We’re getting close to EuroFest — Belarus’ national selection for Eurovision 2015, which takes place on December 26. So the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of musical unprofessionals — has been listening and reviewing all of the songs. It’s painful at times, but that’s how much we love you. In any event, today we take on the next five acts — Valeria Sadovskaya, Rostany, Janette, Aleksey Gross and MILKI. They’re listed in the running order they will perform on the big night. In case you missed them, you can check out our reviews of the first five acts here.

Valeria Sadovskaya – “Summer Love”

Anthony: Valeria seems to have taken a leaf out of Valentina Monetta’s “Crisalide” book on tempo changes. This starts off as a slow ballad up to the minute mark when it morphs into a rock tune for the rest of the song, which gets a tad repetitive. 6/10

Chris: There’s enough that’s interesting about “Summer Love” to keep you hooked throughout the song, which is more than you can say for the majority of the songs in EuroFest. Valeria seems to have a good voice and with some tweaking, this could actually be a fairly strong ESC midfield song. 6.5/10

Deban: If Valeria wins this show she’ll represent Belarus with a left-field sound. I like her range and the power behind it. However, her lack of stage co-ordination screams “unfinished product”. 6/10

Sopon: Among all of the jazz/soul wannabes, Valeria is the best. But still yawn-inducing. No further comment. 5/10

Francheska: “Summer Love” did not have me a blast (if you don’t get the Grease reference please look it up). The song’s 80s-rock-opera beginning guitar riff is enticing and I expected good things. Boy was I disappointed. It just turned into a bore, despite the attempt at violins and theatricality at the end. “Summer Love” is an early bloomer, and forgot to blossom the rest of the way. 4/10

Sami: It’s nothing extraordinary, but I do not have anything bad to say about the song. “Summer Love” is listenable, but I wouldn’t download it to my iPod. Valeria isn’t the best live singer either and I don’t think it will have much success on the big night. 6/10

William: Three words: musical identity crisis. Valeria starts strong with what sounds like a soulful blues number. Then, and much to my dismay, the soul singer exits stage right and is replaced by an aspiring rocker chick and her tone-deaf sidekick. It’s a real shame, as her voice carries the opening bars so well. Even so, this number is better than most in the selection, which is good enough to earn her five points. 5/5

Wiwi Jury Score: 5.5/10

Rostany – “Electric Toys”

Anthony: It’s quite an unusual sounding entry from Rostany, going for a mix of pop and soft rock. Overall, it falls on to the hit-and-miss category. Not the worst of the lot from Eurofest but I don’t see “Electric Toys” having the longevity of a Duracell Bunny sadly. 5/10

Chris: Extremely boring and lazy songwriting. “Copy, copy, paste me”…no thanks, Rostany. This is a really poor entry on every level, actually. If they can’t be bothered putting in any real effort with the song, then I see no point in giving them support. 2.5/10

Deban: Electric yawnfest! This song would be the ideal muzak for the bumper ride section in an amusement park, but it needn’t travel any further! It’s hi-energy, but so predictable and amateur sounding, it’d actually set me off to sleep. No toys in the pram to set me alight on this one, I’m afraid. 2.5/10

Sopon: Did this song really need to start with the “Marimba” ringtone, only to bring in a cold club beat the next second? It’s like flying us to the tropics of Azores only to zoom into icy Sweden! Or even better, like Anggun’s sole fault with “Echo”, where she had the nonsense slow opening. As for the song, it doesn’t even create an electric spark. Just a few wannabes of whatever boy band is popular now who want to make something “modern”. 3.5/10

Sami: This is just extremely annoying. Is there really a message in the song? And isn’t that iPhone ringtone copyrighted?! It sounds like they put all English words they know to the lyrics. 1/10

Francheska: Okay, terrible taste of song title aside (I’ll admit that I wasn’t thinking about toys such as electronics in Best Buy), this song is even more terrible. A mix of 70s riffs, electronic-dance music, an attempt at edgy rock, and lyrics that can only be written while drunk are bizarre. I usually like this kind of rock at Eurovision, but this is too terrible to dignify with any genre besides “Euro-turducken”. 1/10

William: Electric toys usually bring me pleasure — but in this instance I’m only feeling pain. The iPhone rining at the beginning is confusing, the vocals are grating, and the lyrics try too hard to be clever, which renders them awkward and a bit lame. I won’t copy or paste you. Instead you get a big DELETE. 1/10

Wiwi Jury Score: 2.36/10

Janette – “Supernova”

