It’s over! After a marathon show with 13 finalists and plenty of interval acts, NAVIBAND have won Belarus’ national selection. NAVI will now go on and represent the country in Kyiv with the song “Historyja majho zyccia” (The Story of My Life).

NAVI – “Historyja majho zyccia” live at Belarus national final

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIo43HKOUmg

NAVI were our reader’s favourite in our pre-contest poll. They also finished first with the Wiwi Jury.

Wiwibloggers William wrote: “This song has character and personality in spades and it sounds current but indigenous at the same time. The singers’ charisma and chemistry make me smile and the vocals are as delightful.”

Mikhail agreed, commenting: “This song creates a mood and it is so good. It’s simple, yet very effective and catchy.”

The mood was certainly positive in the arena for NAVI too, with fans audibly chanting for the band. It wasn’t quite so simple for them, though. In the televote, NAVI only placed fifth. The SMS voting favoured PROvokatsiya, with NAPOLI, July and Anastasiya Sheverenko ahead of them.

Belarusian Eurovision fans have commented on our YouTube channel that many of the successful televote acts have producers behind them, who are able to court televotes through promotion and other means.

Thankfully the jury turned all of that around.

The 50/50 split in voting — a change from the 2016 rules — saw NAVI receive the full 12 points from the jury.

In comparison, PROvokatsiya received 0 points from the jury….but still managed to win the televote. Apparently viewers were able to overlook the fact they resembled singers waiters poised to deliver shrimp cocktail.

But the points fell in line enough for NAVI to be victorious, putting them just clear of Nuteki.

The result seems to offer a degree of confirmation to what we had written in Nuteki’s Wiwi Jury review.

“NAVI has authenticity and friendliness on its side, but Nuteki has the gloss,” we wrote. “Belarus will have to decide what matters more.”

Belarus Eurofest 2017 — Final Results

Running order

Congratulations to NAVI then, who we’ll be seeing in Kyiv! Do you think that NAVI deserved to win? What do you think their chances will be in Kyiv? Let us know in the comments section below!