian	5	149
2018	Daniel Yastremski	"Time"	Russian, English	11	114
2019	Liza Misnikova	"Pepelny (Ashen)" (Пепельный)	Russian, English	11	92

Commentators and spokespersons

The contests are broadcast online worldwide through the official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website junioreurovision.tv and YouTube. In 2015, the online broadcasts featured commentary in English by junioreurovision.tv editor Luke Fisher and 2011 Bulgarian Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant Ivan Ivanov.[16] The Belorussian broadcaster, BTRC, sent their own commentators to each contest in order to provide commentary in the Belorussian language. Spokespersons were also chosen by the national broadcaster in order to announce the awarding points from Belarus. The table below list the details of each commentator and spokesperson since 2003.

Year	Commentator	Channel	Spokesperson	Ref.
2003	Denis Kurian	Belarus 1	Unknown
2004			Daria
2005		Belarus 1 Belarus 24	Anton Lediaev
2006			Liza Anton-Baychuk
2007			Alexander Rogachevskiy
2008			Anjelica Misevich
2009			Arina Aleshkevich
2010	Pavel Lozovik		Anastasiya Butyugina	[17]
2011	Unknown		Anna Kovalyova
2012	Pavel Lozovik		Maria Drozdova
2013	Anatoliy Lipetskiy		Alexandra Tkach	[18]
2014			Katerina Taperkina	[19]
2015			Valeria Drobyshevskaya	[20][21]
2016	Julia Pertsova		Ruslan Aslanov	[22]
2017	Evgeny Perlin		Saba Karazanashvili	[23][24]
2018	Georgiy Koldun and Andrey Makaenok		Arina Rovba	[25]
2019	Evgeny Perlin		Emilia	[26][27]

Hostings

Year	Location	Venue	Presenters
2010	Minsk	Minsk-Arena	Leila Ismailava and Denis Kurian[28]
2018			Eugene Perlin, Helena Meraai and Zena[29]

See also

• Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest – Senior version of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
• Belarus in the Eurovision Young Dancers – A competition organised by the EBU for younger dancers aged between 16 and 21.
• Belarus in the Eurovision Young Musicians – A competition organised by the EBU for musicians aged 18 years and younger.
• Belarus in the Turkvision Song Contest – A contest for countries and regions which are of Turkic-speaking or Turkic ethnicity.
• Belarus in the Bala Turkvision Song Contest – Junior version of the Turkvision Song Contest.

References

1. García, Belén (7 September 2015). "#BestOfJESC – Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003". esc-plus.com. ESC+Plus. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
2. Escudero, Victor M. (4 October 2012). "Tonight: Albania picks their first ever Junior entry!". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
3. Escudero, Victor M. (9 November 2012). "Remember the first ever Junior Eurovision Song Contest?". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
4. "Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003 Scoreboard". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 15 November 2003. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
5. "Belarus in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
6. Bakker, Sietse (26 November 2005). "Belarus wins Junior 2005". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
7. Bakker, Sietse (8 December 2007). "Alexey from Belarus wins Junior Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
8. Bakker, Sietse (8 June 2009). "Exclusive: Belarus to host Junior 2010". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
9. Mikheev, Andy. "News on JESC 2010 organization". ESCKAZ.com. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
10. Granger, Anthony (17 May 2016). "Belarus: Junior Eurovision 2016 Participation Confirmed". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
11. Granger, Anthony (10 July 2016). "Belarus national final August 26". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
12. Granger, Anthony (26 August 2016). "Tonight Belarus selects for Junior Eurovision 2016". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
13. García, Belén (26 August 2016). "Junior Eurovision: Alexander Minyonok wins in Belarus!". esc-plus.com. Esc-plus. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
14. "Minsk announced as the host city for Junior Eurovision 2018!". Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
15. "Junior Eurovision 2018 to take place on Sunday 25th November!". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 18 March 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
16. Fisher, Luke James (21 November 2015). "Tonight: Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015!". Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Bulgaria 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
17. "Комментатором детского "Евровидения-2010" в Беларуси станет диджей Павел Лозовик". belta.by. BelTA. 10 November 2010. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
18. "Детское Евровидение 2013 Киев Украина Новости Junior Eurovision 2013 Kyiv Ukraine News". esckaz.com. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
19. "Junior Eurovision 2014 - Event page/ Организация конкурса". esckaz.com. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
20. "Делегация Беларуси отправляется в Софию на детское «Евровидение»". naviny.by (in Russian). BelaPAN. 14 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
21. Juhász, Ervin (21 November 2015). "Meet the spokespersons of tonight's Grand Final!". junioreurovision.tv. EBU. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
22. "Belarusian delegation leaves for Junior Eurovision 2016". tvr.by. BTRC. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
23. Granger, Anthony (20 November 2017). "Belarus: Evgeny Perlin Announced As Junior Eurovision 2017 Commentator". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
24. "Eurovision l OGAE Belarus 🇧🇾 on Instagram: "A young resident of Tbilisi with Belarusian roots Saba Karazanashvili will announce the ratings of the Belarusian audience and the jury - the boy's mother works in ..."". instagram.com. OGAE Belarus. 22 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
25. "Детское Евровидение 2018". tvr.by (in Russian). BTRC. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
26. Granger, Anthony (15 November 2019). "Belarus: Evgeny Perlin Announced as Junior Eurovision 2019 Commentator". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
27. Filippidou, Ifigeneia (24 November 2019). "These are the Junior Eurovision 2019 spokespersons". esc-plus.com. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
28. Siim, Jarmo (6 September 2010). "Meet them: the hosts of Junior 2010!". JuniorEurovision.tv. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
29. Zwart, Josianne (26 October 2018). "Meet the hosts of Junior Eurovision 2018!". junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 26 October 2018.