Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Belarus was represented by Ruslan Alekhno in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Hasta La Vista".

Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Country Belarus
National selection
Selection processEurofest 2008
Selection date(s)Semi-final:
21 December 2007
Final:
21 January 2008
Selected entrantRuslan Alekhno
Selected song"Hasta La Vista"
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (17th, 27 points)
Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2007 • 2008 • 2009►

Before Eurovision

Eurofest 2008

The Belarusian national final Eurofest 2008 consisted of two shows: a semi-final on 21 December 2007 and a final on 21 January 2008. Fifteen songs participated in the competition. The shows were broadcast on Channel 1 and Belarus TV.[1]

Competing entries

Artists and composers were able to submit their applications and entries to the broadcaster between 15 November 2007 and 27 November 2007.[1] At the closing of the deadline, over 70 entries were received by the broadcaster.[2] Auditions were held between 5 and 7 December 2007 where a jury panel was tasked with selecting fifteen entries to proceed to the televised national final. The selected finalists were announced on 11 December 2007.[3]

Semi-final

The televised semi-final took place on 21 December 2007 at the BTRC studios in Minsk, hosted by Denis Kurian and Vera Poliakova. Public televoting first selected the song "Hasta la Vista" performed by Ruslan Alekhno to qualify to the final. The votes of jury members made up of music professionals then selected an additional three songs to qualify to the final: "I Can't Live Without You" performed by Gunesh, "Devochka tryohtysachnih let" performed by Po Glazam and "Do You Believe" performed by Litesound. The jury consisted of Vladimir Rylatko, Vasily Rainchik, Anatoliy Yarmolenko, Yadviga Poplavskaya, Denis Shpitalnikov, Alexandr Kapenkin, Irina Dorofeeva, Leonid Shirin and Mihail Finberg.[1]

  Public vote qualifier   Jury qualifier

Semi-final – 21 December 2007
Draw Artist Song Composer(s) Televote Place
1 The Champions "Drive Me Crazy" Olisa Emeka Orakposim, Vyacheslav Lyschik 486 12
2 Lena Voloshina "That's All I Feel" Andrey Kostyugov, Leonid Shirin 858 8
3 Yuliya Guseva "Maybe" Alexander Melnikov 759 9
4 Ana Sharkunova & German Titov "My budem pervye" Max Aleinikov, Vladimir Kubyshkin 991 7
5 Ruslan Alekhno "Hasta la Vista" Eleonora Melnik, Taras Demchuk 6,089 1
6 Oksana Kovalevskaya "Vsegda odna" Oxana Kovalevskaya 271 15
7 PinCode "You Can" Vitaly Masalsky, Nina Bogdanova 1,075 6
8 Victor Pshenichniy "Baby Blue" Alexander Nabeev 338 14
9 Gunesh "I Can't Live Without You" Gunesh Abasova, Marina Khaitbayeva, Gleb Galushko 2,317 4
10 Scandal "Everybody" Ioannis Ksinakis, Andrey Kostyugov 1,689 5
11 Po Glazam "Devochka tryohtysachnih let" Stasi Zylikavaj 420 13
12 Palats "Kola mlyna" Alieh Chamienka 2,438 3
13 Dali "Silver Sky" Victor Rudenko 679 10
14 Katrin "Follow Me" Andrey Kostyugov, Ekaterina Tsvirko 663 11
15 Litesound "Do You Believe" Vladimir Karyakin, Dmitry Karyakin 3,967 2

Final

The televised final took place on 21 January 2008 at the Sports Palace in Minsk, hosted by Denis Kurian and Vera Poliakova. The votes of jury members made up of music professionals exclusively selected the song "Hasta la Vista" performed by Ruslan Alekhno as the winner. The jury consisted of Vladimir Rylatko, Vasily Rainchik, Anatoliy Yarmolenko, Yadviga Poplavskaya, Denis Shpitalnikov, Alexandr Kapenkin, Irina Dorofeeva, Leonid Shirin and Mihail Finberg.[1]

In addition to the performances from the competitors, the show featured guest performances by 2003 Eurovision winner Sertab Erener, 2004 Eurovision winner Ruslana, 2006 Eurovision winner Lordi, 2007 Junior Eurovision winner Alexey Zhigalkovich and 2005 Russian Eurovision contestant Natalia Podolskaya.[4]

Final – 21 January 2008
Draw Artist Song
1 Ruslan Alekhno "Hasta la Vista"
2 Litesound "Do You Believe"
3 Gunesh "I Can't Live Without You"
4 Po Glazam "Devochka tryohtysachnih let"

At Eurovision

In previous years, if a country placed in the top 10 in the final, they would automatically be qualified for the final of the next contest. Had this rule remained for the 2008 contest, Belarus would have directly qualified for the final. However, a change in rules due to the large intake of countries participating in the contest meant that only five countries, the host country and the Big 4 countries, would automatically qualify for the final. As such, Belarus was required to compete in one of the two semi-finals of the 2008 contest in Serbia. Belarus took part in the second semi-final on 22 May 2008, performing in ninth position, following Czech Republic and preceding Latvia. The country finished in 17th place with 27 points, failing to qualify for the Grand Final.

Points Awarded by Belarus[5]
Points Awarded to Belarus (Semi-Final 2)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Spokespersons

For the 2008 contest the spokesperson for the Belarus broadcast was Olga Barabanschikova.[6]

References
  1. "Eurovision - Belarus". Esckaz (in English and Russian)
  2. Hondal, Victor (29 November 2007). "Belarus: About 70 applicants for Eurofest". Esctoday.
  3. Krasilnikova, Anna (11 December 2007). "Belarus: EuroFest participants announced". Esctoday.
  4. Krasilnikova, Anna (21 January 2008). "Tonight: Belarus decides for Belgrade". Esctoday.
  5. Eurovision Song Contest 2008
  6. "Spokespersons". escforum.com. Retrieved 2008-04-03.

See also
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.