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Belarus was represented at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2013 The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria (Loreen song), Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the Europea ...
with the song "Solayoh" written by Marc Paelinck and Martin King. The song was performed by
Alyona Lanskaya Alyona Lanskaya (, Romanized: ''Alena Lanskaja''; , Romanized: ''Alyona Lanskaya''; born 7 September 1985) is a Belarusian singer. In 2011, she won the Slavianski Bazaar Contest in Vitebsk. Alyona represented Belarus in the Eurovision Song Co ...
. The Belarusian entry for the 2013 contest in
Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...
, Sweden was selected through a national final organised by the Belarusian participating broadcaster
Belarusian Television and Radio Company The National State TV and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus (; ), known as Belteleradiocompany (; ) or simply Belteleradio, is the state television and radio broadcasting service in Belarus. From 1993 until 2021, it was a full active memb ...
(BTRC). The national final consisted of ten competing acts participating in a televised production where "Rhythm of Love" performed by
Alyona Lanskaya Alyona Lanskaya (, Romanized: ''Alena Lanskaja''; , Romanized: ''Alyona Lanskaya''; born 7 September 1985) is a Belarusian singer. In 2011, she won the Slavianski Bazaar Contest in Vitebsk. Alyona represented Belarus in the Eurovision Song Co ...
was initially selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a jury panel and public televoting, however the singer opted to withdraw her song and the replacement entry, "Solayoh", was announced on 7 March 2013. Belarus was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 14 May 2013. Performing during the show in position 16, "Solayoh" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 18 May. It was later revealed that Belarus placed seventh out of the 16 participating countries in the semi-final with 64 points. In the final, Belarus performed in position 8 and placed sixteenth out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 48 points.


Background

Prior to the 2013 contest, Belarus had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest nine times since its first entry in 2004. The nation's best placing in the contest was sixth, which it achieved in
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
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 Koldun. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the , Belarus had only managed to qualify to the final two times. In
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, Belarus failed to qualify to the final with the song "We Are the Heroes" performed by
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 Eurovision ...
. The Belarusian national broadcaster,
Belarusian Television and Radio Company The National State TV and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus (; ), known as Belteleradiocompany (; ) or simply Belteleradio, is the state television and radio broadcasting service in Belarus. From 1993 until 2021, it was a full active memb ...
(BTRC), broadcasts the event within Belarus and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. The broadcaster has used both internal selections and national finals to select the Belarusian entry for Eurovision in the past. In 2012, BTRC has organised a national final in order to choose Belarus' entry, a selection procedure that continued for their 2013 entry.


Before Eurovision


National final

The Belarusian national final took place on 7 December 2012. Ten songs participated in the competition and the winner was selected via a jury and a public televote. The show was broadcast on
Belarus 1 Belarus 1 () is a state-owned television channel in Belarus. It is the oldest television channel in the country. The channel is on air from 6:00 am to 2:00 am on the next day, in contrast with most public channels in Europe, which broadcast 24-ho ...
,
Belarus 24 Belarus 24 () is the state television and radio channel of Belarus. It was launched on 1 February 2005. It broadcasts primarily in Russian language programmes of other Belarusian state TV channels Belarus 1, Belarus-2, Belarus 3 and Belarus 5. ...
and Radius FM as well as online via the broadcaster's official website ''tvr.by'' and the Eurovision Song Contest's official website ''eurovision.tv''.


