BELARUS - reloaded

The inevitable happened - Belarus went and changed their entry!

On 5th March it was revealed that Alyona had dropped her original song in favour of a song she had recorded after the Belarusian selection at Abbey Road studios. It's title is "Soleyoh". Although the track was released online, her first live performance of this was during the Romanian final.

Alyona shares the stage with 4 scantily clad male dancers. She is wearing a very full cream dress with rose petal detailing around it. During the chorus all five of them partake in a dance routine. The rest of the stage is filled with warm colours, oranges and reds which gives the song a very warm summery feel. This will have to change somewhat as there is a chorus of audible backing singers on the backing track.

Alyona delivers the song confidently and seems to enjoy performing the song. Her accent and pronunciation needs a little work during the verses though. She delivers a good show and to be honest there are very few bum notes (however I feel with a tad more nerves and pressure she might buckle). The song is a strong one and have a very stand out chorus. It has a contemporary eastern feel which seems familiar. And herein lies the problem.

This song is about 5-10 years late. It has hints of "Wild Dances" and "Everyway that I can" of which it seems to also borrow the choreography from.  This could be a big summer hit around Europe but I doubt it. On its plus side this is a strong song, a solid looking performer and a very individual song. On the flip side in Eurovision terms even this is old hat.

Will is qualify? Probably.

Should it win? Definitely not.

 

Artist - Alyona Lanskaya

Song - Solayoh
Music - Marc Paelinck, Martin King
Lyrics - Marc Paelinck, Martin King