VAL is a Belarusian band comprising Valeria Gribusova and Vladislav Pashkevich.

History

In 2016, together with keyboardist and sound producer, Pashkevich, Gribusova founded a solo project called "VAL Music Project" which released the singles "Кто ты есть" (Who Are You) and "Ветер во сне" (Wind in a Dream) the same year. VAL would have represented

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 ...

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2020 The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was planned to be the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It would have taken place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the with the song "Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The con ...

in Rotterdam with the song " Da vidna", after winning Belarus' national selection Natsionalniy Otbor 2020 on 28 February 2020; although it was canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The pair openly supported the 2020 Belarusian protests. Because of that, in September 2020, the Belarusian state broadcaster said the duo was no longer willing to represent Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Members

Valeria Gribusova

Valeria Gribusova ( be, Валерыя Грыбусава, Valieryja Hrybusava;

Mogilev Mogilev (russian: Могилёв, Mogilyov, ; yi, מאָלעוו, Molev, ) or Mahilyow ( be, Магілёў, Mahilioŭ, ) is a city in eastern Belarus, on the Dnieper River, about from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from the bor ...

, 12 February 1995) delivers most of the vocals for the duo and is a songwriter and a dancer. Gribusova participated in Ludmila Zukova's children's ensemble Yaritsa from the age of five. She later attended the Mogilev Gymnasium where she matriculated with honours in choral music and art in 2013. She went on to study in the Pop Art department 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 ...

. Gribusova worked as a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra of Belarus under Mikhail Finberg in 2015. Gribusova has won numerous accolades as a singer. In 2015, when just 20 years old, she won first prize in the Belarus Slavianski Bazaar Competition. In 2017, she participated in the Ukrainian version of ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'', joining

Jamala Susana Alimivna Jamaladinova, ; rus, Суса́на Али́мовна Джамалади́нова, Susána Alímovna Dzhamaladínova, sʊˈsanə ɐˈlʲiməvnə dʐəməlɐˈdʲinəvə, links=yes. (born 27 August 1983), known professionally ...

's team.

Vladislav Pashkevich

Vladislav Pashkevich ( be, Уладзіслаў Пашкевіч, Uladzislaŭ Paškievič) – alias Vlad Freimann (Влад Фрайманн) – is a music producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and linguist. Pashkevich graduated at the

Minsk State Linguistic University Minsk State Linguistic University (MSLU; '', МДЛУ'') is a public university in Minsk, Belarus. It specializes in language education and offers courses in 18 foreign languages including English, German, French, Spanish, etc., as well as trainin ...

, and speaks four languages fluently: German, English, Russian and Belarusian. Pashkevich is of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent through his paternal grandfather Ernest Yefimovich Freimann. Pashkevich is one half of the producing duo ToneTwins. Pashkevich was one of the backing singers for

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 ...

at the Belarusian national selection in 2017, but was not selected to be the group's backing singer at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2017 The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the with the song "1944 (song), 1944" by Jamala. Organised by the European Broadcasting Uni ...

in Kyiv.

Discography

EPs

*2017: ''В моей комнате'' (on ToneTwins Records) *2021: ''Пауза''

Singles

*2016: "Кто ты есть" *2016: "Ветер во сне

*2019: "Тихая гавань" *2020: " Da vidna, Да відна" ("Da vidna") *2020: "Частницы счастья" *2020: "Навечна" *2021: "Пауза"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:VAL Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Belarus Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2020