Competing entries

Artists and composers were able to submit their applications and entries to the broadcaster between 3 October 2012 and 22 October 2012. At the closing of the deadline, 82 entries were received by the broadcaster. Auditions were held on 30 and 31 October 2012 where a jury panel was tasked with selecting up to fifteen entries to proceed to the televised national final. The jury consisted of Gennady Davydko (chairman of the jury, chairman of BTRC), Vasily Rainchik (director of the Youth Variety Theater), Sergey Bondarchuk (director of the Belarusian State Circus), Viktor Volotkovich (head of the department of wind music of the
Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts (Belarusian: Беларускі дзяржаўны універсітэт культуры і мастацтваў Russian: Белорусский государственный университе ...
, associate professor at the
Belarusian State Academy of Music The Belarusian State Academy of Music (''Беларуская дзяржаўная акадэмія музыкі'') is the primary music and higher education institution and research center of musicology, folklore, aesthetics, music pedagogy in Be ...
), Alexander Efremov (artistic director of the Film Actor's Studio Theater), Sergey Kukhto (director of the TV channel "BelMuzTV"), Vladimir Maksimkov (head of the media holding "Karambol"), Marianna Malchik (deputy head of the department of arts, head of the department of concert and festival projects at the Belarusian Ministry of Culture), Alexander Mezhenny (director of the Shtam dance school), Konstantin Mikheev (songwriter and journalist), Larisa Murashko (associate professor at the Belarusian State Academy of Music), Victoria Popova (editor of the culture department of the newspaper "
Belarus Today ''Belarus Today'' (; ) is a state run publisher in Belarus; it controls numerous media entities such as their current namesake publication ''Belarus Today''. It was named ''Sovetskaya Belorussiya – Belarus' Segodnya'' previously. Dzmitry Zh ...
"),
Alexander Tikhanovich Alexander Grigorievich Tikhanovich (; 13 July 1952 – 28 January 2017) was a Soviet and Belarusian pop singer, former member of the ensemble Verasy. He was named Honored Artist and People's Artist (Belarus). From 2006 to 2009, Alexander Tikha ...
(chief director and general producer of the production center "Profiartvideon"), Vladimir Ugolnik (associate professor of the department of variety art at the Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts), Andrey Kholodinsky (editor-in-chief and music presenter of the radio station "Alfa Radio"), Tatiana Shcherbina (head of the radio station "Radius FM") and Anatoly Yarmolenko (director of the ensemble
Syabry Syabry ( – Friends) is a Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Lat ...
). Ten finalists were selected and announced on 14 November 2012.


Final

The televised final took place on 7 December 2012 at the BTRC "600 Metrov" studio in
Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
, hosted by Olga Ryzhikova and Denis Dudinskiy. Prior to the competition, a draw for the running order took place on 5 December 2012. A 50/50 combination of votes from 14 jury members made up of music professionals and public televoting selected the song "Rhythm of Love" performed by
Alyona Lanskaya Alyona Lanskaya (, Romanized: ''Alena Lanskaja''; , Romanized: ''Alyona Lanskaya''; born 7 September 1985) is a Belarusian singer. In 2011, she won the Slavianski Bazaar Contest in Vitebsk. Alyona represented Belarus in the Eurovision Song Co ...
as the winner. The jury consisted of Gennady Davydko, Vasily Rainchik, Sergey Bondarchuk, Viktor Volotkovich, Alexander Efremov, Sergey Kukhto, Vladimir Maksimkov, Marianna Malchik, Alexander Mezhenny, Larisa Murashko, Victoria Popova, Vladimir Ugolnik, Andrey Kholodinsky and Tatiana Shcherbina. In addition to the performances from the competitors, the show featured guest performances by 2004 Belarusian Eurovision contestants
Aleksandra and Konstantin Aleksandra and Konstantin (Belarusian: , Aliaksandra i Kanstantsin) is a Belarusian musical duo composed of singer Aleksandra Kirsanova (, Aliaksandra Kirsanava) and guitarist Konstantin Drapezo (, Kanstantsin Drapeza). The duo was formed in 19 ...
, 2007 Belarusian Eurovision contestant
Dmitry Koldun Dmitry Aleksandrovich Koldun (, Dzmitry Kaldun; ; born 11 June 1985) is a Belarusian pop singer. Koldun rose to fame through his participation in several Russian television talent shows. In 2006, he won the sixth season of ''Fabrika Zvyozd''. H ...
and Gunesh.


Song selection

Following Alyona Lanskaya's win at the Belarusian national final, BTRC announced that the singer could be performing a song other than "Rhythm of Love" at the Eurovision Song Contest. The national final rules set by BTRC allowed for the winning artist to change their song if they were able to find a more suitable alternative for the contest. In early February 2013, it was announced that Lanskaya recorded several songs at the
Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and in
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
for her new album and the Eurovision Song Contest, and that four songs were under consideration. On 7 March, BTRC announced that Alyona Lanskaya would be performing the song "Solayoh" at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest, which officially replaced "Rhythm of Love" as the Belarusian entry through the decision of a jury panel consisting of representatives of BTRC and the production group Spamash. Prior to the announcement, information of "Solayoh" as the replacement song was leaked on 4 March through the German record label CAP-Sounds, which labelled the song as a "Eurovision version" on digital download music websites. The song, written by Marc Paelinck and Martin King, was presented to the public during her performance in the final of the Romanian Eurovision national final on 10 March.


