The nation on stage

Eurovision is an international TV song competition where each participating broadcaster submits a song and chooses up to six performers to represent their country (Eurovision, 2017). Belarus has been participating in the Eurovision Song Contest since 2004, but has yet to win at Eurovision. The performances from 2012 to 2014 represent Belarus’ take on pop songs with Latin and rock influences on stage. The dominant theme for these performances are based on love, overcoming adversities, and respect for others. In this blog post, I will be analyzing Belarus’ Eurovision performances from 2012 to 2014 and evaluating how diverse Belarus is represented on stage.

            In 2012, Belarus was represented by an international band, Litesound. They performed a pop-rock song called “We Are the Heroes” (2012, Belarus) written and composed by band members, Dmitry and Vladimir Kariakin. On stage were five males, one lead vocalist, three guitarists, and one drummer. The had custom microphone stands in front of each guitarist  which gave an impressive element to their performance. They were three dimensional metal, bent microphone stands with metal coils wrapped down its spine. The performance does have gimmickry. It occurs when the guitarists lean back all the way on one leg, giving the illusion of defying the laws of gravity to correspond with the lyrics, “I just lose Faith in gravity and it feels like I can learn to fly” (Kariakin, 2012). This was done by hooking one foot into a strap on the floor to hold them in place and non-stick mats to prevent them from sliding (Eurovision.tv, 2012). Based on their costumes, I imagined the band as just coming out of a battle. The lead singer Dmitry was wearing a ripped net t-shirt under a sleeveless chest armor with black skinny jeans and boots. Their costumes reminded me of the movie Mad Max, or apocalypse like survivors with their black clothing and silver accessories such as belts, chains, and buckles. The background projected images that looked like nuts, bolts, or wheel parts in a blue and yellow color scheme. The strobe lights throughout the performance reflected a rock vibe, while the yellow and blue colors could be relating to superhero costume colors. For example, it could relate to Batman, whose costume is grey with hints of yellow, and a blue cape. It’s also possible that the colors were chosen at random. As for the performers’ identities, the Kariakin brothers and drummer Ignat Yakkovich are Belarusian, but the other two members are not. Jacopo Massa, guitarist is Italian and Alex Kolchin, guitarist is Russian. United, they are an international band bringing musicians from Belarus, Russia, and Italy together. The message of the song is about persevering and believing in oneself to overcome adversities. This was apparent from the lyrics, “When the world is deaf to all your cries / Just keep going / You’ll be there someday” (Kariakin, 2012). These lyrics indicate that when faced with difficulties, persevere, and you will overcome them someday.

            The following year, Alyona Lanskaya performed the song, “Solayoh” (2013, Belarus) written by Martin King and composed by Marc Paelinck. The song is based on an abstract planet, Solayoh which inhabits kind people who share the energy of love and happiness through music and dance (Belarus, 2013). Alyona was named the second most beautiful and stylish participant of Eurovision 2013 (Belarus, 2013). This could be an indication as to why King chose Alyona to perform his song about a beautiful, fantastic planet that inspires love through a never ending party of dancing and happiness. The performance starts off by Alyona stepping out of a life size disco ball (representing the planet Solayoh) in a blue, shining, short, fringed dress. She is immediately greeted by two muscular male dancers, posing as if she were a celebrity coming off a plane ready for a photo-op. The male dancers were dressed in white, sleeveless outfits to show off their exquisite physique. To the left of the stage were three backup vocalists. Two female, wearing blue and white fringed dresses and one male wearing a blue button up shirt with white pants. The effects were fireworks in front of the stage, bursting up from the ground multiple times throughout the performance. The background screen displayed blue, yellow, orange, and red colored beams which could be representing the planet, or the sun. The performance comes across a bit cheesy with its repetitive lyrics, “Solayoh, Solayoh where the sun is always shining on ya. We play-oh, we play-oh to the rhythm of a cha-cha” (King & Paelinck, 2013). However, it’s energetic, has plenty of choreography, and gives a fun, Latin-pop, dance vibe.

