Twelve acts gathered in Minsk for Belarus’ Natsionalniy Otbor, but only one could represent the Eastern Slavic nation at Eurovision 2020. Televoters and jury members decided that VAL will represent the country with “Da vidna” in Rotterdam!
VAL performs “Da vidna” live during Natsionalniy Otbor
VAL biography: who exactly will represent Belarus?
VAL consists of singer Lera Gribusova and singer and multi-instrumentalist Vlad Pashkevich, who both graduated from the Belarusian State University of Arts. Although it was their first time in the Belarusian national selection, both singers have a lot of experience.
Lera previously finished runner-up to Dimash Kudaibergen in the Slavianski Bazar singing contest of 2015 and participated in the Voice of Ukraine. Vlad, on the other hand, worked as a backing singer for NAVIBAND. In the run-up to the selection show, VAL were often called the new voice of the younger generation and were regularily compared to both Belarus’ NAVIBAND and Eurovision 2019 contestants zalagaspar.
Natsionalniy Otbor 2020 format
In the 2020 edition of Belarus’ national selection for Eurovision, the televote came back after one year of absence. The eventual result of the show was determined for by an equal combination of jury and televoting.
In 2020, the Belarusian broadcaster BTRC tried to bring the national final to a new level. Instead of recording their selection in their usual television studio, the show moved to the studios of Belarusfilm, the leading film company of the country. As a result, the stage was bigger, the LED screens were even bigger and twice as many people fit into the audience.
Natsionalniy Otbor 2020 jury results
A set of jury members scored the acts. They included Eurovision singers Dmitry Koldun, Zena and Alex Panayi; Israeli producer Tali Eshkoli, as well as Heads of Delegation Joana Levieva-Sawyer of Bulgaria and Stig Karlsen of Norway.
This was their combined results:
- Yan Yarosh — 12 points (80 points)
- VAL — 10 points (69 points)
- Anastasiya Malashkevich — 8 points (64 points)
- KeySi — 7 points (61 points)
- CHAKRAS — 6 points (59 points)
- Angelika Pushnova — 5 points (47 points)
- Sasha Zakharik — 4 points (43 points)
- AURA — 3 points (30 points)
- NAPOLI — 2 points (29 points)
- Nastya Glamozda — 1 points (19 points)
- Darya Hmelnitskaya — 0 points (13 points)
- Nastasea — 0 points (9 points)
Natsionalniy Otbor 2020 televoting results
- CHAKRAS — 12 points
- VAL — 10 points
- KeySi — 8 points
- AURA — 7 points
- Yan Yarosh — 6 points
- Angelika Pushnova — 5 points
- Anastasiya Malashkevich — 4 points
- NAPOLI — 3 points
- Sasha Zakharik — 2 points
- Nastya Glamozda — 1 point
- Darya Hmelnitskaya — 0 points
- Nastasea — 0 points
Natsionalniy Otbor 2020 combined results
Combining the results of the jury and televote, VAL came on top in the final results of the Belarusian national final.
- VAL — 20 points
- Yan Yarosh — 18 points
- CHAKRAS — 18 points
- KeySi — 15 points
- Anastasiya Malashkevich — 12 points
- Angelika Pushnova — 10 points
- AURA — 10 points
- Sasha Zakharik — 6 points
- NAPOLI — 5 points
- Nastya Glamozda — 2 points
- Darya Hmelnitskaya — 0 points
- Nastasea — 0 points
Are you happy that VAL will represent Belarus with “Da vidna” at Eurovision 2020? How do you think the Slavic nation will fare in the contest? Let us know in the comments below!
Belarus seem very underrated this year. I really like the song and the performance. Definitely in my top 10, maybe even 5. I wish well to Val and Belarus. Good luck.
It starts as a somewhat etherial song and then it grows into hip hop.
It’s a nice song and it passes by smoothly. It’s a decent song but I feel it doesn’t stand out enough to be stuck in your memory at the end of the night.
Either way, nice choice.
David n/a
Great choice, Belarus! “Da vidna” is a pleasant experience for my ears and for my eyes.
My top 5
1 Poland amazing
2 Italy amazing
3 U K unique
4 Lithuania dance wow
5 Ukraine unique
UK unique? I need to wash my eyes..
hairstyle from 1991, music from 2009
It’s a skip for me , sorry sorry sorry somehow I can get it .
This is my fav so far !
Lithuania
Norway
Germany
Israel (Rakata)
Romania (Alcohol you)
My TOP 7
1. Lithuania
2. Norway
3.Ukraine
4.Albania
5.Slovenia
6.Germany
7.Australia
…
bottom 3
15.United Kingdom
16.Czech Republic
17.Armenia
Really good performance! I must re listen to my top 3, because I cannot decide where to place this one. In the top is all I can conclude.
The song is cool, even though it sounds like it’s from 2012. That LED tho! Keeping it would be a great idea
It needs a better production and staging, but overall I really like it! It sounds modern and retro 80s at the same time. It has potential.
