Introduction

• Participant(s): ZENA
• Song: "Like It"
  
• Writer(s): Yuliya Kireyeva
• Composer(s): Yuliya Kireyeva, Victor Drobysh
• Broadcaster:  BTRC
• Social media:      
  
• Team review: 

This year Belarus takes part in the Eurovision Song Contest for the 16th time. The debut entry Belarus presented in the year 2004. The way to success was not always easy. Only six times Belarus reached the Grand Final since then. Unfortunately, there was only one Top10 song from Koldun in 2007 “Work Your Magic”. This year the young singer Zena has been chosen in the national final “Eurofest 2019” to represent her country in Tel Aviv.

ZENA, officially Zina Kupriyanovich was born in Minsk, 2002. She is a passionate singer, presenter and actress.  She took part in various festivals such as New Wave Festival Junior 2013, Festival Slavianski Bazaar in 2014. ZENA has already good experiences in the world of Eurovision, she took part twice in the Junior ESC: 2015 with “Mir”, where she became 4th and 2016 with “Kosmos”,  where she made a third place. She also voiced films e.g. in the Disney Movie “Moana” and started her career in presenting and acting.

The Belarussian song “Like It” is a modern composition with contemporary sound elements, which describes the life of a teenager. There is no strong melody or memorable chorus in this piece of song. So it all depends on the live performance on stage, ZENA definitely has a lot of stage experiences which are paying off. Judging by the video clip there is still room for improvements, otherwise it won’t look good with the qualification.

History

• Debut: 2004
• Participations: 16
• Victories: 0
• Finals: 5
• Top 10: 1
• Chances for Top 10: 6%
• Chances for Final: 31%

For Belarus it will be the 16th time in the Eurovision Song Contest. But for many TV viewers who are not watching Semi Finals on a regular basis, it will be irritating as Belarus has only been five times in the Grand Final so far in the past 15 years. The debut entry in 2004 “My Galileo” by Aleksandra & Konstantin made a 19th place but in the Semi Final only. In the short history of Belarus in the ESC there was one Top10 entry – the 6th place – “Work Your Magic” by Koldun in 2007. This song has been composed by the famous Russian ESC guru Philip Kirkorov. This makes a realistic chance of 31% for Belarus to reach the Grand Final and a chance of 6% for a top 10 position.

The Belarussian entries are were mainly supported with points from the other former ex-Soviet countries. Even the composers come from the neighbour countries such as Philip Kirkorov from Russia. Maybe the style of the songs did not meet the taste of the Europeans so well, even if the composers try to make the songs as modern as possible.

Last year Belarus’ entry “Forever” by Alekseev could not make it into the Grand Final either, there was a 15th place in Lisbon.

Biggest successes

1x 6th place

• Dmitry Koldun - "Work Your Magic" (2007)

Video Nostalgia

• “My Galileo” | Aleksandra & Konstantin , Rank 19 (Semi Final), 2004, Istanbul
  
  
• “I Love Belarus” | Anastasiya Vinnikova , Rank 14 (Semi Final), 2011, Düsseldorf
  
  
• “Time” | Uzari & Maimuna , Rank 12 (Semi Final), 2015, Vienna