BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

25/10/2006

Belarus jury to decide for 2007

Belarus will select its next participant in the Eurovision Contest according to the rules released by broadcaster BTRC. Submissions from singers and songwriters are due by 20th November, after which a jury will select 15 songs to compete in a semifinal in December. As many as three songs from the semifinal will be selected by a combination of jury and televote for final consideration. The winning entry will be announced in January or February.

[UPDATE] Yesterday, several Eurovision news and fan sites reported on Eurofest, the Belarus selection in 2007. Some dates reported by esctoday.com and other sources were inaccurate, although the details reported on the selection process seem to be correct. Submissions are due on November 20 as previously reported. A jury will select 15 entries to compete in a semifinal round scheduled for December. For the semifinal, a jury will select two finalists; televoters will also be able to select one finalist. If the televoters select a finalist who was not selected by the jury, then three finalists will compete for the honor of representing Belarus. A professional jury will decide which song from the final will advance to Helsinki.

Belarus at the Eurovision Song Contest

The Helsinki contest will mark Belarus' fourth year of participation. Belarus first entered the contest in 2004, which was the same year that the semifinal format was introduced. Unfortunately, the country has not yet been able to place a singer into the Eurovision Song Contest final, and to date, Belarus' highest finisher was Angelica Agurbash who placed 13th - a mere three positions short of making the big night. Belarus must take part in the 2007 semifinal, as Polina Smolova finished in a poor 22nd place at the Athens semifinal of 2006. Only Andorra finished below Belarus in that contest.

Source:

http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/6601?PHPSESSID=049c895ad80a75fe877fa5890c79a1fa