Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007
| Eurovision Song Contest 2007 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Belarus | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Eurofest 2007 | |||
| Selection date(s) | Semi-final: 15 December 2006 Final: 22 January 2007 | |||
| Selected entrant | Dmitry Koldun | |||
| Selected song | "Work Your Magic" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) | ||||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Qualified(4th, 176 points) | |||
| Final result | 6th, 145 points | |||
| Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Belarus participated in theEurovision Song Contest 2007with the song "Work Your Magic"written byKaren KavaleryanandPhilip Kirkorov.The song was performed byDmitry Koldun.The Belarusian entry for the 2007 contest inHelsinki,Finlandwas selected through the national finalEurofest 2007,organised by the Belarusian broadcasterNational State Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus(BTRC). The national final was a televised production which consisted of a semi-final and a final held on 15 December 2006 and 22 January 2007, respectively. Fifteen competing acts participated in the semi-final where three entries qualified to the final: one entry selected by a public televote and two entries selected by a seven-member jury panel. In the final, the jury panel selected "Work Your Magic" performed by Dmitry Koldun as the winner.
Belarus was competed in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 10 May 2007. Performing during the show in position 4, "Work Your Magic" was announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 12 May. It was later revealed that Belarus placed fourth out of the 28 participating countries in the semi-final with 176 points. In the final, Belarus performed in position 3 and placed sixth out of the 24 participating countries, scoring 145 points.
Background[edit]
Prior to the 2007 Contest, Belarus had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest three times since its first entry in 2004.[1]Following theintroduction of semi-finalsfor the2004,Belarus had yet to qualify to the final. The nation's best placing in the contest was thirteenth in the semi-final, which it achieved in2005with the song "Love Me Tonight" performed byAngelica Agurbash.In2006,Belarus failed to qualify to the final with the song "Mum" performed byPolina Smolova.
The Belarusian national broadcaster,National State Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus(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 2007 entry.[2]
Before Eurovision[edit]
Eurofest 2007[edit]
Eurofest 2007was the national final format developed by BTRC to select the Belarusian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. The competition consisted of a semi-final and final held on 15 December 2006 and 22 January 2007, respectively. Both shows were hosted byDenis Kurianand Olga Schlager and broadcast on theFirst ChannelandBelarus TVas well as online via the broadcaster's official websitetvr.by.
Competing entries[edit]
Artists and composers were able to submit their applications and entries to the broadcaster between 25 October 2006 and 20 November 2006.[3]At the closing of the deadline, 66 entries were received by the broadcaster. Auditions were held between 29 November and 1 December 2006 at the Youth Variety Theater inMinskwhere a jury panel was tasked with selecting up to fifteen entries to proceed to the televised national final. 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(musician/composer),Alexander Tikhanovich(national final project manager), Denis Shpitalnikov (head of music and entertainment programmes of BTRC), Anatoly Yarmolenko (director of the ensembleSyabry) andYadviga Poplavskaya(singer).[4]Fifteen semi-finalists were selected and announced on 5 December 2006.[5]Prior to the final,Dmitry Koldunopted to change his song as the national final rules set by BTRC allowed for the finalists to completely change their candidate songs.
