Belarus made the Eurovision final for the first time in 2007, understandably they were a little upset when they found out that they’d have to qualify again this year. Can Ruslan see the state though to it’s second ESC final.
The 2008 Belarusian final took place in pretty much the same format as last year. The preliminary round was held on December 21st, where 15 songs competed for four final spots. The televote put through one of the songs and the jury decided the other three entries that would go through. Ruslan Alehno won the televote by a massive majority.
The final of Eurofest 2008 was held in Minsk, by BTRC, a month later and the winner was decided by a expert jury. At this event Ruslan again triumphed, and so he will be the Belarusian representative in Belgrade in May with the song ‘Hasta la vista’. Now, if any of you are getting a sense of deja vu, then you’re correct, neighbouring Ukraine already sent an entry with exactly the same title in 2003.
‘Hasta la vista’ will not be performed in Belgrade in it’s current form, Ruslan is now looking for a producer for the song. It will undergo a bit of a face lift in order to increase it’s chances. Ruslan himself stated, about the song, at the post final press conference that "indeed there is something to work on. Including vocals". He also stated that he was not ashamed of his performance. Philip Kirkorov is one of the names that have been mentioned by Ruslan as a possible producer for the entry.
The young Mr. Alehno was born in Minsk in 1981. Like many of his fellow compatriots, Ruslan has had much experience in local music festivals and was quite successful. He has, to date, released only two albums, ‘Neobiknovennaya’ and ‘Sooner Or Later’, both from 2005.
The Belarusian singer has already promoted his song for ESC 2008 in Montenegro. During Eurosong, the show to pick the Montenegrin singer for ESC 2008, Ruslan performed the entry. More promotion can be expected for Ruslan in the coming weeks and months before the contest in 2008. He is currently due to perform in both the Lithuanian and Macedonian finals.
Links
BTRC (Eurofest)
Ruslan’s official site (Russian)
In my view
This whole act needs quite a bit of work and is far from the polished entry that ‘Work your magik’ was. Many have criticised Ruslan for his hairstyle and I would just like to add my voice to that cause and say ‘What was he thinking?’.
The opinion expressed in "In my view" are those of the author and are not necessarily the one of EuroVisionary.com.
