Belarus in Eurovision 2019: ZENA’s "Like It"

 A note added as this blog was being edited and finished is the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As I mentioned in my post on national identity, Belarus is tied to Russia through a very strong alliance. At the current moment of this addition, Belarus is allowing Russian troops, including tanks, to invade Ukraine through Belarussian territory, giving them a shorter route to the capitol. For most countries, allowing large numbers of foreign troops, especially an invasion force, is out of the question even for close allies. Belarus’s allowance of this action is certainly very telling of their position with Russia, and perhaps hinting at their issues with a strong national identity as I mentioned in my previous post.

Introduction

Belarus’s submission to Eurovision 2019 was a performance of "Like It" by the performer known as ZENA, whose actual name is Zinaida Kupriyanovich. It’s a pop song featuring smoke machines, pyrotechnics, love, and skilled backing singers and dancers, everything you’d expect out of a pop performance. Ultimately, however, it placed 24 out of 26 countries (EBU), the low end of the results. This poor perception could be tied to many things, from audience preference for pop at the time, to perceived cultural appropriation, to confusing background visuals. In this article we’ll take a closer look at this performance, and the ways it conflicts, or affirms, my previous summary of Belarussian identity.

Lyrical Analysis

Upon the first passthrough of the song, it seems a relatively straightforward song. It contains a narrative of someone going out of their comfort zone and psyching themselves up. During the initial part the music is relatively slow, but slowly building in tempo. As the lyrics sing of not giving up and the tempo builds, we reach the peak and it goes into the chorus, where the singer has decided they will go out and that their choice will be accepted. This choice assumedly being the beginning of a forbidden romance, as ZENA sings/repeats that their advance will be liked, and backing singers mention this being about love and breaking rules. The song that continues from there in a similar cycle for the rest of the time.

Upon reading the lyrics and rewatching the performance several things stand out. One interesting thing to consider is that forbidden romance that the song seems to revolve around. The Belarusian government has a section on their website warning gay travelers to avoid displays of affection, “Belarus views itself as a tolerant culture. The country’s younger generation are developing a more open and tolerant view of homosexuality. But many Belarusians retain a more traditional attitude towards homosexuality. You won’t yet find quite the same relaxed attitude to gay and lesbian travellers that you might expect in Western Europe” (Republic of Belarus). This message on the government website is quite similar to the message that is being communicated through the performance. With ZENA being sixteen at the time of the performance, it is a display that things are being changed in Belarus as younger generations bring more progressive views. That said, there is not necessarily any sincerity behind that message. As Jessica Cerniel mentioned in her journal article, “Sexual politics has thus become a means of redefining ideological borders and is, quite literally for some political and economic organisations such as the EU and Council of Europe, a condition of belonging in ‘Europe’… “(Cerniel, 140). There exists a strong possibility that Belarus’ goal is simply to pink-wash their performance, and try to earn more western support for the competition.

The other portions that stand out in this performance, especially in the lyrics, are the constant references to karma, the universe, energy, and etc, as well as the repeated phrase “tam-tara-ram”. Karma itself is a very well-known term to most people, generally being derived to simply being what comes around goes around. In this performance the attachment of this word does not make any real sense without a sentence to include it. One could try to consider it invoking karma to give a good outcome or to show what is right. But if you look at the Sanskrit translation of the word, it can be translated to “action” (Yogapedia, 2018). Accompanied with the building tempo at the time, it seems to also fit that she is telling herself to do something and act. It would make even more sense for this word to be used in a dual meaning, both asking what the right thing is to do in the situation, as well as urging herself to act on it. The question then arises, why is the song is using karma, a term originating from Indian spiritualism? There does not seem to be an obvious power dynamic for this to be some form of cultural appropriation, but there also does not seem to be a notable Hinduism practicing population for this to be a display of diversity (Central Intelligence Agency, 2022). It would not make a lot of sense for this to be a case of cosmopolitanism either, when there does not seem to be any diversity to show.

The other repetitive phrase that we see, is “tam-tara-ram”. Given this previous potential usage of Sanskrit, we can also look and see if tam has a meaning, “Tam is the single-syllable seed mantra of Tara, the Hindu goddess of mercy and compassion who protects and removes fear. She is one of the wisdom goddesses.” The most interesting part of this which has more reaching implications is the mantra. This phrase she is repeating is not just a sound, but a Hindu mantra. This mantra is a form of prayer or calling to a goddess that removes fear. As she is repeating this mantra throughout, she becomes more confident in her decisions and actions. Once again, we are left with the question of why this song makes use of Hinduism.

