Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007

Eurovision Song Contest 2007
Participating broadcaster	Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC)
Country	Belarus
National selection
Selection process	Eurofest 2007
Selection date(s)	Semi-final: 15 December 2006 Final: 22 January 2007
Selected artist(s)	Dmitry Koldun
Selected song	"Work Your Magic"
Selected songwriter(s)	Karen Kavaleryan Philip Kirkorov
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Qualified (4th, 176 points)
Final result	6th, 145 points
Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2006 • 2007 • 2008►

Belarus was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song "Work Your Magic", composed by Philip Kirkorov, with lyrics by Karen Kavaleryan, and performed by Dmitry Koldun. The Belarusian participating broadcaster, Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC), selected its entry through a national final.

The national final was a televised production which consisted of a semi-final and a final held on 15 December 2006 and 22 January 2007, respectively. Fifteen competing acts participated in the semi-final where three entries qualified to the final: one entry selected by a public televote and two entries selected by a seven-member jury panel. In the final, the jury panel selected "Work Your Magic" performed by Dmitry Koldun as the winner.

Belarus was competed in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 10 May 2007. Performing during the show in position 4, "Work Your Magic" was announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 12 May. It was later revealed that Belarus placed fourth out of the 28 participating countries in the semi-final with 176 points. In the final, Belarus performed in position 3 and placed sixth out of the 24 participating countries, scoring 145 points.

Prior to the 2007 Contest, Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Belarus three times since its first entry in 2004.^[1] Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Belarus had yet to qualify to the final. Its best placing in the contest was thirteenth in the semi-final, which it achieved in 2005 with the song "Love Me Tonight" performed by Angelica Agurbash. In 2006, it failed to qualify to the final with the song "Mum" performed by Polina Smolova.

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, BTRC organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. Since 2004, the broadcaster has organised a national final in order to choose Belarus' entry, a selection procedure that continued for their 2007 entry.^[2]

Eurofest 2007 was the national final format developed by BTRC to select the Belarusian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. The competition consisted of a semi-final and final held on 15 December 2006 and 22 January 2007, respectively. Both shows were hosted by Denis Kurian and Olga Schlager and broadcast on the First Channel and Belarus TV as well as online via the broadcaster's official website tvr.by.

Artists and composers were able to submit their applications and entries to the broadcaster between 25 October 2006 and 20 November 2006.^[3] At the closing of the deadline, 66 entries were received by the broadcaster. Auditions were held between 29 November and 1 December 2006 at the Youth Variety Theater in Minsk where a jury panel was tasked with selecting up to fifteen entries to proceed to the televised national final. The jury consisted of Mihail Finberg (chairman of the jury, director of the Belarusian State Academic Symphony Orchestra), Vladimir Rylatko (deputy head of the Belarusian Ministry of Culture), Vasily Rainchik (musician/composer), Alexander Tikhanovich (national final project manager), Denis Shpitalnikov (head of music and entertainment programmes of BTRC), Anatoly Yarmolenko (director of the ensemble Syabry) and Yadviga Poplavskaya (singer).^[4] Fifteen semi-finalists were selected and announced on 5 December 2006.^[5] Prior to the final, Dmitry Koldun opted to change his song as the national final rules set by BTRC allowed for the finalists to completely change their candidate songs.

The televised semi-final took place on 15 December 2006 at the Republic Palace in Minsk. Prior to the semi-final, a draw for the running order took place on 14 December 2006.^[6] Three songs qualified to the final. The fifteen competing entries first faced a public televote where one song advanced: "Angel mechty" performed by Dmitry Koldun. An additional two qualifiers were selected from the remaining fourteen entries by the votes of jury members made up of music professionals: "How Long" performed by Diana Gurtskaya and "Super Star" performed by The Project.

In addition to the performances from the competitors, the show featured guest performances by 2003 Belarusian Junior Eurovision contestant Volha Satsiuk and 2006 Belarusian Eurovision contestant Polina Smolova.^[4]

The televised final took place on 22 January 2007 at the Sports Palace in Minsk. The votes of jury members made up of music professionals selected the song "Work Your Magic" performed by Dmitry Koldun as the winner.

