Belarus participated in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2008
The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcasti ...
with the song "Hasta la vista" written by Eleonora Melnik and Taras Demchuk. The song was performed by
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 ...
. The Belarusian entry for the 2008 contest in
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
,
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
was selected through the national final ''Eurofest 2008'', organised by the Belarusian broadcaster
(BTRC). The national final was a televised production which consisted of a semi-final and a final held on 21 December 2007 and 21 January 2008, respectively. Fifteen competing acts participated in the semi-final where four entries qualified to the final: one entry selected by a public televote and three entries selected by a nine-member jury panel. In the final, the jury panel selected "Hasta la vista" performed by Ruslan Alekhno as the winner.
Belarus was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 22 May 2008. Performing during the show in position 9, "Hasta la vista" was not announced among the 10 qualifying entries of the first semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Belarus placed seventeenth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 27 points.
Background
Prior to the 2008 Contest, Belarus had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest four times since its first entry in 2004. The nation's best placing in the contest was sixth, which it achieved in
2007 with the song "
Work Your Magic" performed by
Dmitry Koldun
Dmitry Aleksandrovich Koldun ( be, Дзмітры Аляксандравіч Калдун, Dzmitry Kaldun; russian: link=no, Дми́трий Алекса́ндрович Колду́н; born 11 June 1985) is a Belarusian pop singer.
Koldun ros ...
. Following the
introduction of semi-finals for the , Belarus had only managed to qualify to the final once.
The Belarusian national broadcaster,
(BTRC), broadcasts the event within Belarus and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Since 2004, BTRC has organised a national final in order to choose Belarus' entry, a selection procedure that continued for their 2008 entry.
Before Eurovision
Eurofest 2008
''Eurofest 2008'' was the national final format developed by BTRC to select the Belarusian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. The competition consisted of a semi-final and final held on 21 December 2007 and 21 January 2008, respectively. Both shows were hosted by
Denis Kurian
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, image =
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, birth_name = Dzianis Kurian
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Minsk, BS ...
and Vera Poliakova and broadcast on the
First Channel and
Belarus TV as well as online via the broadcaster's official website ''tvr.by''.
Competing entries
Artists and composers were able to submit their applications and entries to the broadcaster between 15 November 2007 and 20 November 2007. At the closing of the deadline, over 70 entries were received by the broadcaster. Auditions were held between 5 and 7 December 2007 at the Youth Variety Theater in
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
where a jury panel was tasked with selecting up to fifteen entries to proceed to the televised national final.
[ Esckaz ] The jury consisted of Mihail Finberg (chairman of the jury, director of the Belarusian State Academic Symphony Orchestra), Vladimir Rylatko (deputy head of the Belarusian Ministry of Culture),
Vasily Rainchik
Vasil Rainčyk ( be, Васіль Раінчык), also Vasily Rainchik, is a Belarusian musician and composer and also a professor at the Belarus University of Culture, Minsk, Belarus. He was also the leader of Vierasy, an early Belarusian pop ...
(musician/composer), Anatoly Yarmolenko (director of the ensemble
Syabry),
Yadviga Poplavskaya
Yadviga Konstantinovna Poplavskaya ( be, Ядвіга Канстанцінаўна Паплаўская, russian: Ядвига Константиновна Поплавская born 1 May 1949) is a Soviet and Belarusian singer, member of the fir ...
(singer), Denis Shpitalnikov (head of music and entertainment programmes of BTRC), Alexandr Kapenkin (deputy director of BTRC),
Irina Dorofeeva
Irina Dorofeeva is a singer from Belarus.
Eurovision Song Contest 2011
On January 15, 2011, National State Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus announced that Dorofeeva will represent Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2 ...
(singer) and Leonid Shirin (composer). Fifteen semi-finalists were selected and announced on 11 December 2007.
Semi-final
The televised semi-final took place on 21 December 2007 at the BTRC studios in
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
. Prior to the semi-final, a draw for the running order took place on 20 December 2007.
Four songs qualified to the final. The fifteen competing entries first faced a public televote where one song advanced. An additional three qualifiers were selected from the remaining fourteen entries by the votes of jury members made up of music professionals.
