Country Belarus Selection date(s) 12 March 2011 Selected song "I Love Belarus" | Selection process Internal selection Selected entrant Anastasia Vinnikova | |
Semi-final result Failed to qualify (14th) | ||
Belarus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf, Germany, selecting their entry internally for the second time in a row. This was the country's eighth participation in the contest since 2004.
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Initial rumours
Serbian newspaper Blic reported that Serbian producer Željko Joksimović, who represented Serbia and Montenegro in 2004 and produced the Bosnian and Herzegovinian song in 2006 and the Serbian song in 2008, was chosen to write the 2011 Belarusian Eurovision entry for Irina Dorofeeva; official confirmation was made.
Internal selection
Just as in 2010, the Belarusian representative in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest was internally chosen by an expert jury. Until 21 February, interested singers sent in their potential entries. The jury then evaluated all songs and picked a winner by 1 March. There were no limitations regarding the nationality of the singers and songwriters taking part in the open selection.
On 28 February it was announced that Anastasia Vinnikova would represent the country with the song "Born in Byelorussia". On 3 March it was announced that the lyrics of the song would be changed to "I Am Belarusian", as the song quoted memories from the Soviet Union period. However, on 12 March the song was withdrawn, after it was discovered that it had been performed in public in the summer of 2010, and was replaced with the new song "I Love Belarus".
At Eurovision
Belarus performed sixteenth in the second semi-final of the contest on 12 May. Belarus placed fourteenth with 45 points and failed to qualify for the final.