Alekseev wins the Belarusian Eurovision ticket to Lisbon

Alekseev has won the national final in Belarus and will represent the Eastern country at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song ‘Forever’. With that victory, Alekseev will succeed the duo NAVIBAND, who made it to the final on behalf of Belarus last year.

In the final, some familiar names took part, like the group NAPOLI and Gunesh. Bot acts took part in Belarus before. Alekseev already emerged as an early fan-favourite in the community, despite allegations that his song should have been disqualified, breaching the rules of being performed prior to the 1st of September.

Controversy in Belarus before the show

The national final in Belarus sparked some controversy, even before the competition took place. After eleven finalists were revealed, it emerged that a Russian language version of Alekseev’s entry “Forever” had been performed at several concerts he performed prior to 1 September 2017. Eurovision rules state that no entry may have been made publicly available prior to 1 September of the previous year, as it may give songs an unfair advantage.

However, Alekseev was still allowed to take part, making seven of the ten other competing artists write an open letter to the Belarusian broadcaster, stating that they would withdraw from the national selection if Alekseev was not disqualified. Participant Sofi Lapina officially announced her withdrawal from the competition, leaving only ten acts for the actual show.

Results

Draw Name of artist Name of song Televote Points Jury vote Total Place
1 Adagio Ty i ja (You and Me) 581 1 1 2 10
2 Alekseev Forever 5184 12 12 24 1
3 Shuma Chmarki (Clouds) 3042 10 4 14 3
4 NAPOLI Chasing Rushes 1236 7 6 13 4
5 Anastasiya Malashkevich World on Fire 804 5 7 12 7
6 Gunesh I won’t Cry 1041 6 8 14 2
7 Radiovolna Subway Lines 599 2 10 12 6
8 Alen Hit I don’t Care 718 4 2 6 9
9 Lexy Weaver Ain’t You 699 3 4 7 8
10 Kirill Good Deja Vu 1359 8 5 13 5

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