1st Listen: I hate it
2nd Listen: Its kinda dope
3rd Listen: This song gives me life lmao
People say it’s a bad year but for me Australia, Lithuania, Norway , Czech Rep, Poland, Albania, UK, Germany, Belarus and in the future we all Romania and Israel will send better songs than last year. 2020 is a good year and a improvement for some countries
This year has honestly been improving with the new songs coming in.
Rather surprised by the result, but quite a nice choice from Belarus….a happy inoffensive track and well performed. Nothing outstanding but quite an acceptable entry. Good it is sung in native language.
It´s only a “midfielder” in my list.
So far my favourites are Italy, Lithuania ans Slovenia. Ukraine is quite interesting.
I don´t like Armenia, France, Germany and Poland
I will only say this: this is better performed and looks more professional than Australia.
Why doesn this have anything to do with Asutralia? Different genre and different language.
wow thanks from Australia
I really like this Belarus! Very catchy. I can see this qualify if they work on the act. Good luck!
As long as it’s not a powerbalad again, I’m all right with it.
Can someone please translate the lyrics of the song
I dont know if its 100 correct but it seems like it
https://lyricstranslate.com/sv/%D0%B4%D0%B0-%D0%B2%D1%96%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%B0-da-vidna-until-dawn.html
Oreo, do you know Russian? I think about this sentence: “I wasn’t the one to blame for not being on my own” I like languages and I know that in some languages the use of several negation makes your statement stronger. In English, negations works like maths. — English: I do think you should eat it =(+) meaning: eat it I do not(-) think you should eat it =(-) meaning: no good idea to eat it I do not (-) think you should not (-) eat it =(+) meaning: eat it. (The opposite of eating it would be a bad… Read more »
First of all, she sings in Belarusian, not Russian.
And the line is “It’s not my fault I wasn’t alone”. I believe it’s correct in English too.
What she means by the line is that she’s in love with a man and she’s spent the night with him, and it’s not her fault because she feels that way about him and you don’t choose your emotions 🙂
I like it, one of the ones I liked from the selection so glad it won. Good luck to VAL and Belarus at Rotterdam
Typical Eastern European scream-ish nonsense. Unless everything is revamped this song is going nowhere
I actually like it. It’s nothing striking but IMO it’s not nearly as bad as some people say. It’s a decent, pleasant song. You can see that they have some idea for the staging, some choreography and maybe on bigger stage with more possibilities it will look and sound even better. I love how the Belarussian language sounds here and I hope they won’t change it to English.
Yes, that would be the last nail in the coffin.
I’m thinking about how many songs are winning NF without winning televoting.
The Roop won it and that’s it. And Alicja but there were only 3 acts and it was a weird NF. Go_A won it in the final yet not SF.
Slovenia and Norway had the jury cut thing. Oh Ben won Czech vote but it was online if we can count.
Belarus, Armenia, Latvia, Australia entries didn’t win national televote. Even Italy if we count Sanremo as NF.
another great choice from the East, after Lithuania and Ukraine…i like Italy as well
It will be nice to hear Belarusian in Eurovision again. The song is OK, I just think it lacks distinctive qualities. Anyway, it’s a better starting point than “Like It”, we’ll have to wait and see how much room it has to grow. I agree with the televoters, I would vote for CHAKRAS. I don’t even know how much I liked it, but they would definitely stand out in Rotterdam.
Horrible, awful song. Sorry, it won’t qualify… Not in a million years!
Eeeh, it is a song. That’s that..
Lady Gaga has a new single out, that will probably be the highlight of the day! More enjoyable than this..
This is just half of an nice song. It needs a massive revamp
I think it’s just the staging/styling letting this entry down, something Belarus can fix for the final.
Chakras is the best.
Thank you, next. So generic.
This was actually my favorite song for the Belarusian national final and I’m glad it won. Yeah it probably won’t qualify in the end but there wasn’t really much else Belarus could send. At least we have another song using their national language. Now we need Russia to send a Russian language song, and we’d have a Kievan Rus trio of native songs with Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. But the Russia will probably send something English so *shrugs*
Actually like it a lot! Maybe not in it to win it, don’t hate me, but a great song and should qualify.. Feels ethnic yet contemporary..
It’s a good enough song but is in the bloodbath semi so defo a nq
We never know.. See your point but judging only the song, putting the semi final bloodbath analysis aside, I think this is great, such a bop.. Love to see this bump out one of the big and successful countries.. Go Belarus
Okayish. Some parts good. But not a complete package. In this year just in the lower middle. (12th of 17)
1) Germany or Lithuania
3) Italy
4) Belgium
5) Norway
6) Czechia
7) UK
8) Latvia
9) Australia
10) Ukraine
11) France
12) Belarus
13) Slovenia
14) Albania
15) Armenia
16) Poland
17) Spain
Italy 9/10
Lithuania 8/10
Slovenia 8/10
Spain 7/10
Ukraine 7/10
Norway 7/10
Czech Republic 6/10
United Kingdom 6/10
Belgium 5/10
Latvia 5/10
Belarus 4/10
Australia 3/10
Albania 3/10
Armenia 2/10
Germany 2/10
France 1/10
Poland 0/10
Mmm I don’t know… it’s okey but I don’t see it qualifying. I didn’t see “Like it” qualifying either so don’t mind me. We have a lot of languages this year though.
