BELARUS

The Belarussian Final was held on January 20th at BTRC Studio 600 Metrov in Minsk, hosted by Olga Ryzhikova & Teo. The winner was chosen by televoting (50%) & an "expert" jury (50%).  Once the votes were added together, the winning act was the duo NAVI singing “Historyja majho žyccia” (The story of my life).

The setting of the song is very simple. Arciom and Ksienija perform the song is a very free way. Arciom plays his guitar whist Ksienija does her best in inviting the audience to join in or copy her twisty choreography. They are also dressed quite simply which helps them give their all. In some ways it is slightly reminiscent of Lithuania’s duet in 2015. Although they don’t interact a lot with each other they feel like a definite unit. The background is made up of flashing lights and kaleidoscopic symbols and colours which gives it a great spirit and identity. This is also the first Eurovision entry selected by Belarus in Belarussian.

The song gets into its rhythm quickly – and doesn’t stop. They start away from the microphones moving and turning before going into one of the song's many earworms. The song is structured very cleverly. The verses and choruses are short and lend themselves to lots of repetition. The chorus itself is also well structured. Although there are lots of words, there are not many notes and the tune of each line are very similar. My main critsim is that that I would prefer another rendition of the chorus near the end raher than a whole 30 seconds of  'hey-hey, aj-ja-ja-ja"

Considering that not much actually happens, in terms of stage craft and choreography, it is a very intriguing entry. And although not in English, the use of “Historyja” as the first word in the chorus is very clever and hooks non-speakers in as it is a word that can be translated or sounds very similar in different European languages.. The duo are also masters are conveying the meaning of the song through their facial expression and body language.

This is a happy, fun and catchy song performed with such gusto. I can imagine this getting a rapturous reception at Eurovision. It’s not exactly a dancey song but I could imagine the hall waving their flags clapping in time and joining in with the hey-heys and the fist pumping. Now it must be noted that this song did not do that well with the televoting public and won dthanks to full marks from the juries. Usually this would be a negative but a) Belarussian televoting results have never been failsafe and b) this song probably has a better following outside of Belarus. I think it safe to say that this is already becoming a bit of a fan favourite. The fact that the song is not in English is a huge positive. The song reflects a culture and changing it to English would change the whole act (This said I might not be averse to a final chorus being placed into English as long as the words really fit)
I think that many of Belarus’s cultural neighbours will lap this up but will also be very memorable because is feels rooted in an ethnic folk culture. I really hope that this song qualifies. Jamala’s win last year proved that culturally ethnic songs can do well but this song is the antithesis of 1944 in subject and emotion. Maybe this is exactly what Eurovision needs.

ARTIST - NAVI

SONG -Historyja majho žyccia (The story of my life).

MUSIC - Arciom Lukjanienka

LYRICS - Arciom Lukjanienka