After a small technical error, we finally have the final 5 reviews of the Belarussian selection for you, plus the results! Let’s get right to it; enjoy!
Nikita Hodas – Voices In My Head
Ferdi: The singing parts are fine, I detest the parts were Nikita just talks. The instrumental is nothing more than a bit of a banjo (?) here; that could definitely be better. This one will probably be forgotten.
Calvin: There’s something kind of genuine about this one and its choice of a stripped-down arrangement. There are a few moments of brief cringe in the lyrics and vocal, but others in which he sells it quite well, including the spoken section.
Kai: Singers that swallow their words as if there is a hot potato in their mouth are my absolute pet peeve. That style of singing is just so hideously inflected and the worst part is it’s usually combined with an emotional piece of music. This song itself is fine enough, but I just can’t get past those vocals, made even more unlistenable by the strong accent coating them. I feel bad slating this one as it feels like something that’s from his heart, made clear by the surprise monologue during the middle of the piece about “playing subway”, busking on the streets. It’s the sweetest part of the song. I just wish this was performed in Belarussian because I feel it would make the whole thing a lot more palatable.
Angelica Pushnova – We Should Be Together
Ferdi: Pretty pop song! Angelica sells it well, she looks great on stage and has nice vocals. The song itself is very nice too, and it has some kind of hook in “Beat, beat, beat…”. I’m liking it!
Calvin: This feels like it’s undergone a revamp since the audition, and while the Ace of Base-style first version was nice, it’s changed for the better – everything about the song sounds fuller, better-produced, and more entertaining. Would not have minded this as a winner.
Kai: Very familiar europop. Absolutely nothing special but at the very least it’s inoffensive for what it is. Perhaps with a proper performance this could become something more enjoyable.
Anastasiya Sheverenko – We’ll Be Together
Ferdi: Pretty ballad, pretty lady, pretty voice! Even though it has all the ingredients, it can’t make it to the top of my list. I like it, but there are better songs.
Calvin: There’s something strange in the manner in her pronunciations when singing that bring some interest to an otherwise slightly bland number.
Kai: A pleasant enough ballad and Anastasiya is for sure one of the better singers we have on offer here. Problem we have though is that the song just doesn’t really go anywhere particularly interesting. I’m generally fond of RnB ballads but this one would need a major overhaul.
Lermont x Julix – Heartbeat
Ferdi: I like how their voices sound together, but the song sounds a bit bland and just too… sweet? I guess so. Decent effort.
Calvin: This one had a difficult reception from people, but I thought it was lovely. They had great chemistry, and the song was very comfortable to listen to.
Kai: I feel like I must be on a different planet to everyone else when I look at the dislikes this song has received on youtube, and then think myself that it’s actually not bad at all, especially in comparison to what else is on offer here. It’s by no means brilliant but there’s something about it I find quite appealing. Perhaps it’s the weenie bit of indie spirit on display here or the rawness of the voices. They’re certainly stumbling a bit over the song but it adds to the charm, and their English isn’t bad (huge plus for a Belarussian selection). With a bit of polish this could be a perfectly fine and enjoyable entry.
PROvokatsiya – #mylove
Ferdi: Once again a bland entry that doesn’t stand out in any way. It’s fine, but that’s it and I will probably never turn around and look back at this. It will still get my points, because of a lack of better options.
Calvin: Usually, songs like this irk me immensely, but this one is actually fine. Maybe there’s something in the melody that rescues it from the heap. Bland, for sure, but hardly awful for what it is.
Kai: Another melodramatic ballad (gosh, Belarus sure does love them). This one is ok once you get past the challenging English. They certainly give one of the most passionate performances here, but it’s something we’ve heard many times before, and done a lot better.
And now, time for the voting:
Writer’s Votes
Ferdi
12 Historija
10 Children Of The World
8 We Should Be Together
7 Wild Wind
6 We’ll Be Together
5 Follow The Play
4 Let’s Come Together
3 Be Stronger
2 Heartbeat
1 #mylove
On The Red Line
Voice In My Head
Take My Heart
Calvin
12 Be Stronger
10 We Should Be Together
8 Wild Wind
7 Heart Beat
6 Follow the Play
5 We’ll Be Together
4 Voices in my Head
3 Children of the World
2 #mylove
1 On the Red Line
Kai
12 On The Red Line
10 Be Stronger
8 Heartbeat
7 Wild Wind
6 We’ll Be Together
5 Children Of The World
4 #mylove
3 Follow The Play
2 We Should Be Together
1 Voices In My Head
Televoting
Sadly, only 5 songs received points from the Televote. #mylove scored 6% of votes and received 10 points. Let’s get together won over 11% of votes and 19 points. Both Take My Heart and We Should Be Together got 38 points while Historyja got 68 points from 39% of televotes!
That brings us to the final results:
Historyja Majho Zyccia – 80
We Should Be Together – 58
Take My Heart – 38
Be Stronger – 27
Let’s Come Together – 23
Wild Wind – 22
#mylove – 17
Children of the World – 17
Hearbeat – 17
We’ll be Together – 17
Follow The Play – 14
On the Red Line – 13
Voices in my Head – 5
Congratulations NAVI on an excellent win! The poll for the UK has closed just now; results are expected to be online tonight.
