Belraus 2021 - Egor Luts - Don't Count Me Out!

 (Click here if you can't see the video panel above to witness sounds like you've never heard…)

You remember that moment a couple of months back when we learned that there was going to be no live audition process in Belarus this year, and we were wondering where we were going to get any of our jollies from? We shouldn't have worried…

Egor here is no stranger to these pages. In fact he's the kind of artist that we live for. He first crossed our path back in 2018 with his audition of the song Somewhere. It was a sleepy little downtempo number that bagged the dreaded 'spasiba' after a mere 52 seconds, bless him. He's not given up mind, oh no, and has been attempting to bag the Belarussian ticket on and off ever since. But this year he seems to have surpassed himself, despite the lack of auditions.

One thing I will say for Egor here is that he's certainly worked on his stage presence since 2018. Now with more apt popstar hair, and a video that looks like it's had some thought put into it - if not funds - the lad is giving it a real try this time. Unfortunately there's just the one thing that's letting the whole package down. His voice.

Making our mate Bognibov look like a seasoned baritone, he wavers and warbles so far off the intended notes that you'd think his voice was doing a slalom through cones. But it's not through wont of effort, because look into his face - the boy really believes! And when the dancer appears, then things step up to a whole new level of awks.

Looking at the songwriter credits, the lyric appears to be written by a dear old friend of mine from Eurovision circles, so I'll be delicate here, for while the song is an unremarkable yet solid piece of Eurovisionism, it's the performance that makes it stand and fall. And judging by the number of memes of this already circulating in the fandom, I reckon Egor here has certainly made a lasting impression.