Anthony: The idea of Belarus going for a power ballad might not appeal to everyone, but Janette could change all that with her entry. It’s a real grower. Just like the name of her song, the chorus really explodes into life and one I’d recommend to Belarus. 8/10

Chris: I am loving that tempo change after the first chorus. Janette seems to be a pretty good singer and I’ll put the incomprehensible bits down to the poor quality of the audio/video in general. This needs a bit more life in the performance but “Supernova” is a contender in my books. 7/10

Deban: Janette is singing in English, but can anyone understand her? Middle of the road effort with a forgettable beat. Nothing special! 4/10

Sami: The studio version of the song isn’t bad at all, but her English sounds like gibberish. Owing to its Swedish composer duo OneVoice (aka. Ylva and Linda Persson), the sound is very international, but I don’t think it could take Belarus to the final if it wins the ticket to Vienna. 6/10

Sopon: “Supernova” suffers from a typical Belarusian musical malady: the only comprehensible lyrics are puke-worthy cliché! We need no intergalactic references to love this year, and after an overdose of power ballads in Copenhagen, let’s pray Malta’s one of only a few in Vienna. 4.5/10

Francheska: 35% typical Eurovision ballad (slow beginning, sappy lyrics, relatively attractive person singing about love), 65% pop-dance potential is the only way I can describe this. After a couple of listens, it is actually enjoyable. It’s an acquired taste, like with coffee, so Europe control your potential addiction!  7/10

William: A chorus in the vain of “Wrecking Ball” – big, bold, memorable and easy to sing along to. Auto-tuned this could be a proper club banger. As it stands now, Janette needs to sort out her vocals and enunciation or she’ll end up sounding like a Belarusian singing in English trying to make it to Eurovision. Oh, wait. In any event, one of the more memorable songs. 6.5/10

Wiwi Jury Score: 6.14/10

Aleksey Gross – “Stand as One”

Anthony: Alexey was due to return to EuroFest last year, but pulled out after realizing his song had already been publicly performed by another artist. Oops. But now he’s back with a brand new entry! Overall, not bad. I’m quite enjoying the Litesound-esque vibe the song gives out. 6/10

Chris: What on earth is he wearing? I don’t get the whole backing singer/duet thing going on here, and they are awful in their harmonies at times. What makes it worse is that I think it’s Alexey who’s the weaker one. It’s an attempt at something modern but there are too many issues for you to get past before you can really enjoy it. 5.5/10

Deban: Absolutely dreadful! Yes, I recognise that he’s being judged rather harshly against a rack of studio enhanced entries, but let’s just be honest. This has no hope of advancing. 2/10

Sami: This is actually my favourite of all the songs, and I can’t really explain why. I would love to hear the studio version of the song, but I like the live performance too. It really sounds like it’s made for Eurovision, which isn’t always a bad thing. It’s also good to mention that Teo is one of the composers of the song and I’m sure he knows what he’s doing. 9/10

Sopon: The song is so-so, but I’m having problems with the presentation. There’s some random guy standing behind Alexey and he’s supposed to be doing “backing vocals” when he’s really putting in the same work into this as the main vocalist himself! Mr. Cross, give this guy some credit and rearrange this as a duet, or you’ll suffer for a nonsense arrangement on stage! 5/10

Francheska: Bland, typical “WE CAN DO IT LET’S GO GUYS BELIEVE IN YOURSELF” song, with Belarus’ weird trend this year of mixing rock elements with techno music. It actually doesn’t sound that bad, but Aleksey cannot stage a performance to save his life, which may kill his chances. In the grand tradition of Belarusian Eurovision traditions, this could benefit from some serious musical plastic surgery. Call back in three months. 6/10

William: I see that the title is in English, but for the first 58 seconds I have no idea what language he is actually singing in. It’s rather appropriate that the first intelligible lyrics are “We cannot win.” This is better produced than most of the tracks in EuroFest, but that says very little. 2/10

Wiwi Jury Score: 5.07/10

10. MILKI – “Accent”

Anthony: This sounds like a messed up combination of “Party For Everybody”, with the folksy elements of “Samo Shampioni” and the appeal of “My Slowianie”, minus the boobage. I can understand Rybak’s involvement due to his Belarusian roots, but he’s no Louis Walsh when it comes to girl groups. 3.5/10

Chris: I mean, let’s face it, we all know that Milki have the win all but sewn up thanks to the inclusion of Mr. Rybak. The girls remind me a *lot* of The Peppermints in that they’re definitely at their best when the five are all singing together and not when they have solo sections. But much like the Peppermints, there’s something very likeable about Milki and their song that endears you to it. It’s catchy, it has a hook and the Belarusian sections are a welcome addition that help it stand out a la “My Slowianie”. This is a song ready made for ESC. 8/10

