aussievision
- Nov 25, 2020
- 4 min read

Junior Eurovision 2020 - Belarus

Taking out the bronze medal in our Aussievision Team rankings is Belarus!

Get details on the song plus our individual rankings and comments below.

The entry

Arina Pehtereva - ‘Aliens’

History has been made during the Belarusian selection this year, with their song and artist decided internally for the first time in 18 years. Broadcaster BTRC reviewed all submissions behind closed doors, selecting 12-year-old Arina Pehtereva and her song ‘Aliens’ to represent them in 2020.

The Mogilev-born singer has been fine-tuning her vocals since the age of six, winning a number of national and international vocal competitions. She also took part in the sixth edition of the Russian edition of ‘The Voice Kids’, and featured in Belarus’ national JESC final in 2017 and 2019. Arina’s personal idol is US indie-pop sensation Billie Eilish.

The Aussievision Team Rankings

Dale - 1st
Liv - 1st
Hugo - 1st
Laura - 3rd
Cooper - 4th
Fleur - 4th
Kyriakos - 4th
Ally - 5th
Ruby - 5th
Wade - 5th
Ford - 7th
Mike - 8th
Emma - 9th

The comments

What an incredible voice, and I love the dark theme, but it occasionally feels a bit busy and chaotic. ~ Wade

Took a few listens but now it’s love, love, love this one. Interesting, mysterious, haunting sound in the verses then bam that vocal. The Belarusian/English rap bridge also adds a nice bit of pizazz! Would do well at the adult ESC, but I’m not sure how a younger audience will react to this. ~ Hugo

Wow, wow, wow. The power in her voice is amazing! This could potentially be a top five song if they are able to maintain the power of her voice but convey the message of the song through the staging. My only problem with the song is the English lyrics. God dam it Belarus, that’s two years in a row now you’ve added English lyrics unnecessarily to your Junior Eurovision entry. Would you please stop doing that? You don’t need the English lyrics, it’s a great song without them. ~ Ally

Strong vocals but not a huge fan of the spoken word part of the track. Quite dark sounding – not sure if it will appeal to the kids. This is quite polarising - one of those tracks that will either do really well or bomb. ~ Emma

Another JESC powerhouse with a good song. I can appreciate the experimental aspects of this but it does not flow as well as I would like. It is one of those good artistic songs that may not appeal to the broader JESC audience. I can see it get votes from older viewers. ~ Fleur

Mature, powerful and dramatic! The song keeps up the energy from start to finish with the intriguingly eerie production and then kicks it up a notch at the very end with an almost rap to tie off an incredible entry. ~ Cooper

The climax of this song is awesome! I respect this song for being experimental, artistic, dark and dramatic. This ballad has a lot of oomph compared to the many many others here and it sounds unique. The drama may make the wrong impression: what are dramatic vocals to some may be shouty to others. Some listeners may find it pretentious and/or a bit too mature and angsty for Junior Eurovision. ~ Laura

A very 'Eastern European' kind of ballad with a big vocal by Arina. Nothing groundbreaking or fresh about this entry and history suggests these type of ballads don't do as well with the Junior Eurovision juries and audiences than perhaps they do in the adult contest. Ultimately it all feels a little too 'dark' for this contest. ~ Mike

When this first started I was worried it was going to be just another run-of-the-mill Eastern dark ballad but wow… it’s well produced, mature and she has some voice on her. Then add in the spoken rap and the big finish and you have a really unique out there entry. This will live and die on the live performance. Go Belarus! ~ Dale

The strength in this song is outstanding. I hope we see Arina competing in the Belarusian national final for Eurovision in a few years. ~ Ford

This reminds me of my angsty 12-year-old phase blaring Linkin Park or Evanescence – most of us have been there. There is a lot of opportunity for staging this with contrasts between the delicate opening and strong finish. One of the better sound productions of the lot. ~ Liv

It is a very serious and emotive song. It is better than some Eurovision entries. I love the powerful chorus and change of speed of the song along with the rapping. Though the rapping could be divisive but Belarus are here to win it this year. ~ Kyriakos

Belarus in Junior Eurovision

Belarus has participated in every edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest since it began in 2003, having won twice along the journey. Ksenia Sitnik won with ‘My Vmeste’ in 2005, and Alexey Zhigalkovich won in 2005 with 'S Druz’yami'. Belarus has placed in the Top 3 five times. Their most recent participant, Liza Misnikova, placed 11th in 2019, collecting 92 points for her song ‘Pepelny’.

‘The entry’ and ‘Belarus at Junior Eurovision’ written by Wade