Belarus: National final submissions open; final no later than 25 January

by Jessica Weaver 441 views

Belarusian national broadcaster, BTRC, has published the rules and opened submissions for the nation’s forthcoming national final, set to take place no later than the 25 January 2017.

Having confirmed their participation in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest earlier this year, BTRC went on to reveal Belarus’s selection process for the upcoming competition; a national final.

Submissions now open

Starting from today, submissions are now open for acts, both nationally and internationally, to send in their entries to the national broadcaster. Bidding acts must fill in the official documentation and submit everything to BTRC, including a photocopy of a form of identification, song lyrics in either Russian or Belarusian as well as English and the song entry on the CD-ROM.

The deadline to submit applications is by the 22 November, which will then be followed by a live audition set to take place no later than the 30 November. As with previous years, the audition phase of the competition will be broadcast live on tvr.by.

The specialist jury will then go on to select no more than 15 acts to perform in the Belarusian national final, taking place no later than the 25 January 2017. Official and finalised dates are expected to be revealed in the weeks to come.

The winner of the national final will be determined via a combined 50/50 jury-public vote. If there is a tie in the results, the winner will be determined by a further jury vote with the winner going on to represent Belarus at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. A full set of rules and regulations can be found via the BTRC website.

Belarus in Eurovision 2016

In January 2016, Ivan was selected via the Belarusian national final to represent the nation at the Stockholm-hosted Eurovision Song Contest with his entry Help you fly.

Receiving 84 points in the second semi-final, Belarus finished in 12th position and therefore did not qualify to the Grand Final.