Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Eurofest 2009 was the national final format developed by BTRC to select the Belarusian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. The competition consisted of a semi-final and final held on 15 December 2008 and 19 January 2009, respectively. Both shows were broadcast on the First Channel and Belarus TV as well as online via the broadcaster's official website tvr.by.[3]

Artists and composers were able to submit their applications and entries to the broadcaster between 5 October 2008 and 20 November 2008.[4] At the closing of the deadline, 126 entries were received by the broadcaster. Auditions were held between 3 and 5 December 2008 at the Youth Variety Theater in Minsk where a jury panel was tasked with selecting up to fifteen entries to proceed to the televised national final.[5] The jury consisted of Anatoly Yarmolenko (chairman of the jury, director of the ensemble Syabry), Inna Afanasieva (singer), Yadviga Poplavskaya (singer), Leonid Shirin (composer), Alexander Mezhenny (choreographer), Vladimir Rylatko (deputy head of the Belarusian Ministry of Culture), Denis Shpitalnikov (head of music and entertainment programmes of BTRC) and Alexander Kapenkin (deputy director of BTRC).[5] Fifteen semi-finalists were selected and announced on 5 December 2008.[6][7]

The televised semi-final took place on 15 December 2008 at the BTRC studios in Minsk, hosted by Denis Kurian.[8][9] The votes of jury members made up of music professionals selected the top five songs to qualify to the final.[10]

The televised final took place on 19 January 2009 at the Sports Palace in Minsk, hosted by Anastasiya Tikhanovich and 2007 Belarusian Eurovision contestant Dmitry Koldun.[11][12] Prior to the final, Veter v Golove opted to change their song as the national final rules set by BTRC allowed for the finalists to completely change their candidate songs. Public televoting exclusively selected the song "Eyes That Never Lie" performed by Petr Elfimov as the winner.[13][14][15]

In addition to the performances from the competitors, the show featured guest performances by the host Dmitry Koldun, 2008 Belarusian Eurovision contestant Ruslan Alehno and 2008 Ukrainian Eurovision contestant Ani Lorak.[16]

Following Petr Elfimov's victory at Eurofest 2009, the singer's producer Tatyana Kosmacheva stated that "Eyes That Never Lie" would undergo changes for the Eurovision Song Contest. The revamped version of the song was produced at the Finnvox Studios in Helsinki by Mikka Karmila and Tero Kinnunen who worked with the band Nightwish.[17][18] The official music video, directed by Anastasiya Tikhanovich and filmed at the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life in Pyrohiv, was released on 26 April.[19]

Petr Elfimov made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Eyes That Never Lie" as the Belarusian Eurovision entry. On 18 February, Petr Elfimov performed the revamped version of "Eyes That Never Lie" during the Greek Eurovision national final.[20][21][22] On 21 February, Elfimov performed during the Macedonian Eurovision national final Skopje Fest 2009.[23] On 8 March, Elfimov performed during the Ukrainian Eurovision national final.[24] On 4 April, Elfimov completed promotional activities in Armenia where he performed the Russian version of "Eyes That Never Lie", titled "Vzglyad lyubvi", during the Armenian Music Awards 2009.[25] Elfimov had also planned to take part in promotional events in April which was held in London, Amsterdam and Brussels, however, his participation was later cancelled.[5]

Petr Elfimov took part in technical rehearsals on 3 and 7 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 11 and 12 May. The Belarusian performance featured Elfimov performing on stage wearing a white leather costume, together with a guitarist and a dancer who stood on a set of steps covered in a white sheet which blazes a long trail. The stage colours were green and white. The performance also featured the use of a wind machine.[27][28] Elfimov was joined by three on-stage backing vocalists: Anton Toimentsau, Philip Mazurov and Yan Zhenchak. The guitarist and dancer that accompanied Elfimov on stage were Dmitry Mikulich and Ekaterina Matskevich, respectively.[29][30]

At the end of the show, Belarus was not announced among the 10 qualifying entries in the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final.[31] It was later revealed that Belarus placed thirteenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 25 points.

The voting system for 2009 involved each country awarding points from 1-8, 10 and 12, with the points in the final being decided by a combination of 50% national jury and 50% televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Belarus and awarded by Belarus in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Iceland in the semi-final and to Norway in the final of the contest.