Eurovision 2017 Song Review: BELARUS

Hollleeeerrrrrr we've got Belorussian at Eurovision for the first time everrrrr.... and that's our 62nd language to ever show it's face at the contest. What language do you reckon will be next? Whose keeping their fingers crossed for Kazakh? I'm so excited by the news that Kazakhstan will be broadcasting this year's contest, and here's hopeful for a debut in the near future! Hopefully a Kazakh debut will also shut up some Australian haters too. For clarity, Eurovision is NOT a solely European competition, something dating back to the 70s...

ANY HOOTS... What about this entry from Belarus huh? It's pretty god damn good if you ask me. It's so sweet and lovely, and it's good that some ethno folk will make an appearance on the Eurovision stage. 

I fear slightly for the live vocals if I'm completely honest though. The vocals are not the strongest and I can already hear them sound weaker on the stage... the shouting of "hey hey hey" is great in the studio, but I can't see it having a great impact on the stage as it will be drowned out by fan noise and the backing track. What Naviband have is tons of enthusiasm, a wonderful chemistry, and a song that while objectively might not be everyone's favourites, is at least different enough to be memorable on semi final night. There's a touch of Alphabeat about Naviband, and they had a fun quirkiness to compliment some catchy songs. Let's hope Naviband can replicate some of that...

This is a borderline qualifier at best though. SF2 is a bloodbath and predicting qualifiers is like predicting lotto numbers at the number. The difference in qualification will surely be in the performance of this one, because while it offers something traditional yet fresh, the genre might not lend itself to a jam-packed quality semi final with big performers and even bigger songs... especially for a country with a relatively poor qualification record.

I think the big thing on everyone's lips is where will the Belo douze go to this year? 

RATING:

My initial thoughts: 5 (out of 12)

My current score: 8

My semi-final prediction: 11th (agonisingly!)

(I think this will score higher in the TELEVOTE)

My final prediction if it does qualify: 14th-21st