The sixteenth artist in our Who Is series for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 is VAL from Belarus.
VAL is a duo consisting of couple Valeriya Gribusova and Vlad Pashkevich. They experiment with genres such as house, R&B, pop and hip-hop, combined with vogue and fashion. Since the launch of their first single ‘Кто ты есть (Kto ty est’ – Who are you)’, the couple has been pushing the boundaries of their music and performances.
Valeriya is an award-winning singer, having won Slavianski Bazaar in 2015. In 2017, she took part in the seventh season of Holos Krainy (The Voice of Ukraine). Vlad Pashkevich is a music producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose production studio ToneTwins produced “Historyja majho žyccia”, the Belarusian entry to Eurovision 2017.
The song that VAL will perform in Rotterdam is called “Da vidna” ( Да вiдна – Before dawn). It was written and composed by both band members. This is only the second Belarusian entry to feature lyrics in Belarusian. VAL won the right to represent Belarus in Rotterdam after winning the Belarusian national final. Despite finishing second in both the jury and public vote, VAL ended up with the most points overall.
VAL will perform in the first half of the first semi-final on May 12.
Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest
Belarus debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004 and has made it to the final on five occasions. Belarus’ best result in the contest came in 2007 when Dmitry Koldun finished 6th in the final with a total of 145 points. In total Belarus has qualified for the Eurovision final six times in sixteen attempts.