In addition to the performances from the competitors, the show featured guest performances by former Belarusian Eurovision contestants Aleksandra and Konstantin (2004), Angelica Agurbash (2005) and Polina Smolova (2006), former Belarusian Junior Eurovision contestants Ksenia Sitnik (2005) and Andrey Kunets (2006), former Eurovision Song Contest winners Carola (1991) and Marie N (2002), 2006 Latvian Eurovision contestants Cosmos and 2006 Russian Eurovision contestant Dima Bilan.^[7]

The official music video of the song, filmed in February 2007 and directed by Oleg Gusev, was presented to the public on 8 March 2007 on the First Channel. The concept of the video was based on the music video of the song "Jaded" by American band Aerosmith.^[4][8]

Dmitry Koldun made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Work Your Magic" as the Belarusian Eurovision entry. Between 3 February and 5 March, Dmitry Koldun performed "Work Your Magic" during the Greek, Irish, Macedonian, Montenegrin, and Spanish national finals for Eurovision, and the presentation shows of the Cypriot and Bosnian entries. In February and April, Koldun participated in promotional activities in Russia where he performed the Russian version of "Work Your Magic", titled "Day mne silu", during the Channel One programmes Novye pesni o glavnom and Vysshaya liga, as well as during the NTV programme Glavniy Geroy.^[9] Between 13 and 15 April, Koldun performed during events which were held in Antwerp and Brussels, Belgium, as well as appearing during the RTL 4 programme Life & Cooking in The Netherlands. In addition to his international appearances, Dmitry Koldun also participated in promotional activities in Belarus where he performed during the Za Nezavisimuyu Belarus event, which was at the Minsk Hero City Obelisk in Minsk on 25 March.^[4]

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2006 contest are required to qualify from the semi-final in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. On 12 March 2007, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order for the semi-final on 10 May 2007. Belarus was drawn to perform in position 4, following the entry from Cyprus and before the entry from Iceland.

For the Eurovision Song Contest, Dmitry Koldun performed under the artistic name of Koldun, which is the Russian word for "magician". Accompanying Koldun on stage were two male dancers: Alexandr Bodyanski and Fredrik Olofsson, and two female dancers: Natalia and Ilona Donchenko, along with Mariam Merabova providing backing vocals.^[10]

At the end of the semi-final, Belarus was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. This marked the first time that Belarus qualified to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest from a semi-final since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004. It was later revealed that the Belarus placed fourth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 176 points.

Shortly after the semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine the running order of the final. This draw was done in the order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Belarus was drawn to perform in position 3, following the entry from Spain and before the entry from Ireland.^[11] Belarus placed sixth in the final, scoring 145 points, which is the best result for Belarus to date.^[12]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Belarus and awarded by Belarus in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Moldova in the semi-final and to Russia in the final of the contest.

Points awarded to Belarus (Semi-final)[13] Score Country 12 points  Armenia  Israel  Moldova  Russia  Ukraine 10 points  Cyprus  Latvia  Lithuania 8 points 7 points  Estonia  Greece  Malta 6 points  Bulgaria  Ireland 5 points  Czech Republic  Turkey 4 points  Albania  Georgia  Iceland  Macedonia  Montenegro  Poland  Serbia 3 points  Norway  Romania  Sweden 2 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Hungary 1 point  Denmark  Portugal

Points awarded to Belarus (Final)[14] Score Country 12 points  Israel  Russia  Ukraine 10 points  Armenia  Malta  Moldova 8 points  Georgia  Latvia 7 points  Estonia  Lithuania  Macedonia  Poland 6 points  Cyprus 5 points  Greece 4 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Hungary  Iceland 3 points  Montenegro 2 points  Albania  Czech Republic  Serbia 1 point  Bulgaria  Portugal  Romania

Points awarded by Belarus (Semi-final)[13] Score Country 12 points  Moldova 10 points  Serbia 8 points  Georgia 7 points  Portugal 6 points  Slovenia 5 points  Poland 4 points  Andorra 3 points  Iceland 2 points  Latvia 1 point  Hungary

Points awarded by Belarus (Final)[14] Score Country 12 points  Russia 10 points  Ukraine 8 points  Moldova 7 points  Serbia 6 points  Georgia 5 points  Armenia 4 points  Slovenia 3 points  Greece 2 points  Lithuania 1 point  Finland