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Anna Sharkunova | "Sorvatsya i vniz"(Сорваться и вниз) | Vitaly Penzin, Vladimir Kubyshkin |
| Borneo | "Fingertips" | Aleksey Charykov |
| Dali | "Mechtai so mnoy"(Мечтай со мной) | Victor Rudenko |
| Diana Gurtskaya | "How Long" | Karen Kavaleryan,Kim Breitburg |
| Dmitry Koldun | "Angel mechty"(Ангел мечты) | Dmitry Koldun, Denis Lis |
| "Work Your Magic" | Karen Kavaleryan,Philipp Kirkorov | |
| Irina Yarina | "Korotkiy dozhd"(Кроткий дождь) | Leonid Shirin, Yarik Rakitin |
| Lena | "Call Me (September 11)" | Sergey Zhdanovich, Evgeny Melnikov |
| Litesound | "Summer Trip" | Dmitry Karyakin, Vladimir Karyakin |
| Natalia Lapteva and XXXLight | "I Don't Know" | Natalia Lapteva |
| Natalia Tamelo | "So Badly High" | Leonid Shirin, Andrey Kostyugov |
| New Generation | "Belarus" | Aleksey Kravchenko |
| Oleg Karpenko | "I Feel Good Tonight" | Roman Kozyrev |
| Svayaki | "Smačny miodzik"(Смачны мёдзік) | Aleksey Zaitsev |
| The Project | "Super Star" | Bagrat Vartanyan |
| Victor Pshenichniy | "Sooner or Later" | Alexander Nabeev |
Shows[edit]
Semi-final[edit]
The televised semi-final took place on 15 December 2006 at the Republic Palace inMinsk.Prior to the semi-final, a draw for the running order took place on 14 December 2006.[6]Three songs qualified to the final. The fifteen competing entries first faced a public televote where one song advanced: "Angel mechty" performed byDmitry Koldun.An additional two qualifiers were selected from the remaining fourteen entries by the votes of jury members made up of music professionals: "How Long" performed byDiana Gurtskayaand "Super Star" performed by The Project.
In addition to the performances from the competitors, the show featured guest performances by2003 Belarusian Junior Eurovision contestantVolha Satsiuk and2006 Belarusian Eurovision contestantPolina Smolova.[4]
Public vote qualifier Jury qualifier
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anna Sharkunova | "Sorvatsya i vniz" | 553 | 8 | Eliminated |
| 2 | Borneo | "Fingertips" | 693 | 6 | Eliminated |
| 3 | Dmitry Koldun | "Angel mechty" | 4,412 | 1 | Advanced |
| 4 | Lena | "Call Me (September 11)" | 467 | 9 | Eliminated |
| 5 | Svayaki | "Smačny miodzik" | 1,149 | 5 | Eliminated |
| 6 | Irina Yarina | "Korotkiy dozhd" | 81 | 14 | Eliminated |
| 7 | Dali | "Mechtai so mnoy" | 142 | 13 | Eliminated |
| 8 | Natalia Tamelo | "So Badly High" | 585 | 7 | Eliminated |
| 9 | Litesound | "Summer Trip" | 1,999 | 2 | Eliminated |
| 10 | The Project | "Super Star" | 1,288 | 4 | Advanced |
| 11 | Oleg Karpenko | "I Feel Good Tonight" | 39 | 15 | Eliminated |
| 12 | New Generation | "Belarus" | 171 | 12 | Eliminated |
| 13 | Diana Gurtskaya | "How Long" | 1,582 | 3 | Advanced |
| 14 | Natalia Lapteva and XXXLight | "I Don't Know" | 334 | 11 | Eliminated |
| 15 | Victor Pshenichniy | "Sooner or Later" | 462 | 10 | Eliminated |
Final[edit]
The televised final took place on 22 January 2007 at the Sports Palace inMinsk.The votes of jury members made up of music professionals selected the song "Work Your Magic"performed by Dmitry Koldun as the winner.
