Petr Elfimov not qualified for Eurovision final (Video)

Belarus won’t be represented in the final of the prestigious Eurovision Song Contest this year.

Turkey, Sweden, Israel, Portugal, Malta, Finland, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Romania, Armenia and Iceland were picked up in the first semi-final.

Belarusian Petr Elfimov was eliminated in the semi-final, though his show was rather good in spite of scandals during the preparation for the contest. The singer remained unsatisfied with a show prepared by Polish director Janusz Juzefowicz. This was a cause for Elfimov’s conflict with the Belarusian Television and head of the Belarusian delegation for Eurovision Alyaksandr Tsikhanovich. The entry was changed due to technical problems in Moscow.

18 singers took part in the first semi-final. According to new voting rules, adopted this year, the finalists are selected by viewers and professional juries heading by Russian singer and musical producer Philip Kirkorov. Viewers choose nine finalists in each semi-finals via SMS and phone calls, and the tenth finalists is selected by the juries.

The second semi-final is to take place on Thursday, May 14, where ten more singers out of 19 will be qualified for the final. The final in Olympiyski Arena on May 16 will gather 20 countries, selected in the two semi-finals, and representatives of the classical Big Four – the UK, Germany, France, and Spain, as well as Russia, which has an automatic bid for the final due to victory of Dima Bilan last year.