Petr who?

Petr Elfimov knows he is supposed to be a star in Minsk. The standing ovation he acknowledges receiving from the adoring crowd at the start of his stage show at the Belarus national finals is obvious testament to his local popularity and something he clearly seems to relish, but if you look closely no one in the audience actually appears to be clapping, apart from one fan holding up a twisted poster.

The song itself is stranger still, a fast rock number of the style which went out of fashion at the Eurovision soon after Lordi won three years ago. Except Mr Lordi could sing, whereas Petr feels he only needs speak the words of the first verse, singing only from the first chorus onwards. And so the song lurches towards its inevitable microphone in the air climax, the audience continues to vote its support through silence, and the camera cuts quickly away.

If ever the organizers needed justification for the extra expense of running the Semi-Finals to eliminate the weaker songs, this is it.

Music Petr Elfimov
Lyrics Valery Prokhozhy

Eyes that never lie
I was wandering alone
I was turning to stone
I was going insane
When you came into my life

You chased sorrow away
You changed night into day
You cured all of my pain
With your eyes that never lie

All my life I waited
Thinking I would never fly
Then you looked and saw my wings
With your eyes that never lie

You are my desert and well
You are my heaven and hell
You are my reason to be
My love song, my battle cry

I know I will be whole
While I keep in my soul
The light shining on me
From your eyes that never lie

All my life I waited
Thinking I would never fly
Then you looked and saw my wings
With your eyes that never lie

Oh, my darling angel
Guide me through despair in the sky
If I’m lost I’ll see the way
In your eyes that never lie