Yet more submissions open today as Belarus is the next country to reveal the rules and regulations for their forthcoming national final for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.

With Moldova having opened submissions earlier today, Belarus is the next country to follow on the search for their 2018 Eurovision representative.

BTRC, the Belarusian national broadcaster, has released the full set of rules and regulations for the country’s upcoming national final, with very few changes being made from previous editions of the selection.

International submissions welcome!

As well as complying with general Eurovision rules, entrants from Belarus as well as foreign citizens are eligible to submit their applications for the forthcoming selection. The same rules also apply to bidding authors and composers wishing to submit song entries.

Applications should be sent to the address provided via the official BTRC application page under the title ‘National selection round of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018’. Be quick though, as submissions will close in a few weeks’ time on the 26 December.

Two stages to find representative

As with previous years, the forthcoming Belarusian national selection will be determined in 2 stages: the first stage will see artists auditioning for a place in the second stage of the competition, the national final.

In the first stage of the selection, artists will audition to the jury panel in the hope of gaining their backing to qualify to the next stage of the selection. The audition phase will be broadcast online, as has been the case over the past number of years in Belarus.

The finalists will be determined no later than the 14 January 2018, in which no more than 15 participants will be selected to compete in the national final.

The Belarusian national final will take place no later than the 1 March 2018, with an official final date expected to be unveiled by BTRC over the coming weeks.

Mixed vote to decide Belarusian entrant

Once again, the next representative for Belarus at Eurovision 2018 will be determined via a combined 50/50 public and jury vote.

The jury will be comprised of many members, including representatives from the organiser, leading creative workers and the Ministry of Culture of Belarus. These members will have the first 50% say in the final outcome.

The remaining 50% will be decided via a public vote, consisting of both telephone and SMS voting.

In the event of a tie, the jury will determine the Belarusian representative for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.

Belarus at Eurovision 2017

Back in January, Belarus become one of the first nations to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, opting to select their act via a national final.

Winning the national final was Naviband with their entry Historyja majho žyccia (Story of my life), who went on to compete in the second semi-final of the competition in Kyiv.

Qualifying for the first time since 2014, the duo received 83 points in the Grand Final of Eurovision 2017, finishing in 17th position.

Which artist would you like to see representing Belarus at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest?