Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

The Belarusian national final Eurofest 2008 consisted of two shows: a semi-final on 21 December 2007 and a final on 21 January 2008. Fifteen songs participated in the competition. The shows were broadcast on Channel 1 and Belarus TV.[1]

Artists and composers were able to submit their applications and entries to the broadcaster between 15 November 2007 and 27 November 2007.[1] At the closing of the deadline, over 70 entries were received by the broadcaster.[2] Auditions were held between 5 and 7 December 2007 where a jury panel was tasked with selecting fifteen entries to proceed to the televised national final. The selected finalists were announced on 11 December 2007.[3]

The televised semi-final took place on 21 December 2007 at the BTRC studios in Minsk, hosted by Denis Kurian and Vera Poliakova. Public televoting first selected the song "Hasta la Vista" performed by Ruslan Alekhno to qualify to the final. The votes of jury members made up of music professionals then selected an additional three songs to qualify to the final: "I Can't Live Without You" performed by Gunesh, "Devochka tryohtysachnih let" performed by Po Glazam and "Do You Believe" performed by Litesound. The jury consisted of Vladimir Rylatko, Vasily Rainchik, Anatoliy Yarmolenko, Yadviga Poplavskaya, Denis Shpitalnikov, Alexandr Kapenkin, Irina Dorofeeva, Leonid Shirin and Mihail Finberg.[1]

The televised final took place on 21 January 2008 at the Sports Palace in Minsk, hosted by Denis Kurian and Vera Poliakova. The votes of jury members made up of music professionals exclusively selected the song "Hasta la Vista" performed by Ruslan Alekhno as the winner. The jury consisted of Vladimir Rylatko, Vasily Rainchik, Anatoliy Yarmolenko, Yadviga Poplavskaya, Denis Shpitalnikov, Alexandr Kapenkin, Irina Dorofeeva, Leonid Shirin and Mihail Finberg.[1]

In addition to the performances from the competitors, the show featured guest performances by 2003 Eurovision winner Sertab Erener, 2004 Eurovision winner Ruslana, 2006 Eurovision winner Lordi, 2007 Junior Eurovision winner Alexey Zhigalkovich and 2005 Russian Eurovision contestant Natalia Podolskaya.[4]