Promotion

Alyona Lanskaya made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Solayoh" as the Belarusian Eurovision entry. In addition to her performance of "Solayoh" during the final of the Romanian Eurovision national final on 10 March, Lanskaya performed during the final of the Moldovan Eurovision national final on 16 March. On 28 April, she took part in promotional activities in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
,
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
and performed during the Romanian Spring Festival, which was held at the Fish Market Square, as well as during the ''Le You Gay Tea Dance - You'rovision'' event, which was held at the Le You nightclub. On 11 May, Lanskaya performed during the Belarusian party of the ''EuroClub'' event, which was held at the Moriska Paviljongen in
Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...
and hosted by Yuri Yaroshik.


At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the " Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The
European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...
(EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 17 January 2013, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Belarus was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2013, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2013 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Belarus was set to perform in position 11, following the entry from
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
and before the entry from
Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...
. The two semi-finals and the final were broadcast in Belarus on
Belarus 1 Belarus 1 () is a state-owned television channel in Belarus. It is the oldest television channel in the country. The channel is on air from 6:00 am to 2:00 am on the next day, in contrast with most public channels in Europe, which broadcast 24-ho ...
and
Belarus 24 Belarus 24 () is the state television and radio channel of Belarus. It was launched on 1 February 2005. It broadcasts primarily in Russian language programmes of other Belarusian state TV channels Belarus 1, Belarus-2, Belarus 3 and Belarus 5. ...
with commentary by
Evgeny Perlin Evgeny Perlin (; - born in Karma District, Karma, Gomel Region) is a Belarusian journalist and television presenter. On 26 October 2018, it was announced that Perlin would host the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018, alongside singers Helena ...
. The Belarusian spokesperson, who announce the top 12-point score awarded by the Belarusian jury during the final, was
Darya Domracheva Darya Uladzimirauna Domracheva (; born 3 August 1986) is a retired Belarusian biathlete and coach who competed in the Biathlon World Cup from 2006 to 2018. She won a gold medal in the 4×6 km relay and a silver medal in the mass start comp ...
.


Semi-final

Alyona Lanskaya took part in technical rehearsals on 7 and 10 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 13 and 14 May. This included the jury show on 13 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries. The Belarusian performance featured Alyona Lanskaya performing a choreographed routine on stage wearing a blue fringed dress covered in 70,000
Swarovski Swarovski (, ) is an Austrian producer of glass based in Wattens, Tyrol. It was founded in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski. The company is split into three major industry areas: the Swarovski Crystal Business, which primarily produces crystal glas ...
crystals together with two male dancers wearing white loose-fitting costumes and three backing vocalists wearing blue and white costumes. The performance began with Lanskaya appearing from within a big disco ball symbolising the planet of Solayoh, which was described by the singer as "a fantastic planet where people believe in miracles and take everything as a miracle." The stage displayed red and orange colours and drums were used by the dancers during the performance which also featured pyrotechnic effects. The dancers and backing vocalists that accompanied Lanskaya during the performance were: Žiga Sotlar, Mehmet Durmaz, Ana Mašulović, Marija Lazić and Willem Botha. At the end of the show, Belarus was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Belarus placed seventh in the semi-final, receiving a total of 64 points.


Final

Shortly after the first semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the reverse order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Belarus was drawn to compete in the first half. Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Belarus was subsequently placed to perform in position 8, following the entry from
Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
and before the entry from
Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
. Alyona Lanskaya once again took part in dress rehearsals on 17 and 18 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Alyona Lanskaya performed a repeat of his semi-final performance during the final on 18 May. Belarus placed sixteenth in the final, scoring 48 points.


Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding points from 1-8, 10 and 12 as determined by a combination of 50% national
jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...
and 50%
televoting Televoting (also telephone voting, phone voting, and call-in voting) is a method of decision making and opinion polling conducted by telephone. Televoting can also extend to voting by SMS text message via a mobile cell phone. Broadcast contest ...
. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Belarus and awarded by Belarus in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Ukraine in the semi-final and final of the contest.


Points awarded to Belarus


Points awarded by Belarus


References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2013
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Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013
Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an origina ...
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