In addition to the performances from the competitors, the show featured guest performances by former Belarusian Eurovision contestantsAleksandra and Konstantin(2004),Angelica Agurbash(2005) andPolina Smolova(2006), former Belarusian Junior Eurovision contestantsKsenia Sitnik(2005) and Andrey Kunets (2006), former Eurovision Song Contest winnersCarola(1991) andMarie N(2002),2006 Latvian Eurovision contestantsCosmosand2006 Russian Eurovision contestantDima Bilan.[7]
| Draw | Artist | Song |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diana Gurtskaya | "How Long" |
| 2 | Dmitry Koldun | "Work Your Magic" |
| 3 | The Project | "Super Star" |
Preparation[edit]
The official music video of the song, filmed in February 2007 and directed by Oleg Gusev, was presented to the public on 8 March 2007 on theFirst Channel.The concept of the video was based on the music video of the song "Jaded"by American bandAerosmith.[4][8]
Promotion[edit]
Dmitry Koldun made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Work Your Magic" as the Belarusian Eurovision entry. Between 3 February and 5 March, Dmitry Koldun performed "Work Your Magic" during theGreek,Irish,Macedonian,MontenegrinandSpanish Eurovision national finals,and the presentation shows of the 2007CypriotandBosnian Eurovision entries.In February and April, Koldun participated in promotional activities in Russia where he performed the Russian version of "Work Your Magic", titled "Day mne silu", during theChannel OneprogrammesNovye pesni o glavnomandVysshaya liga,as well as during theNTVprogrammeGlavniy Geroy.[9]Between 13 and 15 April, Koldun performed during events which were held inAntwerpandBrussels,Belgium,as well as appearing during theRTL 4programmeLife & CookinginThe Netherlands.In addition to his international appearances, Dmitry Koldun also participated in promotional activities in Belarus where he performed during theZa Nezavisimuyu Belarusevent, which was at theMinsk Hero City ObeliskinMinskon 25 March.[4]
At Eurovision[edit]
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four"(France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the ten highest placed finishers in the2006contest are required to qualify from the semi-final in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. On 12 March 2007, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order for the semi-final on 10 May 2007. Belarus was drawn to perform in position 4, following the entry fromCyprusand before the entry fromIceland.
For the Eurovision Song Contest, Dmitry Koldun performed under the artistic name of Koldun, which is the Russian word for "magician". Accompanying Koldun on stage were two male dancers: Alexandr Bodyanski and Fredrik Olofsson, and two female dancers: Natalia and Ilona Donchenko, along with Mariam Merabova providing backing vocals.[10]
At the end of the semi-final, Belarus was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. This marked the first time that Belarus qualified to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest from a semi-final since theintroduction of semi-finalsin2004.It was later revealed that the Belarus placed fourth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 176 points.
Shortly after the 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 the running order of the final. This draw was done in the order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Belarus was drawn to perform in position 3, following the entry fromSpainand before the entry fromIreland.[11]Belarus placed sixth in the final, scoring 145 points, which is the best result for Belarus to date.[12]
Voting[edit]
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Belarus and awarded by Belarus in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Moldova in the semi-final and to Russia in the final of the contest.
Points awarded to Belarus[edit]
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Points awarded by Belarus[edit]
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References[edit]
- ^"Belarus Country Profile".EBU.Retrieved7 November2014.
- ^Floras, Stella (29 September 2008)."Belarus: Welcome to the Eurofest project!".ESCToday.Archivedfrom the original on 1 October 2008.Retrieved29 September2008.
- ^Holyer, Steve (25 October 2006)."Belarus jury to decide for 2007".Esctoday.
- ^abcd"Belarus 2007 - News archive".
- ^Klier, Marcus (5 December 2006)."Belarus: songs announced".Esctoday.
- ^"The order of performers of the semifinal of the National TV music project" EuroFest "(qualifying stage for" Eurovision-2007 "song contest) is determined".BTRC.15 December 2006.Archivedfrom the original on 23 February 2007.Retrieved5 July2021.
- ^"Eurofest final live on the First Channel".BTRC.Archivedfrom the original on 22 January 2007.Retrieved5 July2021.
- ^"Dmitry Koldun – Belarus".Eurovision 2007 – 2008 – 2009 weblog.Archivedfrom the original on 28 May 2007.Retrieved5 July2021.
- ^"Russia 2007".Archivedfrom the original on 19 April 2007.
- ^"Work Your Magic".Six On Stage.
- ^"Semi-Final of Helsinki 2007".European Broadcasting Union.Archivedfrom the original on 22 April 2021.Retrieved22 April2021.
- ^"Grand Final of Helsinki 2007".European Broadcasting Union.Archivedfrom the original on 22 April 2021.Retrieved22 April2021.
- ^ab"Results of the Semi-Final of Helsinki 2007".European Broadcasting Union.Archivedfrom the original on 22 April 2021.Retrieved22 April2021.
- ^ab"Results of the Grand Final of Helsinki 2007".European Broadcasting Union.Archivedfrom the original on 22 April 2021.Retrieved22 April2021.