News & Events in Belarus

MINSK, 21 January (BelTA) – Naviband have won Belarus’ national selection for Eurovision 2017, BelTA has learned.

Although the indie pop duo were not the top choice of the televoters, they posted the highest total score thanks to the 12 points from the professional jury. Artyom Lukyanenko and Ksenia Zhuk performed Story of My Life in Belarusian. Artyom is the author of the song.

That was the second Eurovision national selection for Naviband. In 2016, they also bid to represent Belarus with a song in the Belarusian language. The musicians believe that it is time to sing at Eurovision in Belarusian.

The duo released their third album Illuminatsiya on the day of the national selection. The presentation of the album will take place in Minsk on 14 February. Over the three years since the duo was formed, Naviband have built an army of fans. Now they have a busy tour schedule.

Naviband will represent Belarus at Eurovision 2017 in Kiev, Ukraine. The winner of the national selection was decided by combining the jury votes and the televoting points using the 50x50 formula. All in all, the national selection featured 13 competitors.

The Ukrainian capital will host the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in May.

The national selection was organized by the National State TV and Radio Company Belteleradiocompany that is the only member of the European Broadcasting Union in Belarus.