Final
The televised final took place on 21 January 2008 at the Sports Palace in
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
. The votes of jury members made up of music professionals selected the song "Hasta la vista" performed by
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 ...
as the winner.
In addition to the performances from the competitors, the show featured guest performances by former Eurovision Song Contest winners
Sertab Erener
Sertab Erener (born 4 December 1964) is a Turkish singer, songwriter and composer. With her coloratura soprano voice, she started working as a backing vocalist for Sezen Aksu, and with Aksu's help she released her first studio album in the 1990 ...
(
2003),
Ruslana
Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko ( uk, Руслана Степанівна Лижичко, ''Ruslana Lyzhychko''; born 24 May 1973), known mononymously as Ruslana, is a World Music Award and Eurovision Song Contest winning recording artist, holdi ...
(
2004) and
Lordi
Lordi () is a Finnish hard rock/ heavy metal band, formed in 1992 by the band's lead singer, songwriter and costume maker, Mr Lordi (Tomi Petteri Putaansuu). In addition to their melodic metal music, Lordi are also known for wearing monster ma ...
(
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
),
2005 Russian Eurovision contestant Natalia Podolskaya
Natalia Yuryevna Podolskaya (Natalla Padolskaja, Belarusian: ''Натальля Юр'еўна Падольская'', Russian: ''Наталья Юрьевна Подольская'', born 20 May 1982) is a Belarusian singer who performed for R ...
and Belarusian
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the fifth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in the Ahoy indoor sporting arena in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on 8 December. The host country was chosen by the European Bro ...
winner
Alexey Zhigalkovich
Alexey Alexandrovich Zhigalkovich ( be, Аляксей Аляксандравіч Жыгалковіч; born 18 April 1996 in Minsk) is a Belarusian singer. He participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007 and won with one point more t ...
.
Promotion
Ruslan Alekhno made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Hasta la vista" as the Belarusian Eurovision entry. Between 27 February and 9 March, Ruslan Alekhno performed "Hasta la vista" during the
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
,
Lithuanian,
Macedonian and
Russian Eurovision national finals. On 25 April, Alekhno performed during the ''UKEurovision Preview Party'' event which was held at the
Scala Club in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
At Eurovision
![Ruslan Alekhno 2008 Eurovision 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Ruslan_Alekhno_2008_Eurovision_3.jpg)
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "
Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top nine countries from the televoting progress to the final, and a tenth qualifier was determined by the back-up juries.
The
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...
(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 28 January 2008, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals. Belarus was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 22 May 2008. The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 17 March 2008 and Belarus was set to perform in position 9, following the entry from
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
and before the entry from
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
.
The two semi-finals and the final were broadcast in Belarus on the
First Channel with commentary by
Denis Kurian
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, birth_name = Dzianis Kurian
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Minsk, BS ...
and Alexander Tikhanovich. The Belarusian spokesperson, who announced the Belarusian votes during the final, was
Olga Barabanschikova
Olga Barabanschikova ( be, Вольга Барабаншчыкава; russian: Ольга Барабанщикова; born 2 November 1979) is a former professional Belarusian tennis player.
Barabanschikova's highest WTA singles ranking is 49t ...
.
Semi-final
![Ruslan Alekhno, Belarus, Eurovision 2008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Ruslan_Alekhno%2C_Belarus%2C_Eurovision_2008.jpg)
Ruslan Alekhno took part in technical rehearsals on 13 and 17 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 21 and 22 May. The Belarusian performance featured Ruslan Alekhno performing on stage wearing a black outfit together with four female dancers wearing short silver dresses. The performers performed a choreographed routine around five light-up baubles that moved around on the stage floor during the performance, which was concluded by the dancers displaying the letter R.
At the end of the show, Belarus was not announced among the 10 qualifying entries in the second semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Belarus placed seventeenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 27 points.
Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Belarus and awarded by Belarus in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Ukraine in the semi-final and to Russia in the final of the contest.
Points awarded to Belarus
Points awarded by Belarus
References
{{Eurovision Song Contest 2008
2008
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Eurovision