To many Eurovision fans Arina Pehtereva from Belarus appears much older than she really is. Do you agree with our Eurovision Fan panel? We take a closer look at the 2020 Junior Eurovision entry from Belarus.
Arina Pehtereva is 12 years old and is from the Belarusian city Mogilev. She was always into music and started taking singing lessons when she was 6 years old. Almost immediately, she started to take part in many music competitions in Belarus and also abroad. She already won some of those festivals and competitions. Arina also took part in the talent show The Voice Kids and tried multiple times to represent Belarus at the Junior Eurovision. Unfortunately, she never won the national final, but this year she was lucky to be internally chosen with her song Aliens, which was penned by Daniil Zabela.
Arina has one sister and three pets – a dog, a cat, and a parrot. Her musical idol is Billie Eilish, who is very popular among young singers all over the world. Last year, Arina ended in 5th place in the Belarusian national final with her song Never Again.
Aliens – opinions from fans
In order to find out what Eurovision fans today think of this Belarusian Junior Eurovision entry from 2020, we asked our Eurovision Fan Panel. It includes team members as well as fans from all over the world.
Virginija R. – What a voice! Is that really a song for Junior Eurovision? I can easily see this on main Eurovision stage! Arina has an amazing and powerful voice, it’s really hard to believe she’s only 12! The compilation of different music styles is quite interesting and a very contemporary decision. This song definitely has everything to find its audience among European youth, and not only them.
Josef Š. – Arina belongs to those young singers who sound much more mature than they really are. I would take her and the song like it is right now and put it to the adult Eurovision, and it would do pretty good, I think. But even though, I still take it as something positive for her and the country. With vocals as powerful as now, it’s a good sign for Belarus and its future at both Eurovisions.
Charlotte J. – Is she only 12 years old? No way. I don’t believe that. Her look and her voice would suggest to me that she is 16! She has a great voice, and I really like parts of the song. Then there are those parts which I don’t like… Do we have a reversed Belgium 1986 case here? Lying about her age to fit her into the contest? I don’t know, but all in all; first half of the scoreboard song from a girl who I don’t believe is only 12.
Amira M. – She has a strong voice and the song is captivating. I am not sure if the refrain was in English but if it was there needs to be clear diction.
Wouter V. – Oh please. This is styled, produced, filmed, and sung exactly as they would for the big Eurovision. No complaints at all about Arina’s vocal capabilities, they are truly excellent. But maybe children should just be allowed, perhaps even encouraged or even forced, to just be children rather than pretend to be adults with adult emotions. Besides that, it’s a good song and even the rap bit works.
Kostas C. – I am not a fan of JESC, so I heard the song for the very first time and I haven’t heard any other participation. The song gained me from the first listening and I want to hear it again. It’s a song full of emotions, with very good vocals and expressions of the young girl. I have no idea what she is singing, but she captivated me. That means a lot and finally, that’s the music; To feel the song, without knowing the language. The song gave me winning vibes and I would say it even could have a good result at the adults Eurovision. My only disagreement is that the song is more appropriate for adults than for children.
Alvaro S. – I am not sure what to make with this song. I think it sounds like a beautiful power ballad that could actually make the adult version of Eurovision. For my personal taste that is also the problem. That is too solemn to be in a kid’s contest.
Michael O. – If you weren’t watching you’d think this was sung by an adult. Way too dramatic for a youngster, but it seems kids grow up much quicker these days. Intense indeed.
John D. – I’ve listened to this a few times now after receiving the link today. That suggests to me that this is better than your average JESC entry. The young singer sings with passion and a lot of emotion leaving me to want to know more about what she’s singing about. When she does, however, sing some lines in English her strong East European accent seems to dilute her performance somewhat so I hope she does the whole song in her own language. I’d put a bet on this to win this year.
Vangelis M. – I am not a big fan of JESC but sometimes I manage to listen to the songs that participate. What I have to say about Belarus this year is that I don’t even remember it after listening to it. Not a bad song, I mean I could listen to it till the end but I did not like the changing style before the end of the song. For Junior Eurovision, it is okay maybe more dramatic than it should be, but for the Eurovision it could be a problematic entry.
In the video below, you can listen to Arina Pehtereva’s entry Aliens. Below the video you can read more about Belarus at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
Belarus at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Belarus belongs to one of the most successful countries at Junior Eurovision. Since 2003, they participated every single year and did not miss any edition of Junior Eurovision. So far, out of those 17 entries, Belarus won twice (2005 & 2007) and once ended as the runner-up, and twice came third. And only three times Belarus ended outside of the prestigious TOP 10.
In 2018, Junior Eurovision was held in Belarus and ZENA was one of the hosts of the show. You may remember ZENA from Eurovision Song Contest in 2019, where she represented Belarus with her song Like It and ended 24th in the final.
