Litesound is a

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 R ...

ian

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

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 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 ...

, performing the song "

We Are the Heroes Belarus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "We Are the Heroes" written by Vladimir Karyakin and Dmitry Karyakin. The song was performed by the band Litesound. The Belarusian entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaij ...

". As of 2018, they released their second studio album ''Litesound''.

History

Early years and debut album

The band, originally formed as an acoustic duo, was formed in 2002 by brothers Dmitry and Vladimir Karyakin. In 2005, the band was changed into a quartet and became what is known as Litesound. The additions included bassist Mario Gulinsky and drummer Sergey Genko. In 2006, the band won the

Maiori Maiori (Campanian: ; originally ''Rheginna Maior'') is a town and ''comune'' on the Amalfi coast in the province of Salerno (Campania, Italy). It has been a popular tourist resort since Roman times, with the longest unbroken stretch of beach on ...

International Music Festival, held in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, during which they met Italian singer Jacopo Massa, who was also taking part in the competition. Massa and Litesound started collaborating, leading Massa to appear at several concerts as a guest. Eventually, this lead Massa in becoming an official member of the band. Russian guitarist Alex Kolchin and Belarusian drummer Ignat Yakovich also joined the band, while Gulinsky and Genko left the group in 2006. The band competed in the Eurofest 2006, in hope of representing

Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest Belarus has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 16 times since making its debut in . The country's first appearance in a final was in , with the song " Work Your Magic" performed by Dmitry Koldun, placing sixth. This remains Belarus' only ...

, performing the song "My Faith", placing 6th. Litesound participated in the Eurofest 2008, performing the song "Do You Believe", in which they qualified to the final as 2nd, but eventually lost out to

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 ...

. They gave it another shot and returned to the Eurofest 2009, placing 3rd with the song "Carry On", featuring vocals by

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, a ...

. In 2010, the band released the debut album ''Going to Hollywood'', including the single "Solo Per Te".

Eurovision Song Contest 2012

Starting from December 2011, Litesound, once again aimed to represent their country at Eurovision, by taking part in the Eurofest 2012. During the semi-final of the contest, Litesound performed the song "

". After qualifying to the final, they decided not to change their entry. On 14 February 2012,

Alyona Lanskaya Alyona Lanskaya ( be, Алена Ланская, Romanized: ''Alena Lanskaja''; russian: Алёна Ланская, Romanized: ''Alyona Lanskaya''; born 7 September 1985) is a Belarusian singer. In 2011, she won the Slavianski Bazaar Contest in ...

was announced the winner of the Eurofest 2012, while Litesound came in 2nd place. However, on 21 February 2012, the Belarusian president conducted an investigation about an alleged fraud in the televote, which turned out to be true. As a result of the investigation, All My Life by Alyona Lanskaya was disqualified. As a result, Litesound were then internally chosen to replace Alyona Lanskaya to represent

Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 Belarus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "We Are the Heroes" written by Vladimir Karyakin and Dmitry Karyakin. The song was performed by the band Litesound. The Belarusian entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaij ...

. Their entry "We Are the Heroes" was later re-recorded in a new version, produced by

Dimitris Kontopoulos Dimitris Kontopoulos (Greek: Δημήτρης Κοντόπουλος born November 9, 1971, in Athens, Greece) is a Greek music composer. Personal life Dimitris Kontopoulos was born in Athens, Greece on November 9, 1971. After graduating from the ...

. The song ultimately failed to progress from the second semi-final into the final.

After Eurovision

In 2013, Alex Kolchin left the band. The new additions to the band were Artyom and Egor Doronkin, who are also brothers. Together they recorded the Christmas single "Shooting Star" accompanied with a music video. The Doronkin brothers left the band in 2015, while Andrey Ravovoy joined. Alex Kolchin returned to collaborate with Litesound on a cover of the Russian entry for Eurovision Song Contest 2015 " A Million Voices" by

Polina Gagarina Polina Sergeyevna Gagarina ( rus, Поли́на Серге́евна Гага́рина, p=pɐˈlʲinə sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈɡarʲɪnə; born 27 March 1987) is a Russian singer and songwriter. She represented Russia in the Eurovisio ...

. On 16 April 2015, Litesound celebrated their 10th Anniversary and released a new song for the occasion, "Give Me Your Hand". In 2016, Litesound joined forces with Moldovan singer Katherine to enter the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden, making this their 5th Eurovision attempt. After auditioning, they reached the semi-finals to represent Moldova with the song "Imagine". However, on 1 February it was announced that Katherine & Litesound withdrew their entry from the national selection due to personal reasons. Andrey Ravovoy left the band in 2016. After the departure of Ravovoy, the band released the single "Together (Young.Wild.Brave)". In 2017, they released "The Whole World", a song composed by international songwriters. Prior to the release of the song Evgeny Balchuys joined the band, becoming the new bassist. Andrey Ravovoy returned as the band's drummer in 2017. On 11 December 2017, Litesound released a teaser for their long-awaited second album, to be released in 2018, and the release of three new music videos. On 30 September 2018, Litesound released their long-awaited second album ''Litesound''. In April 2019, Andrey Ravovoy and the band parted ways for a second time. On 25 June 2019, Litesound released the song "Champion", which was released as the official song to the

European Games 2019 The 2nd European Games 2019 ( be, II Еўрапейскія гульні, ''Jeŭrapiejskija huĺni 2019''; russian: II Европейские игры, ''Yevropeyskiye igry 2019''), informally known as Minsk 2019, was held in Minsk, Belarus, from 2 ...

taking place 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 ...

