Previewing the Entrants of Eurovision 2019 – Part Six: Belarus

Hello everyone and welcome to another post on The Blogging DJ, where I will continue to preview all of the songs that are competing in Eurovision 2019. Today we are off to Belarus, who have only qualified for the Grand Final once in the last four years. Will ZENA do better with her track, “Like It”?

Selection Process

Since 2012, the Belarussian broadcaster BTRC have organised a national final to pick their representative at Eurovision. In this edition, a huge 73 songs were chosen to perform at an audition, with ten of these progressing to the Grand Final. ZENA received 69 points out of a maximum 70 from the jurors, thus winning the ticket to Tel Aviv. It was also announced that Belarus would perform in the first half of semi-final one in the live shows.

Music Video

The Blogging DJ’s Review

I can see elements here from contemporary music industries, especially the United Kingdom. We have a female singer with a decent voice, a dance beat that seems on trend, and some modern backing dancing. This combination sounds good on paper, but when performed live something is missing. The song seems to lack energy the singer can build on with its lazy beat and the whole thing lacks the kind of identity needed to stand out in this year’s contest. Another case of a song that would be okay as song eight on an album, but not number one. 5.5

Live Performance Video

Odds

According to Oddschecker, at the time of writing, you can get odds of between 66/1 and 200/1, with a majority at the 150/1 mark. This means that betters feel that it is unlikely that this song will progress to the Grand Final.

Record at Eurovision

Belarus have competed in the Eurovision Song Contest on fifteen occasions since they debuted in 2004, qualifying for the Grand Final on five of those occasions. Their best finish by far is Dmitry Koldun’s sixth place in 2007. Last year, despite a graphic stage show, Alekseev could only finish in sixteenth place in the semi-final, thus missing out on a place in the Grand Final.

So what do you think of Belarus’s entry for Eurovision 2019? Do you like the song or do you feel this will miss out on making the Grand Final? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more Eurovision preview posts, including next time, where I will be dissecting Belgium’s entry. See you guys then!