Cultural Influences

As it turns out, while Belarus does not have much of an Indian ethnic population or Hindu spiritualist population, there is strong interest in Hindu culture across Belarus, dating back to the Soviet Union, “An active interest in India formed in Belarus during the Soviet period.  The government of the Soviet Union intentionally shaped its citizens’ attitudes toward India and presented it as a friendly country struggling for social transformation… Yoga is the most popular form of Hindu influence in Belarus. Yoga is practised under the guidance of competent teachers in multiple centres across the coun-try. Belarusian citizens, however, associate it with a path to a healthier life rath-er than with self-understanding, self-regulation, or as a spiritual experience” (Karassyova, 2020). The reason I missed Hindu practices in Belarus before was because it was not under a strictly religious sense which would be noted in statistics. Hindu culture is something that is genuinely a part of many Belarusians’ lives, and this song actually could be informing the audience of this, and therefore perhaps is a display of cosmopolitanism, showing that there is diversity in Belarus the western nations are not aware of. This fits very well with my established identity of Belarus, as having a rich culture, but feeling unknown and wanting to change that perception.

Imagery

Looking at the background visuals, there are several notable images appearing amongst the various lights and colors. The most memorable of these are the images of ZENA’s head, which split open to reveal more images. Seeing as the song is from the perspective of the singer, we can interpret these images as her thoughts and feelings, which she is communicating to us as they leave her head. While many of these images have many interpretations, the use of a white Bengal Tiger reinforces the Indian symbology as mentioned previously, known by many as one of the largest big cats in the world and being a symbol of India due to their habitats. The other two frequently occurring animals are a bird and a shark. The former is potentially a dove of peace given the occasional white coloration. The latter being a shark, contrasted often with the dove, potentially showing a balance between the peace/serenity of the dove and the ferocity and power of the shark. Another frequently reoccurring image is that of a grid, where some of the lines appear to be waves. This would seem to call back to the universe parts of the lyrics, showing the energy being released into the world. From a national identity perspective, it could be seen to affirm Belarus’s want to establish themselves and be more recognized by other nations, sending their “energy” and messages out to the world through things such as this performance.

Through the staging and costuming, we can see Belarus’s appeal to the pop cultures of western nations. With urban clothing and hip-hop dancing, along with English lyrics, it seems Belarus is trying to appeal to western nations, whether that is to increase the number of votes from western nations or to display that they have just as modern a culture as other nations.

Concluding Remarks

There is certainly more analysis which could be done on this song, including looking into the competition for the song’s selection and the backgrounds of the song writers. But ultimately I think the song’s message has been made clear, and it is a great display of what was explored in blog 1, as Belarus tries to be recognized by western nations as a modern and diverse country with a strong culture of art.

Word Count: 1588

References

Cerniel, J. (2015). Skirting the issue: finding queer and geopolitical belonging at the Eurovision Song Contest. Contemporary Southeastern Europe, 2(1), 136–154. https://doi.org/https://unipub.uni-graz.at/cse/periodical/titleinfo/457420

 

Central Intelligence Agency. (2022, January 18). Belarus. CIA World Factbook. Retrieved February 2022, from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belarus/

EBU. (n.d.). Results of the first semi-final of Tel Aviv 2019. Eurovision.tv. Retrieved February 2022, from https://eurovision.tv/event/tel-aviv-2019/first-semi-final/results/belarus

Karassyova, S., & Tarkan, I. (2022). History of iskcon (international society for krishna consciousness) distribution in belarus. Religions, 13(1), 35. doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy.seattleu.edu/10.3390/rel13010035

 

Karassyova, S., & Tarkan, I. (2020). Manifestations of Hindu culture in modern Belarus. Handbook of Hinduism in Europe (2 Vols), 2, 833–848. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004432284_030

Outerson, M. (2022, February 5). Eurovision 2019: Belarus’s Zena in focus. EuroVisionary. Retrieved February 2022, from https://eurovisionary.com/eurovision-2019-belaruss-zena-in-focus/.

Republic of Belarus. (2022). Official website, Belarus | Belarus.by. (2022). Retrieved February 2022, from https://www.belarus.by/en

Yogapedia Inc. (2018). Yoga, meditation and life. Yogapedia. Retrieved February 2022, from https://www.yogapedia.com/

 

ZENA. (2019). “Like It” (Belarus). Eurovision Song Contest 2019 Tel Aviv. Eurovision Song Contest. https://www.eurovision.de/videos/2019/ESC-2019-Zena-singt-Like-It-fuer-Belarus,weissrussland630.html