            Belarus’ 2014 performance was to the song “Cheesecake” performed by Yuri Vaschuk, also known as Teo. It begins with Teo and his four male background dancers walking forward, then breaks into a dance choreography. The men are dressed in a classic look with black and white tuxedos. The song is based on a break up where the woman is calling Teo her sweet cheesecake and he gets tired of it, finally braking it off. The word cheesecake is acting as a metaphor for sweet pie. Teo views being called sweet cheesecake as being disrespectful (Eurovision, 2013). Surprisingly, this break up inspired song is performed in a positive light on stage. The background colors are red and blue projecting block-like images forming what I perceive as building structures or colored blocks from a video game. According to Teo, the message of the song is about everyone needing to be treated with respect (Eurovision, 2013). It is clear from the lyrics, “I don’t wanna (heeey) I’m not gonna be your boy (heeey) / I look overall the maps trying to escape ‘cause I’m tired of your sweet cheesecake” (Vashchuk, 2014) that Teo is tired of being disrespected by her. Overall, the performance is similar to a Robin Thicke song due to its upbeat style, choreography, and positive sound.

             Belarus’ performances from 2012 to 2014 has shown little diversity on stage in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender. Of the performances I analyzed, most are pre-dominantly white, Belarussian males. However, there is an exception with “Solayoh” (2013, Belarus) which has an equal ratio of males to females, which highlights love for all with gender equality. As for Teo’s Cheesecake (2014, Belarus) performance, it could have been seen as derogatory if he would have had all female background dancers. It also may have looked weird if there were a mixture of both men and women behind him. Even though Belarus doesn’t show diversity in terms of race, gender, and ethnicity, it does however show diversity if you analyze the meanings and background of the songs. For example, Teo did an acoustic version of Cheesecake in a Folk genre with versus sung in Belarusian that same year. This demonstrates Belarus’ cultural diversity bringing their language and music traditions forward. Unfortunately, this version was not showcased on stage, so it left a typical Eurovision pop song feel to it. Litesound also suggests the identity of community in “We Are the Heroes” (2012, Belarus) of standing united together to overcome adversity. Some aspects of Solayoh’s 2013 performance could be seen as an identity for Belarus’ religion, Orthodoxy. In the sense that Eastern Orthodox Churches teach individuals to “cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love” (Lent, 2018). These values relay the message Alyona shares with the viewers on stage of a loving and inspiring planet with kind and sincere people.

In conclusion, Belarus doesn’t demonstrate diversity very well on stage. Rather, the meaning behind the songs and the performer’s backgrounds express identities of community, religion, and culture of Belarus’ diversity more so than the actual performances on stage at Eurovision.

Word Count: 1288

References

Belarus.by. (2013). Alyona Lanskaya – Belarus' contestant at the Eurovision 2013. Retrieved from http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/culture/alyona-lanskaya

Belarus.by. (2014). Yuri Vashchuk Belarus' representative at Eurovision Song Contest 2014. Retrieved from http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/culture/teo-yuri-vashchuk

Eurovision.tv. (2012) Litesound We Are The Heroes Lyrics. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved from https://eurovision.tv/participant/litesound/lyrics

Eurovision.tv. (2013) Alyona Lanskaya Solayoh Lyrics. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved from https://eurovision.tv/participant/alyona-lanskaya/lyrics

Eurovision.tv. (2014). Teo Cheesecake Lyrics. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved from https://eurovision.tv/participant/teo/lyrics

Eurovision.tv. (2012). Litesound are the Belarusian heroes. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved from https://eurovision.tv/story/litesound-are-the-belarusian-heroes

Eurovision.tv. (2018). How it works. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved from https://eurovision.tv/about/how-it-works

Lanskaya, A. (2013). Solayoh (Belarus). Eurovision Song Contest 2013 Malmo. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKewBfUE2Mg

Litesound. (2012). We Are The Heroes (Belarus).  Eurovision Song Contest 2012 Baku. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JWbOKNaIAo

Manzuk, D. (n.d.). An Orthodox Perspective on Tolerance. Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese. Retrieved from http://antiochian.org/content/orthodox-perspective-tolerance

Teo. (2014). Cheesecake (Belarus). Eurovision Song Contest 2014 Copenhagen. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tImGMW-4eHY