Despite having an average ranking of 13th across the Aussievision jury, Belarus is our 17th ranked Junior Eurovision song of 2019. Details, individual rankings and comments below.
The entry
Liza Misnikova - Pepelny (Ashen)
After winning the national selection contest, Liza Misnikova will represent Belarus with the song 'Pepelny (Ashen)'. She beat nine other young girls in the contest, finishing 2nd in both the jury and televote to scrape a two point win.
Liza is 14-years-old and has been studying music for five years. She studies foreign languages, is into travelling and mathematics and her idol is Rihanna. Her song will be performed in Russian.
The Aussievision Team Rankings
Aaron - 6th
Ally - 9th
Dale - 9th
Kyriakos - 12th
Mike - 12th
Fleur - 14th
Emma - 16th
Liv - 17th
Guy - 19th
The comments
Having listened to the Belorussian selection prior to the National Final, I can't say this made a big impression on me. However now that it sits in the Junior Eurovision line up, I think this has a bit going for it. A driving beat underpins a fairly catchy pop song, which Liza delivers with enthusiasm and a sense of fun. In what comes across as a ballad heavy year, this entry may do better than some expect. ~ Mike
This is not good ~ Liv
Belarus are serving their second tweeny-pop banger in a year. I like this a lot more than I should. ~ Aaron
Pretty plain and simple.... nothing really stood out ~ Guy
When I hear this song I am bizarrely reminded of both Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance and the Polish milk maids Donatan & Cleo from Eurovision 2014. A bright colourful performance but there is lots of help from the backing singers here. ~ Emma
A fun catchy bop that will stand out from the ballads. It sounds very familiar though. ~Kyriakos
“Yes, you’re gonna like it, gonna to like it”. Oops, wrong song. Honestly, it’s pretty much the same thing. So yes, it’s catchy, it’s a bop and it sounds just like a 1990’s pop song. That said, it will appeal more to a JESC audience than an ESC one. Though Liza is talented and has a bundle of energy, the song is not as strong as some of the others. This is going to finish somewhere in the middle. ~ Fleur
Belarus at Junior Eurovision
Belarus has competed in every Junior Eurovision since its inauguration in 2003. They won the contest in 2005 with Ksenia Sitnik's 'My vmeste' and in 2007 with 'S druz'yami' performed by Alexey Zhigalkovich.
They have finished second and third twice for a solid showing at the contest. They have only missed the top 10 twice, including last year when Daniel Yastremski's song 'Time' finished 11th.