Belarus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden. The Belarusian entry was selected through a combination of Eurofest, a national final format organised by the Belarusian broadcaster BTRC, and an internal song selection carried out by the winning artist. Alyona Lanskaya represented Belarus with the song "Solayoh", which qualified from the first semi-final of the competition and placed 16th in the final, scoring 48 points.
Before Eurovision
Eurofest 2013
Eurofest 2013 was the national final format developed by BTRC in order to select Belarus's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. Olga Schlager was announced as the director for Eurofest by BTRC during a press conference on 3 October 2012. The competition was due to include a semi-final and a final held on 16 November 2012 and 7 December 2012 respectively. However it was later decided by the organization to hold a single show on 7 December 2012 instead.
Competing entries
A submission period for interested artists and composers was opened on 3 October 2012 and lasted until 22 October 2012. At the closing of the deadline, 83 applications were received by the broadcaster. Auditions were held on 31 October 2012 where a jury panel was tasked with selecting ten entries from 80 attended applicants to proceed to the televised national final.
Final
The final took place on 7 December 2012 at the BTRC TV Studios in Minsk, hosted by Olga Ryzhikova and Denis Dudinsky. A 50/50 combination of votes from a professional jury and the votes from a public televote selected the song "Rhythm of Love" performed by Alyona Lanskaya as the winner of the competition. Lanskaya won both the televote and the jury vote. In addition to the performances from the competitors, the show featured guest performances by 2004 Belarusian representatives Aleksandra and Konstantin, previous Belarusian national final participant Gunesh performing the song "And Morning Will Come", and 2007 Belarusian representative Dmitry Koldun who performed "Work Your Magic".
Song selection
On 19 January 2013, BTRC announced the possibility that Alyona Lanskaya could change her song. The Eurofest rules also specified that the winning artist was free to change the song if they were able to find a more suitable alternative for Eurovision. On 6 February 2013, it was revealed that Lanskaya was in London at Abbey Road Studios recording new songs for her new album as well as her Eurovision entry. On 13 February 2013, it was reported that Lanskaya had recorded several possible songs for Eurovision in London and that she would be travelling to Stockholm next in order to continue working and recording. On 4 March 2013, the song "Solayoh" was released by Lanskaya through the German record label CAP-Sounds on digital download music websites, with a track labelled as a "Eurovision version". On 7 March 2013, BTRC announced that Lanskaya would perform the song "Solayoh" at the 2013 contest, which officially replaced "Rhythm of Love" as the Belarusian entry. "Solayoh" was composed by Marc Paelinck and Martin King.
At Eurovision
Belarus was allocated to compete in the first semi-final on 14 May for a place in the final on 18 May. In the first semifinal, the producers of the show decided that Belarus would perform 11th, following Lithuania and preceding Moldova. On stage, Lanskaya was joined by two backup dancers and three backing vocalists: Ana Mašulović, Marija Lazić and Willem Botha. Belarus qualified from the first semi-final, placing 7th and scoring 64 points. At the first semi-final winners' press conference, Belarus was allocated to perform in the first half of the final. In the final, the producers of the show decided that Belarus would perform 8th, following Estonia and preceding Malta. Belarus placed 16th in the final, scoring 48 points.
