In a tightly contested race, Elizaveta Misnikova won the right to represent Belarus at Junior Eurovision 2019 in Gliwice, Poland, with her song “Pepel’nyy” (Ash Colored).
After this evening’s national selection final in Minsk, Belarus’s Belteleradiocompany (BRTC) proclaimed Misnikova the winner, narrowly beating out Maria Ermakova and the Monkey Tops in 2nd and 3rd place, respectively.
Misnikova did not win either the jury vote or the televote: Ermakova overwhelmingly won the televote and came in 5th with the jury vote, while the Monkey Tops won the jury vote and came in 6th with the televote. Misnikova edged both out by coming in 2nd in both jury and televote.
This will be considered quite a stunning upset both inside and outside of Belarus, as many fans, including both our editorial team and reader polls, had Ermakova strolling to victory with “Vetra.”
However, as Editor-in-Chief Sean Tarbuck said in our team review of Misnikova’s song, “This feels more in keeping with the Junior Eurovision ethos and is a fun, poppy track with the right level of teenage attitude.”
Misnikova will represent Belarus at Junior Eurovision 2019 in Gliwice, Poland, on November 24, 2019.
Belarus is one of two countries to have participated in every Junior Eurovision since 2003 (The Netherlands being the other), and in their first decade recorded two first place finishes, one second place finish, and two third place finishes. Daniel Yastremskiy’s “Time,” Belarus’s entry for 2018 was, in 11th place, the second lowest result for Belarus, and only the fourth to have been in the bottom half. (His dodgy haircut reminiscent of Dean from Gilmore Girls probably didn’t help.)
Are #YOU shocked by tonight’s result in Belarus? Do #YOU think Misnikova has what it takes to win it all in Gliwice? Let us know in the comments below, in our forum, or on social media.
Fnnif
September 21, 2019 at 05:47
YEEEEEES