Belarus’ Junior Eurovision Song Contest journey so far…

On November 26th, the crystal anniversary of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest will take place. Indeed, Georgia’s capital city of Tbilisi will host the 15th edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Therefore it is the perfect time to look back at the journeys of all of this year’s participating countries in the contest so far. Therefore let’s take a look at Belarus’ Junior Eurovision journey following their national final last night.

Quick facts

• Country: Belarus
• Broadcaster: BTRC
• Debut appearance: 2003
• Number of participations: 14
• Highest finish: 1st (2005, 2007)
• Lowest finish: 14th (2004)

Back to the very beginning…

Belarus was one of the 16 countries to debut in the first Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 in Copenhagen, Denmark. They were represented by Volha Satsiuk and her song Tantsui. Volha performed 4th on the night, after Cyprus’ Theodora Rafti, and before Latvia’s Dzintars Čīča.

After all the points had been given, Belarus’ Tantsui was in the 4th place with 103 points. A respectable start to Belarus’ Junior Eurovision journey!

Belarus’ journey so far

Since debuting in the inaugural Junior Eurovision Song Contest, Belarus has taken part in every edition of the contest. They have also won the contest twice, firstly in 2005 with Ksenia Sitnik’s My Vmeste, and again in 2007 with Alexey Zhigalkovich’s S druz’yami.

Every year, the viewing figures for Junior Eurovision are very high, showing that Belarus still loves Junior Eurovision even after all these years! According to former EBU Executive Supervisor, Svante Stockselius, Junior Eurovision is one of Belarus’ most popular television shows!

Despite winning the contest twice, Belarus have only hosted the contest once, in 2010. The 15,000 seating Minsk Arena beat bids from Russia and Malta to host the contest!

Looking ahead to 2017

Belarus’s national final for Junior Eurovision took place last night. Out of the 10 finalists, Belarus chose Helena Meraai to represent them with her song Ya Samaya, meaning “I Am The One”. It is definitely one of their best efforts yet. Hear the Belarusian entry below!

My favourite Belarusian entry!

I’ll admit, Belarus aren’t one of my favourite countries in Junior Eurovision….sorry, Belarus!
Although, there was one song that stood out for me: their 2014 entry. Nadezhda Misyakova opened the show for Belarus in 2014 with the song Sokal. She achieved 7th place for Belarus with 71 points.

Sokal was something a bit different for Junior Eurovision. It used a mix of ethnic sounds and a catchy beat, reminiscent of the 2013 adult contest winner, Emmelie de Forest’s Only Teardrops. I really think that it deserved to do better than 7th place in 2014, especially with Nadezhda’s fantastic live performance!
Which is your favourite Belarusian Junior Eurovision entry so far? Furthermore, are you looking forward to their performance in Tbilisi? Make sure you tell us in the comments section below and via our social media pages @ESCXTRA!