Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

has participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

16 times since making its debut in . The country's first appearance in a final was in , with the song "

Work Your Magic "Work Your Magic" is a single released by Dmitry Koldun, which ranked 6th in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, representing . The title is a pun on the artist's surname, since ''koldun'' () in Russian means "magician" or "sorcerer". ...

" performed by Dmitry Koldun, placing sixth. This remains Belarus' only top ten placement. Belarus also qualified for the final in , , , and . The

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the C ...

(EBU) announced that the Belarusian broadcaster BTRC would be suspended from the union effective June 2021, which will prevent Belarus from participating in further Eurovision events unless BTRC is reintegrated or another broadcaster takes its position.

History

Belarus entered the contest in the same year that semi-finals began to be used to determine who would compete in the final. Belarus has qualified for the final six times: in with "

", in with "

Butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

", in with " Solayoh", in with "

Cheesecake Cheesecake is a sweet dessert consisting of one or more layers. The main, and thickest, layer consists of a mixture of a soft, fresh cheese (typically cottage cheese, cream cheese or ricotta), eggs, and sugar. If there is a bottom layer, i ...

", in with " Story of My Life", and in with " Like It". After the 2009 edition, Belarusian president

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka;, ; rus, Александр Григорьевич Лукашенко, Aleksandr Grigoryevich Luk ...

said that it was necessary to completely replace the current working team behind Belarus' Eurovision entry. Lukashenko pointed out his frustrations over divisions within the team.

Alexander Rybak Alexander Igorevich Rybak (russian: Александр Игоревич Рыбак) or Alyaxandr Iharavich Rybak ( be, Аляксандр Ігаравіч Рыбак; born 13 May 1986) is a Belarusian-Norwegian singer-composer, violinist, pian ...

, the winner of the contest representing , expressed an interest in composing an entry for his birth country Belarus. Rybak's song "Accent", performed by Milki, competed in the Belarusian national final for the contest, placing fourth. Belarus originally planned to participate in the contest, and were set to perform in the first half of the first semi-final. On 9 March 2021, Galasy ZMesta was announced as the chosen entrant with the song " Ya nauchu tebya (I'll Teach You)". However, the entry was disqualified on 11 March, as it was decided by the EBU that the song was in violation of the contest's rules. Belarusian broadcaster BTRC was ordered to submit either a new version of the song or an entirely new song that is compliant with the rules, or face disqualification. On 26 March, BTRC submitted the song "Pesnya pro zaytsev (Song about hares)" (russian: Песня про зайцев), also sung by Galasy ZMesta, as Belarus' new entry, however that song was also disqualified, again for the same reasons as their previous attempt, and Belarus was subsequently disqualified from the 2021 contest altogether. On 28 May 2021, six days after the 2021 final, the EBU voted to suspend BTRC's membership. BTRC was given two weeks to respond before the suspension came into effect on 11 June, but there was no public response. The broadcaster was expelled from the EBU on 1 July, therefore losing the rights to broadcast and participate in the contest. It was subsequently stated that the expulsion would last for three years, however Belarus would have to re-apply for membership after it expires.

Participation overview

Related involvement

Heads of delegation

Commentators and spokespersons

Other shows

Photo gallery

File:Kolduneurovision2007.jpg, Dmitry Koldun in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

() File:Ruslan Alekhno, Belarus, Eurovision 2008.jpg,

Ruslan Alekhno Ruslan Fyodorovich Alekhno (russian: italic=yes, Руслан Фёдорович Алехно, Ruslan Feodorovich Alekhno, be, italic=yes, Руслан Фёдаравіч Аляхно, Ruslan Feodaravich Alyakhno) (born October 14, 1981) is a B ...

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() File:Litesound Eurovision.jpg,

Litesound Litesound is a Belarusian pop rock band formed in 2005 by brothers Dmitry and Vladimir Karyakin. In 2010, they released their debut album ''Going to Hollywood''. Two years later, in 2012, the band was chosen to represent Belarus in the Eurovisi ...

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() File:ESC2013 - Belarus 15.jpg, Alyona Lanskaya in

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() File:ESC2014 - Belarus 01.jpg, Teo in

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() File:20150515 ESC 2015 Uzari & Maimuna 7730.jpg,

Uzari Yuri Naurotski (russian: Юрий Навроцкий; be, Юрый Наўроцкі; born 11 May 1991 in Minsk), better known by his stage name Uzari (russian: Юзари, be, Юзары), is a Belarusian singer and songwriter. He represented ...

Maimuna Maimuna Amadu Murashko (Belarusian: ''Маймуна Амаду Мурашка'', Russian: ''Маймуна Амаду Мурашко''; birth surname ''Diko''; born 28 May 1980), known professionally as simply Maimuna, is a Belarusian violinist ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

() File:ESC2016 - Belarus 07.jpg, Ivan in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

() File:Eurovision Song Contest 2017, Semi Final 2 Rehearsals. Photo 260.jpg,

Naviband Naviband (stylysed as NAVIBAND, until late 2016 also called NAVI) is a Belarusian band from Minsk. The band was founded a duo between vocalist and guitarist Arciom Lukjanienka and vocalist and keyboardist Ksienija Žuk, later also featured guitar ...

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() File:ESC2018 - Belarus 01.jpg, Alekseev in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

() File:Eurovision 2019 Belarus.jpg, Zena in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

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Notes

References

External links

EUROFEST.BY - Eurovision News in Belarus

OGAE Belarus - Eurovision fan club. The member of OGAE International Network
{{Authority control Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest Music competitions in Belarus