And Zena qualified last year, end of story.
By a mistake. She actually was 11 in her semifinal.
Again Belarus showed that the Belarusian jurors are clearly corrupted and downvote the televote favourite. It happened with Maria Ermakova and happened again with Chakras tonight. The only two jurors who put them first were the foreigners, excluded William, but I know he voted tactically too and you all know that. I just wish Belarus could shut down this circus of corruption and go for internal selection, come on we all know you do what you want with your folk, just choose and that’s it. There’s no need to involve a national selection where the public clearly doesn’t mean Anything!… Read more »
I am sorry but jury’s overall result seems less adequate for me.
My positive thoughts: – More languages, yey! It will be awesome to hear Ukraine and Belarus simultaneously singing in their national languages. – The show itself was quite well produced, staged and edited. No awkward interval acts or too long commercials. It was tense when it needed to be and on point. – Whoever complains there is too much ballads will have one more upbeat song in the slot. My other thoughts: – Sure, it’s not good, but it’s not like a significantly better song has been wronged in the process. Actually, it’s probably in the upper half of this… Read more »
Another bad song. This year is really disappointing songs – wise. You barely can pick 3 good songs. ?
They are not bad. Problem is most of them are just average or forgettable.
If Kelly Osbourne were to participate at Eurovision, singing about a guy call David, with a white dancer that seems to be plucked right out of some ball room scenes from FX’s Pose… 🙂 That’s what I thought watching that video.
Although I like to watch people who can vogue. But Belarus makes the semi-final decision somewhat easier. This goes straight to my NQ column.
I like this. Good voice and performed well. It’s better than many songs selected so far this year
First semi-final will be a bloodbath, literally. Already too many great songs :0
Bloodbath? There’s literally one good song in First Semi ?
I only really like Lithuania so far in that SF.
And Romania will join likely on Sunday.
The rest will see. It’s early
First of all, “Natsionalniy Otbor 2020” was a surprisingly great show production-wise and a considerable leap in quality in comparison to the previous editions. The competing entries might not have been that good, but Belarus definitely chose the best act and performance tonight – “Da Vidna” is catchy, uplifting, cheerful, and it’s in Belarusian – that’s always a plus. Will it qualify? It sure can! In my opinion it’s much better than “Like It” and I don’t think we’ve got an entry of this kind in the competition thus far. Udachy, Belarus!
Well… comparing to the previous years, it’s more like a real national final show now. Although the songs were meh, the hosts were meh, lighting was below average, and design (both the stage and the graphics) lacked any artistic talent.
It’s still 10 times better than before, and definitely a large step in the right direction, which I really respect. And I hope they will improve next year. Maybe hiring someone from Ukraine, who had experience with Vidbir, would help.
As for the winning act, it was the best choice of course.
It’s a fine song, but in a Bloodbath that is first semi, I don’t see this qualifying.
Am I the only one who like this song? It’s not bad at all.
YOU ARE not THE ONLY ONE
You’re not, but people always hate Belarus.
The song is catchy and has some particular performance. It’s really nice, I like it!
I wouldn’t say it’s a ‘bad’ song. It’s just a weak song in terms of Eurovision.
Also it’s a little bit dated, especially in the chorus.
The song is pleasant, although I find myself just waiting for the post-chorus beat to kick in. If they can make the production in the rest of the song more interesting (maybe some 80s synths) and give a colourful performance, Belarus can absolutely have an entry to be proud of. That said, if the juries didn’t vote down CHAKARAS, Belarus would be in top 10 territory for sure.
I am loving the quirkiness of Belarus. My favourite part of Da Vidna is the dancer with the blonde hair, he’s great. I also love the keyboard on wheels, almost reminds me of a Zimmer frame which I don’t think we’ve seen in Eurovision before?
And oh my goodness, the Chakras performance! I’ve cancelled my drug dealer for tonight, I just need to watch that performance on repeat, it will have the same effect!
Personal favourite was Rocky Road, that was such a sweet song.
Pass.
Belarus 4/10
You know what? I liked Chakras fine, but Val was my first favorite and they delivered. I don’t know if it’ll be enough to qualify, but I dig it enough. Good choice, Belarus. Sorry if I was a bit harsh on you guys before. (And how interesting is it that we now have songs in Belarusian and Ukrainian but we’re probably not gonna get a song in Russian?)
There are rumors that either Pelageya or Leningrad band are going to represent Russia. In both cases Russian language is highly likely.
Belarus did not choose Val but Chakras, it’s only because of tasteless mostly international juries that Val has won.
well, televoters gave them the second position, like the jury 🙂 no one to blame
But juries with taste and artistic value should have also placed Chakras in first place and not that cheesy song Fire.
They should thank the juries. Because Chakras was a cringy mess on stage.
This still needs a lot of work, but it has potential. The production is very play-it-by-the-numbers-radio-slash-spotify-friendly-electronic stuff and still has a “demo version” feel to it. The arrangement needs some depth, more oomph, more variation to bring out the melody better. But it’s not a terrible choice.