Deban: Milki is Belarus’ answer to No Angels. “Accent” is a sugar-high slice of folklore pop that’s insanely catchy. This tune is designed to be memorable, and boy does it deliver! Currently the favourite to win the national selection. With the tutorship of Alexander Rybak, this entry is riding on the wings of a big name. However, there’s work to be done on their vocal harmonies. 7.5/10

Sopon: J’adore! Or in Belarusian, ya lyublyu! As Anthony has mentioned above, the song does have a combination of several previous Slavic songs, but all in the right amount. And I love how these girls aren’t afraid to admit to their thick accents, unlike some previous Belarusian contestants. It’s catchy, fun, and totally going on my iPhone playlist! 10/10

Sami: It’s not my favourite, but I really hope it wins. It’s always great when a country brings their culture to the stage and this song represents much of what Belarus is (at least in my mind). The girls sing well together, the song is very catchy and it is just made for the Eurovision stage. Go MILKI! 9/10

Francheska: Obviously Belarus’s most talked about national selection contender, MILKI is the mix of very successful Eurovision tropes: pretty women, accordions, multi-lingual entries, and lyrics so cheesy that they belong in Wisconsin. It’s such a danceable tune, and even if you hate it, the song will stay in your head. Even during a Spanish final. It’s not blatant nationalism (cough cough 2011), but it’s fun enough that all of Europe can join in. 10/10

William: This is obviously going to win. Its author — Eurovision winner Alexander Rybak — just happens to be of Belarusian descent, and Eurovision stars from the former Soviet Bloc — Eldar Qasimov, Filip Kirkorov, Ani Lorak — have already offered their public support. That aside, the song is engineered to appeal to Eurovision voters. It’s three minutes of froth that are difficult to dislike. I hear Buranovskiye Babushki, Ivi Adamou, Alexander Rybak and so many other Eurovision stars of yesteryear. Catchy track + five hot girls + plenty of cleavage = Top 10 at Eurovision. 8/10

Wiwi Jury Score: 8/10

You can read all of our EuroFest 2015 reviews here.

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Mylo
Mylo
9 years ago

GO MILKI!!!!!
Hope they win….. Accent is very good!

ESCaddict
ESCaddict
9 years ago

It is concerning that the Wiwibloggers are so excited about plastic pop like Milki. They are terrible.

Tatyana
Tatyana
9 years ago

What the point in choosing who is the best among the worst? Have no idea who chose these …. I would hardly want to hear them more than once. We had a perfect song and band Inzhir. Talented with a WoW song. Once you hear it you woud want to listen to it again and again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xuCqKSG8zg

Day one
Day one
9 years ago

although I want time to win I am 90% sure Milki shall win.
But ‘Accent’ is a grower and when I first heard it I thought it was dreadful but now I’m just like huh it is kinda catchy.
But for some reason I feel if MILKI win then they will change their song to a ballad *cough* *2010* *cough*

davved
davved
9 years ago

MILKI is great.

Anthony
Anthony
9 years ago

Coming soon Paul!

Paul
9 years ago

Really MILKI is a hot favourite.
But where is the WIWI jury score for others? For example, Beatris and Uzari & Maimuna?

Hebbuzz
Hebbuzz
9 years ago

Anything but MILKY please!

Kjetil
Kjetil
9 years ago

I hope Uzari & Maimuna will win with “Time”!

Kamil
Kamil
9 years ago

I am really sorry that fans of Eurovison aprreciate such crap like Milki.
People, wake up from your fairytale of passion to cheap sounds.
Only one juror, Anthony made a correct opinion about this weak song.

DR
DR
9 years ago

I don’t think Milki would actually do that well if they got to Vienna. Eurovision in recent years, from about 2010 and Satelite, has become a contemporary song contest. They might have done well 5 – 10 years ago, but not now. Euro-Disco does’t do wel any more.

Bb
Bb
9 years ago

I wish Uzari could win, but it’s going to be Rybak’s girls… I’ve heard “Accent” maybe three or four times now and I’m already bored with it.

Noname
Noname
9 years ago

I really don’t understand what people see in “Accent”. I think it’s boring and bad produced, and I actually don’t think it will pass the semifinals, unless they improve the song.

D
D
9 years ago

Really hoping Janette can manage to beat Milki. Belarus is pretty unpredictable so who knows, even though I’m almost positive Milki will end up winning and then get stuck in the semi-finals. Out of all the songs, I think Janette and Uzari & Maimuna are the only ones who have a chance of qualifying.