, Belarus. On 15 December 2019, they released their new single "Fight For The Dream", a song for the 2020 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships – Division I A held in Belarus.

Band members

;Current members * Dmitry Karyakin –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s, bass,

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

(2005–present) * Vladimir Karyakin –

(2005–present) * Evgeny Balchuys -

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

, bass (2017–present) * Max Bobko -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(2019–present) ;Past members * Mario Gulinsky –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(2005–2006) * Sergey Ginko –

(2005–2006) * Jacopo Massa -

s (2006–2015) * Evgeniy Sadovskiy -

(2009–2012) * Ignat Yakovich –

(2012) * Alex Kolchin –

s (2012–2013) * Artyom Doronkin -

s (2013–2015) * Egor Doronkin -

(2013–2015) * Andrey Ravovoy -

(2015–2016, 2017–2019)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

* 2010: ''Going to Hollywood'' * 2018: ''Litesound''

Collaborative albums

* 2015: ''Songs'' (with Valeriy Golovko) * 2019: ''The Star'' (with Valeriy Golovko)

Singles

* 2006: "My Faith" * 2008: "Do You Believe" * 2009: "Carry On" (Feat. Dakota) * 2010: "Solo Per Te" * 2011: "See You In Vegas" * 2012: "

" * 2012: "Finally" * 2013: "Shooting Star" * 2014: "Brothers" * 2015: "UFO" * 2015: "I Wish You Were Near Me" * 2015: "Give Me Your Hand" * 2016: "Imagine" (Feat. Katherine) * 2016: "Раздеть тебя" ("Razdet tebya") * 2016: "Together (Young.Wild.Brave)" * 2017: "Качели" ("Kacheli") * 2017: "The Whole World" *2018: "Don't Worry About Me" *2019: "На клеточном уровне" ("Na kletochnom urovne") *2019: "Polina" (with Valeriy Golovko) *2019: "Ненормальный" ("Nenormal'nyy") *2019: "Champion" *2019: "Our Life" (with Valeriy Golovko) *2019: "Arcade Games" *2019: "Fight For The Dream" *2020: "Моя вселенная" ("Moya vselennaya") *2020: " Мы героі" ("My geroi") *2020: "Беларускаму люду" ("Bielaruskamu liudu") *2021: "Бесконечно" ("Beskonechno") *2021: "Fire"

Music videos

* 2010: "Solo Per Te" * 2011: "See You In Vegas" * 2012: "

" * 2012: "Finally" * 2013: "Shooting Star" * 2014: "Brothers" * 2015: "UFO" * 2015: "I Wish You Were Near Me" * 2016: "Раздеть тебя" (Razdet tebya) * 2016: "Together (Young.Wild.Brave)" * 2018: "Don't Worry About Me" * 2019: "Ненормальный" (Nenormal'nyy) * 2019: "Champion"

Covers

* 2015: "

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" is a World War II jump blues song written by Don Raye and Hughie Prince which was introduced by The Andrews Sisters in the Abbott and Costello comedy film, ''Buck Privates'' (1941). The Andrews Sisters' Decca recording ...

" (Feat. Andy Ray) (

The Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the Swing music, swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andre ...

Cover) * 2015: " A Million Voices" (Feat. Alex Kolchin) (

Cover) * 2017: "

There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" is a song recorded by Canadian singer Shawn Mendes. Written by Mendes, Teddy Geiger, Geoff Warburton and Scott Harris, and produced by Geiger and Andrew Maury, it was released as a single on April 20, 2017. The ...

" (

Shawn Mendes Shawn Peter Raul Mendes (; born August 8, 1998) is a Canadian pop singer. He gained a following in 2013, when he posted song covers on the video sharing platform Vine. The following year, he caught the attention of artist manager Andrew Gert ...

Cover) *2018: "

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

" (

Goo Goo Dolls The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, by guitarist/vocalist John Rzeznik, bassist/vocalist Robby Takac, and drummer George Tutuska. After starting off as a cover band and then developing a punk sound, ...

Cover)

References

External links

Litesound Fan siteLitesound's Myspace page
{{Authority control Belarusian musical groups Musical groups established in 2002 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2012 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Belarus 2002 establishments in Belarus