Belarus in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017
| Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Belarus | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | National final | |||
| Selection date(s) | 25 August 2017 | |||
| Selected entrant | Helena Meraai | |||
| Selected song | "I Am The One" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) | Rita Dakota Helena Meraai | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 5th, 149 points | |||
| Belarus in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Belarusparticipated in theJunior Eurovision Song Contest 2017which took place inTbilisi,Georgiaon 26 November 2017. The Belarusian entry for the 2017 contest inTbilisi,Georgiawas selected through a national final organised by the Belarusian broadcasterNational State Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus(BTRC). A national final, which took place on 25 August 2017, saw ten competing acts participating in a televised production where the winner was determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury made up of music professionals and a public telephone vote. Helena Meraai won the national final by receiving the most votes from both the professional jury and televoters and she represented Belarus in Georgia with the song "I Am The One".
Background[edit]
Before the 2017 contest, Belarus had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest fourteen times since its first entry at the inaugural contest in2003.[1]Belarus has taken part in every edition of the contest since 2003,[2]and has won the contest twice: in2005withKsenia Sitnikperforming the song "My vmeste";[3]and again in2007withAlexey Zhigalkovichperforming the entry "S druz'yami".[4]The country hosted the2010contest inMinsk.In2016,Alexander Minyonok represented Belarus inValletta,Maltawith the song "Musyka moikh pobed (Music is My Only Way)". It ended in 7th place with 177 points.
Before Junior Eurovision[edit]
National final[edit]
The national final took place on 25 August 2017. It consisted of ten competing acts participating in a televised production where the winner was determined by a 50/50 combination of both telephone votes and the votes of a jury made up of music professionals.[5]The show was opened by last year's representativeAlexander Minyonok,who performed his entry “Musyka moikh pobed (Music Is My Only Way)”.He also sang a cover version ofShawn Mendes' song "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back".Moreover, some of the singers who did not manage to reach the national final, but showed potential at the live auditions, were also guests of the show.[6]At the end of the show, it was revealed that Helena Meraai won the national final by receiving the most votes from both the professional jury and televoters. The public televote in the final registered 38,729 votes. Respectively, Helena won the televote with 53,7%.
| Draw | Artist[7] | Song[8] | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Points | ||||||
| 1 | Helena Meraai | "Ya samaya"(Я самая) | 12 | 20,799 | 12 | 24 | 1 |
| 2 | Anastasia Timofeyevich | "Volshebniy svet"(Волшебный свет) | 2 | 1,174 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| 3 | Ruslana Panchishina | "Tantsui so mnoy"(Танцуй со мной) | 8 | 2,006 | 8 | 16 | 4 |
| 4 | Elena Mataras | "Ty reshaesh sam"(Ты решаешь сам) | 3 | 1,603 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| 5 | Yaroslav Sokolikov | "Okean"(Океан) | 10 | 1,687 | 6 | 16 | 3 |
| 6 | Stefania Sokolova | "Mama"(Мама) | 6 | 1,179 | 3 | 9 | 6 |
| 7 | Arina Pehtereva& Anastasia Dmitrachkova | "Muzyka-Vselennaya"(Музыка-Вселенная) | 4 | 967 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| 8 | Quartet of the National Center for Children's Art V. Mulyavina | "Prodolzhay idti"(Продолжай идти) | 5 | 1,843 | 7 | 12 | 5 |
| 9 | Maria Zhilina | "Vyshei"(Вышэй) | 7 | 6,046 | 10 | 17 | 2 |
| 10 | Anastasia Zhabko | "Letim k mechtam"(Летим к мечтам) | 1 | 1,425 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
Artist and song information[edit]
Helena Meraai[edit]
Helena Meraai | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 2 May 2003 Minsk,Belarus |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals |
| Years active | 2016–present |
Helena Meraai(Russian:Хелена Мерааи;born 2 May 2003) is a Belarusian singer. She represented Belarus in theJunior Eurovision Song Contest 2017with the song "I am the One".[9]She took part in theRussian version ofThe Voice Kids,where she was defeated in the battle round. Shortly after, she represented Russia in the 2016 edition of the children's festivalNew Wave Junioras part of a trio, where she won along with two other girls. Her mother isBelarusian,while her father is fromSyria.[10]
On 26 October 2018, it was announced that Maraai would host theJunior Eurovision Song Contest 2018,alongside TV presenterEugene Perlinand singerZinaida Kupriyanovich,in Minsk. Meraai is the fourth person under the age of sixteen tohost the Junior Eurovision Song Contest,after Ioana Ivan in2006,Dmytro Borodin in2009andLizi Japaridzein2017,and is also the second former participant to host an edition of the contest.[11]The following day it was confirmed that Meraai would host the green room. Earlier in the year she was one of the green room hosts alongsideRuslan Aslanovat theBelarusian national final.[12]She took part in the 9th seasonUkrainian version ofX Factor,where she was eliminated in the "Bootcamp" round.[13]In 2020 she hosted theBelarusian national final for the Eurovision Song ContestwithEugene Perlin.[14]
"I Am the One"[edit]
| "I Am the One" | |
|---|---|
| |
| Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017entry | |
| Country | |
| Artist(s) | Helena Meraai |
| Language | |
| Composer(s) | Rita Dakota |
| Lyricist(s) | Rita Dakota |
| Finals performance | |
| Final result | 5th |
| Final points | 149 |
| Entry chronology | |
| ◄ "Musyka moikh pobed" (2016) | |
| "Time" (2018) ► | |
"I Am the One"is a song by Belarusian singer Helena Meraai. It represented Belarus in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017.
At Junior Eurovision[edit]
During the opening ceremony and the running order draw which both took place on 20 November 2017, Belarus was drawn to perform in position 5 on 26 November 2017, followingArmeniaand precedingPortugal.[15]
Voting[edit]
In 2017, a new voting system was introduced, in which the results were determined by 50% online voting and 50% jury voting. Every country had a national jury that consisted of three music industry professionals and two children aged between 10 and 15 who were citizens of the country they represented. The rankings of those jurors were combined to make an overall top ten.[16]
The online voting consisted of two phases. The first phase of the online voting began on 24 November 2017 when a recap of all the rehearsal performances was shown on the contest's websiteJunioreurovision.tvbefore the viewers could vote. After this, voters also had the option to watch longer one-minute clips from each participant's rehearsal. This first round of voting ended on Sunday 26 November at 15:59 CET. The second phase of the online voting took place during the live show and began right after the last performance and was open for 15 minutes. International viewers were able vote for a minimum of three and a maximum of five songs.[17]They were also able to vote for their own country's song. These votes were then turned into points which were determined by the percentage of votes received. For example, if a song received 10% of the votes, it received 10% of the available points.
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Detailed voting results[edit]
| Draw | Country | Juror A | Juror B | Juror C | Juror D | Juror E | Average Rank | Points Awarded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  Cyprus
|
15 | 9 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | |
| 02 |  Poland
|
7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 |
| 03 |  Netherlands
|
5 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| 04 |  Armenia
|
3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| 05 | Belarus
|
|||||||
| 06 |  Portugal
|
12 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 9 | 13 | |
| 07 |  Ireland
|
9 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 10 | 12 | |
| 08 |  Macedonia
|
14 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 1 |
| 09 |  Georgia
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
| 10 |  Albania
|
13 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 15 | |
| 11 |  Ukraine
|
6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 5 |
| 12 |  Malta
|
10 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 2 |
| 13 |  Russia
|
1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 14 |  Serbia
|
11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | |
| 15 |  Australia
|
4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| 16 |  Italy
|
8 | 11 | 13 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 3 |
References[edit]
- ^"Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003".junioreurovision.tv.European Broadcasting Union. 15 November 2003.Retrieved17 August2016.
- ^"Belarus in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest".junioreurovision.tv.European Broadcasting Union.Retrieved26 August2016.
- ^Bakker, Sietse (26 November 2005)."Belarus wins Junior 2005".esctoday.com.ESCToday.Retrieved26 August2016.
- ^Bakker, Sietse (8 December 2007)."Alexey from Belarus wins Junior Eurovision Song Contest".eurovision.tv.European Broadcasting Union.Retrieved26 August2016.
- ^Granger, Anthony (29 May 2017)."Belarus launches Junior Eurovision 2017 selection".eurovoix.com.Eurovoix.
- ^GARCÍA, BELÉN (26 August 2017)."Helena Meraai to represent Belarus at Junior Eurovision 2017".esc-plus.com.
- ^Granger, Anthony (21 July 2017)."Belarus: Junior Eurovision 2017 selection running order announced".eurovoix.com.Eurovoix.
- ^Granger, Anthony (7 July 2017)."Belarus: The Junior Eurovision 2017 selection finalists announced".Eurovoix.
- ^"Belarus: Helena Meraai To Compete in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 - Eurovoix".25 August 2017.Retrieved27 October2018.
- ^Granger, Anthony (27 August 2017)."BELARUS: WHO IS HELENA MERAAI?".eurovoix.com.Eurovoix.
- ^Zwart, Josianne (26 October 2018)."Meet the hosts of Junior Eurovision 2018!".junioreurovision.tv.European Broadcasting Union.Retrieved26 October2018.
- ^"Junior Eurovision'18: Helena Meraai Will Be The Green Room Host".Eurovoix. 27 October 2018.Retrieved27 October2018.
- ^"Helena Meraai advances in the X Factor Ukraine".
- ^"Belarus: Helena Meraai and Evgeny Perlin to Host Eurovision 2020 Selection Show - Eurovoix".Eurovoix.2020-02-04.Retrieved2020-02-28.
- ^"The running order for Junior Eurovision 2017 is revealed!".European Broadcasting Union. 20 November 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 1 December 2017.Retrieved1 June2021.
- ^Granger, Anthony (15 November 2018)."Junior Eurovision 2018 – How Does The Voting Work?".Eurovoix.
- ^Farren, Neil (10 November 2017)."Voting in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest".Eurovoix.Archivedfrom the original on 11 November 2017.
- ^abc"Results of the Final of Tbilisi 2017".European Broadcasting Union.Archivedfrom the original on 1 June 2021.Retrieved1 June2021.